Blind men and an elephant

Once upon a time, there were six blind men who wanted to know what an elephant looked like. So, they all grabbed onto different parts of the elephant – the tusk, the trunk, the tail, the leg, the ear and the side of the body. Each man was only able to feel the one part of the elephant they had grabbed.

The first blind man said that the elephant felt like a big spear (the tusk he grabbed was like a long pointy spear)

The second blind man said that the elephant felt like a big snake (the trunk he grabbed was like a long, bendy snake)

The third blind man said that the elephant felt like a rope (the tail he grabbed was long and thin like a rope)

The fourth blind man said that the elephant felt like a tree trunk (the leg he grabbed was thick and rough like a tree trunk)

The fifth blind man said that the elephant felt like a fan (the ear he grabbed was big and floppy like a fan)

The sixth blind man said that the elephant felt like a wall (the side of the body he grabbed was big and solid like a wall).

Each blind man was right about the part he grabbed, but none of them could get a complete picture of what the elephant looked like, since they could only touch one part.