It was one of those hot days; so hot that the animals in the jungle could barely move. They all headed down to the watering hole. The elephant, zebra, fox, monkey, duck, rabbits and mice couldn't wait to dive into the cool water and splash around.

They were disappointed when they saw the rhino lying in the middle of the watering hole. There was no room for any of the other animals. When the elephant tried to step in, the rhino poked him with his horn. When the zebra tried to slide in, the rhino nudged him right back out with his other horn.

"Hmm. This is going to be a problem," said the fox. "We all want to get in the water, but the rhino is hogging it up to himself. What should we do?" The fox glanced at the other animals.

The monkey leaped into the tree. "I'll swing with my tail and land on the rhino's back. I'll jump up and down until it gets out." The monkey did just that, but it didn't matter to the rhino. It simply slipped under the water. "That didn't work," the monkey said, jumping back onto the grass.

"I'll climb on it's horn and tickle it until it laughs so hard that it gets out of the water," said the mouse. The elephant picked the mouse up in its trunk and dropped it on the rhino's horn. The mouse tickled the rhino. The rhino didn't even giggle. After a while the mouse signaled for the elephant to pick him back up. "That didn't work very well," said the mouse.

The zebra had an idea. "I'm big. Why don't I push the rhino out of the way. If you rabbits will distract him, I'll use my legs and push him out of the watering hole." The zebra signaled to the rabbits and moved to the side of the water. When the rabbits started squeaking and hopping about, the zebra put his legs in the water and pushed as hard as he could. "That didn't work." He couldn't even budge the rhino, so after a while he gave up and lay down on the grass.

"I guess it's up to you," the fox said to the elephant. "You're as big, if not bigger than the rhino. Push him out. Hit him with your trunk. Do whatever you need to do to get him out of there. I'm way too hot and want to lie in that water."

The elephant took a deep breath. "Hmm. Instead of pushing the rhino out of the way, the elephant bent over and whispered in the rhino's ear. After a few minutes the rhino climbed out of the water and wandered off into the jungle. The other animals stared in shock.

"How did you do that?" The fox couldn't believe it.

"Can we get in the water now?" The rabbits ran to the edge.

The elephant spoke. "I simply told him that if he let us have the watering hole for the rest of the day, that we would bring him food all day tomorrow and he could have it all to himself."

The other animals thought that was a great idea. They all jumped in, splashed about and cooled off. The elephant blew water high into the air and sprayed the others.

"Ah, this is the life," said the monkey, as he lay on his back, enjoying the cool water on a hot summer day in the jungle.