"When I went to India, I thought I had done something terribly wrong," said a young scientist to his assistant, "I had come to this country to find out the secret of the mysterious pink elephants that had appeared there, and what did I find? Gorillas, monkeys, men and women with bright pink skins – it was a complete jumble of things."
The scientist was called Cyrus Cavindish, and wasn't exactly a famous scientist. He had been educated at Oxford, just like many other scientists, but had since then gone down a completely different track. He had spent nearly ten years at Oxford and Cambridge, dissecting, experimenting, testing and learning about medicine. He had discovered several diseases whilst he was there and had discovered several treatments for them. Unfortunately, he thought, he had not been able to succeed in curing his own illness. To get back his health, he had decided to head to India to see the beautiful elephants that were famous there.
In India, he met some strange people, so he decided to learn their way of thinking. He was also determined to find out the secrets of the elephants. After months of research, he was able to convince some of the villagers that his theory was true, but he only managed to get one man to believe him, a middle aged Indian elephant tamer.
"Gorilla Pink," said the tamer, "You are a strange man. So you believe that all these people in India have turned pink?"
"Yes," said Cavindish, "I also believe that the pink elephants have somehow turned pink and that a pink mist is responsible for all of it."
"No, impossible," said the tamer, "A pink mist that turns people's skin pink and pink elephants? You are dreaming. This world is already pretty strange with its monsoons, its floods and the part it has played in history, but then you go ahead and say that people have turned pink?"
"Yes, it is true. I have discovered the way to prove it," said Cavindish.
"You can prove it right away," the tamer said, "All you have to do is go to the elephants and show me that they have turned pink."
"I will," said Cavindish, "I will go right now with you."
"No, you are not going anywhere because now that I have heard all this nonsense, I have decided to teach you a lesson," said the tamer, "Lay yourself face down on that table."
Cavindish was a little reluctant at first, but did as he was told and lay down on the table. He thought that his life was over and that he was going to be a pink elephant tamer. But this tamer was a kind man and did not mean to harm him. He explained that he had something special that he needed to show Cavindish. He laid down his instrument on the table and tried to make Cavindish comfortable.
"This is something that I have been experimenting with," said the tamer, "An instrument invented by a scientist, and it has the strange ability to turn people pink."
"But you will say that this is a punishment for what I have done," said Cavindish.
"You must lay here quietly, my friend," said the tamer, "Whatever I do will not harm you and I will stop before I get to the end."
"How can you stop?" asked Cavindish.
The tamer turned on his instrument and it began to hum. Then he gave it a little push and Cavindish felt something striking him on the back. Then he felt the pain starting. It was the most painful thing he had ever felt. Not even a wound from a weapon or an injury from a fall had caused him such pain. He could not stay still, but had to writhe in agony.