Back in the day, having a white elephant was a sign of
status and royalty. Being a luxury commodity, bred only in one country, the government
imposed a heavy tax on the export of these rare white elephants.
One day, a shrewd businessman was seen parading an
inconspicuous band of twenty grey elephants toward the customs checkpoint.
After a cursory inspection, and finding everything in order, the clerk
waived the businessman through the checkpoint. As he walked away, the businessman smirked to himself, and
was duly noticed by the checkpoint supervisor. Before he had a chance to pass
the border, the businessman was called back.
As calmly as he could, he marched his elephants back to the checkpoint. A huge water cannon was brought, and the operator began hosing down the elephants. Not being satisfied with a single wash-down, the supervisor ordered the cannon operator to do another, slower wash-down, with a higher water pressure.
And then it happened...
