An Indian man witnessed a herd of elephants being led by a single small rope tied to their legs. When he asked the trainer how this was possible, the trainer explained that they had been tied with the same small ropes since they were young. Over time as the elephants grew larger, they did not try to break free of the ropes because they had learned they were not strong enough. This story is meant to illustrate that people can become discouraged by initial failures just as the elephants felt the ropes were still restrictive despite having grown much larger. The moral is that failures are a natural part of learning and success requires persevering through setbacks by continuing to try again.