Once upon a time, an elephant was travelling through the forest with his wife. Along the way, he was boasting about how he and his kind was the largest and strongest being on earth to his wife. On the way, they encountered an ant, who happened to be carrying his dead wife for burial.
The elephants stopped for a while and enquired the ant and what he was doing. The ant replied, "my wife was killed earlier today in a battle, and I'm carrying her back to the colony for a burial". The male elephant laughed and mockingly said, " how can a teeny-tiny creature like you can carry your own wife, isn't it tiring? If such a tiny creature like you can carry his own wife, then someone big like me can carry ten wives". By saying that, the elephant laughed until it fell to the ground.
Annoyed by the mockery, the ant said, "Mr elephant, do you think you're so strong? I bet you cannot lift your wife even though she's smaller than you". The elephant got furious when the ant retorted him. And so he speared his own wife with its task on her heart and killed her. He then tried to lift her up. He tried to lift her up with all his might, but could not even get her to move from its place. He tried it several times, but to no avail. He sat there beside her dead body and cried. He finally admitted that he's not the strongest being to walk on the land even if he's the largest.
From that moment on, whenever an elephant eat any food, it shakes it off first to make sure it doesn't have any ants. Especially the leaves and branches.
Moral: Don't be arrogant and proud without knowing your own capability.
Note: This story was an adaption from the Garo Folklore, and I couldn't remember the exact words and dialogues from the story.