Chapter Eight My Father's Dragon

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MY FATHER MEETS A GORILLA

My father was very hungry so he sat down under a baby banyan tree on the side of the trail and ate four tangerines. He wanted to eat eight or ten, but he had only thirteen left and it might be a long time before he could get more. He packed away all the peels and was about to get up when he heard the familiar voices of the boars.

"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen them with my own eyes, but wait and see for yourself. All the tigers are sitting around chewing gum to beat the band. Old Rhinoceros is so busy brushing his tusk that he doesn't even look around to see who's going by, and they're all so busy they won't even talk to me!"

"Horsefeathers!" said the other boar, now very close to my father. "They'll talk to me! I'm going to get to the bottom of this if it's the last thing I do!"

The voices passed my father and went around a curve, and he hurried on because he knew how much more upset the boars would be when they saw the lion's mane tied up in hair ribbons.

Before long my father came to a crossroads and he stopped to read the signs. Straight ahead an arrow pointed to the Beginning of the River; to the left, the Ocean Rocks; and to the right, to the Dragon Ferry. My father was reading all these signs when he heard pawsteps and ducked behind the signpost. A beautiful lioness paraded past and turned down toward the clearings. Although she could have seen my father if she had bothered to glance at the post, she was much too occupied looking dignified to see anything but the tip of her own nose. It was the lion's mother, of course, and that, thought my father, must mean that the dragon was on this side of the river. He hurried on but it was farther away than he had judged. He finally came to the river bank in the late afternoon and looked all around, but there was no dragon anywhere in sight. He must have gone back to the other side.

My father sat down under a palm tree and was trying to have a good idea when something big and black and hairy jumped out of the tree and landed with a loud crash at his feet.

"Well?" said a huge voice.

"Well what?" said my father, for which he was very sorry when he looked up and discovered he was talking to an enormous and very fierce gorilla.

"Well, explain yourself," said the gorilla. "I'll give you till ten to tell me your name, business, your age and what's in that pack," and he began counting to ten as fast as he could.

My father didn't even have time to say "Elmer Elevator, explorer" before the gorilla interrupted, "Too slow! I'll twist your arms the way I twist that dragon's wings, and then we'll see if you can't hurry up a bit." He grabbed my father's arms, one in each fist, and was just about to twist them when he suddenly let go and began scratching his chest with both hands.

"Blast those fleas!" he raged. "They won't give you a moment's peace, and the worst of it is that you can't even get a good look at them. Rosie! Rhoda! Rachel! Ruthie! Ruby! Roberta! Come here and get rid of this flea on my chest. It's driving me crazy!"

Six little monkeys tumbled out of the palm tree, dashed to the gorilla, and began combing the hair on his chest.

"Well," said the gorilla, "it's still there!"

"We're looking, we're looking," said the six little monkeys, "but they're awfully hard to see, you know."

"I know," said the gorilla, "but hurry. I've got work to do," and he winked at my father.

"Oh, Gorilla," said my father, "in my knapsack I have six magnifying glasses. They'd be just the thing for hunting fleas." My father unpacked them and gave one to Rosie, one to Rhoda, one to Rachel, one to Ruthie, one to Ruby, and one to Roberta.

"Why, they're miraculous!" said the six little monkeys. "It's easy to see the fleas now, only there are hundreds of them!" And they went on hunting frantically.

A moment later many more monkeys appeared out of a near-by clump of mangroves and began crowding around to get a look at the fleas through the magnifying glasses. They completely surrounded the gorilla, and he could not see my father nor did he remember to twist his arms.

Frequently Asked Questions about Chapter Eight from My Father's Dragon

What happens in Chapter 8 of My Father's Dragon?

In Chapter 8, titled "My Father Meets a Gorilla," Elmer Elevator reaches a crossroads near the river where the dragon is kept. He encounters an enormous, fierce gorilla who leaps from a palm tree and threatens to twist Elmer's arms. Before the gorilla can hurt him, the gorilla becomes distracted by fleas biting his chest and calls six little monkeys to help find them. Elmer cleverly offers six magnifying glasses from his knapsack—one for each monkey—which allows them to see the fleas clearly. The monkeys and additional monkeys from nearby mangroves crowd around the gorilla, completely blocking his view of Elmer and allowing the boy to escape unharmed.

How does Elmer outsmart the gorilla in My Father's Dragon?

Elmer outsmarts the gorilla by exploiting his greatest weakness: an unbearable flea infestation. When the gorilla pauses his threats to scratch furiously at his chest, Elmer offers him six magnifying glasses from his knapsack, suggesting they would be perfect for the six monkeys—Rosie, Rhoda, Rachel, Ruthie, Ruby, and Roberta—to use while hunting fleas. The magnifying glasses work so well that even more monkeys swarm in from the mangroves to look through them, completely surrounding the gorilla and making him forget about Elmer entirely. This strategy follows the pattern Elmer uses throughout the book: understanding each animal's vulnerability and using a specific item from his knapsack to neutralize the threat.

What is the gorilla's role on Wild Island in My Father's Dragon?

The gorilla serves as the dragon's direct captor and enforcer on Wild Island. During his confrontation with Elmer, the gorilla threatens to "twist your arms the way I twist that dragon's wings," revealing that he physically torments the baby dragon to keep him working as a ferry across the river. This makes the gorilla one of the most important antagonists in the story, as he is responsible for the dragon's continued captivity and suffering. His intimidating size and ferocity represent the brute force that the island's animals use to exploit the young dragon.

What items does Elmer use from his knapsack in Chapter 8?

In Chapter 8, Elmer uses two types of items from his knapsack. First, he eats four of his remaining thirteen tangerines to sustain himself, carefully rationing his food supply since he doesn't know when he can get more. Second, and more importantly, he uses six magnifying glasses, giving one to each of the six monkeys named Rosie, Rhoda, Rachel, Ruthie, Ruby, and Roberta. The magnifying glasses prove "miraculous" for finding the gorilla's fleas and create enough of a distraction for Elmer to escape. Each item Elmer packed before his journey proves perfectly suited to a specific challenge he encounters on Wild Island.

Who are the six monkeys in Chapter 8 of My Father's Dragon?

The six monkeys are named Rosie, Rhoda, Rachel, Ruthie, Ruby, and Roberta—all names beginning with the letter R. They live in the palm tree near the gorilla and serve as his personal flea-hunters, combing through his chest hair to find the tiny parasites. When Elmer gives each monkey a magnifying glass, they exclaim the glasses are "miraculous" because they can finally see the fleas, though they discover there are "hundreds of them." The monkeys' alliterative names add humor and whimsy to the scene, and their enthusiastic flea-hunting inadvertently helps Elmer escape by drawing a crowd of additional monkeys that blocks the gorilla's view.

What does Elmer learn about the dragon's location in Chapter 8?

At a crossroads in Chapter 8, Elmer reads signs pointing to the Beginning of the River, the Ocean Rocks, and the Dragon Ferry. While reading the signs, he sees the lion's mother—a beautiful lioness—parading past and heading toward the clearings. Elmer reasons that since the lioness came from the direction of the Dragon Ferry, the dragon must be on this side of the river. However, when Elmer finally reaches the river bank in the late afternoon, the dragon is not there and has apparently gone back to the other side. This discovery adds urgency and complication to Elmer's rescue mission, setting up the challenge he must solve in subsequent chapters.