Of Grass and Elephants

"When elephants fight, the grass suffers...
when elephants make love, the grass suffers."
Swahili proverb

In preparation for our visit to Africa I have been reading a couple of books about the continent, and some Wilbur Smith novels set in Africa. The above proverb was quoted by Giles Bolton ("Aid and Other Dirty Business" Random House 2008, 212). Giles Bolton worked for the British Department for International Development(DFID) and writes in an interesting and readable manner. He cites the proverb in a chapter on trade. You don't have to be a Rhodes scholar to figure which nations are elephants, and which are grass!