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偶尔在豆瓣的大米小组里面看到有人问起，为什么大米那么喜欢大象呢？有意思，我也一直想问来着。
后来有人说出自“一句谚语Elephants can remember。西方文化中认为大象是记忆力非常好的，比人类还要好。”
原来有这么一说？倒是想起以前不知哪个老师提过一句。向来是个打破砂锅问到底的人，于是wiki了elephant。
“The phrase 'elephants never forget' was reasonably common in the 20th century. It had no metaphorical meaning, referring literally to elephants supposedly having an excellent memory.”
然后是Phrase上面更详细的说明：
AN ELEPHANT NEVER FORGETS - "First attested in the United States in 'Blue Ridge' (1937) by W. Martyn. The proverb is probably of Greek origin. The Greeks sometimes say, 'The camel never forgets an injury,' according to Burton Stevenson. 'To have a memory like an elephant' is used as a figure of speech." From "Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" (1996) by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).
A second reference adds to this and has an earlier citation date: "Said of someone with a prodigious memory, usually for slights and wrongs. It was not the memory of the elephant but that of the camel that was renowned amongst the Greeks long ago. A Greek proverb ran 'Camels never forget an injury.' Proverbial reference to the elephant's memory is relatively recent. In 'Reginald: Reginald on Besetting Sins' (1910), the camel is usurped by the elephant: 'Women and elephants never forget an injury.' The author, Saki, was no stranger to elephants having been born in Burma and lived there, and would have appreciated the intelligence of the animal. The working elephant memorises a large number of commands given by the mahout and recognizes many other animals and people, thus remembering both kindnesses and injuries. Since its life-span is 50 or 60 years these memories are long-lived. Usage: Usually said of a person who does not forget injuries, but an 'elephantine memory' could just be a good one." From the "Dictionary of Proverbs and their Origins" by Linda and Roger Flavell (First published in the UK by Kyle Cathie Ltd, Barnes and Noble Inc, 1997, New York).
突然想起《暖暖内含光》里面凯特的台词，梦中记忆里的Clementine说：“I want to be a great big, huge elephant with a huge trunk like that.”
现在看来原来是那么有深意的一句话，她是在说：“我要成为一头难以释怀的大象，背着储藏满了记忆的行囊。”——trunk，是大象的鼻子，也是皮箱子。
I want to be a great big, huge elephant with a huge trunk like that.
