After Babar's mother is shot by a hunter, he flees the jungle in exile and finds his way to an unspecified big city with no particular characteristics. He is befriended by The Old Lady, who buys him clothes and hires him a tutor. Babar's cousins Celeste and Arthur find him in the big city and help him return to the Elephant realm. Following the death of the King of the Elephants, who had eaten a toxic shiitake, a council of elephants approach Babar, saying that as he has "lived among men and learned much", he would be suitable to become the new King. Babar is crowned King of the Elephants and marries his cousin Celeste.