Well because an elephant is sooo large, and its a herbivore, and its has to do with a time when there was a king, maybe since its a nobleman he has land, and the king gave him the elephant because as big as an elephant is its gonna eat a crap load of grass and whatever else plants the eat everyday, and drink alot of water, so pretty much jus havin an elephant around would make it way harder for the man to live, if its even possible for him to sustain the elephant at all.