Elephant and Chinese children

Why are these boys lolling about at the feet of an elephant, and riding high up on its back? For clues, count how many boys you can find, then note their Chinese costumes. These details link this fanciful scene to a bit of Chinese folklore.
Legend has it that the first time an elephant appeared in a certain Chinese village, it drew a crowd that included five blind men. Depending on which part of the elephant he encountered, each sightless man was certain that he felt a different thing: a) a thick tree branch; b) a snake or rope; c) a column; d) a fan; or e) a wall. Use your imagination to guess which parts of the animal they experienced (answers below).
By the 1700s in Japan, when this painting was made, five frolicking Chinese boys sometimes replaced the blind men as companions for the elephant. Rosetsu's humorous rendition contrasts tiny, bubbly children with a massive, soulful-looking beast. Fluid, rapidly brushed outlines define the boys' robes and features, while the elephant's thick gray hide is described with broad strokes of ink wash, shaded to create a sense of mass.
a) the trunk;
b) the tail;
c) a leg;
d) the ear;
e) a side