What is the joke in the carrying "water for elephants"?

[StevenS]

In the movie they joke about him carrying water for elephants, and some sites i have found say that in the movie it doesn't really explain the irony of carrying water for elephants. Can someone explain it to me please? Is it not possible to carry water for elephants or something like that?

 

[Cherilyn]

I don't know anything about the book, but I did see the movie. In addition to the fact that carrying water for elephants is a rediculoously hard job that no one would do because it's much easier to bring the elephant to the water, the circus didn't have any elephants at the time that he offered him the job of carrying water for elephants. He told him if he wanted a job he could carry ridiculous amounts of water for an animals that didn't exist. In other words he was telling him to go f*** himself.

 

[frank]

The idea is that elephants drink too much water, so you bring the elephant to the water instead of bringing the water to the elephant.

The reality is that you can carry water for elephants, but the image is still valid.