Look, Father, an Elephant! He Makes Such a Strange Sound
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1 Swansong
2
3 Paul Smith
4
5 “Look, father, an elephant! He makes such a strange sound.”
6 “An elephant makes big, scary sounds to frighten off the other males, so he can be the
7 dominant male and impress the girls. Plus he just likes showing off.”
8 “And the girl elephants?”
9 “The female elephants don’t get spooked. They just jab the male with their tusks. Or they get
10 a good lawyer.”
11 “Elephants have lawyers?”
12 “The smart ones do, the matriarchs. Look at that. Do you know what animal that is?”
13 “That’s a hyena!”
14 “Right! A hyena.”
15 “What kind of a sound does a hyena make?” 16 “A hyena makes a loud, sarcastic laugh, like he is making fun of the world. He does that
17 because he’s a predator, a scavenger who loathes himself. He uses his laugh to show everyone
18 he is an empty shell of an animal without hope or pity or anything.”
19 “That’s sad.”
20 “You’re only four years old. When you get older, promise me you’ll never laugh like a hyena.”
21 “I promise. And what animal is that?”
22 “The little sign here says it’s a trumpeter swan. It’s a kind of bird.”
23 “Does the trumpeter swan sing like other birds?”
24 “It says the trumpeter swan has a swansong, a very sad, mournful call because he hurts
25 inside.”
26 “Why does the swan hurt inside?”
27 “The male swan hurts inside because once his young are hatched, the mother takes them
28 away from him. It can happen in a nice place like this, a pond with willow trees and lily pads,
29 cheerful-looking, but unhappy. Sometimes the male swan has been like a stupid hyena or an
30 arrogant bull elephant. And the mama swan is not forgiving. Aha! There is your mother now,
31 at the entrance.”
32 “Mom, mom, we saw the animals!”
33 “I’ve been waiting fifteen minutes. We need to hurry.” 34 “We saw elephants!”
35 “You must have seen the whole zoo. I’ve just been standing around.”
36 “We saw all the different kinds.”
37 “How nice, mammals and birds and reptiles.”
38 “I explained the differences between the males and the females.”
39 “Sure you did. How about the Farm-in-the-Zoo Exhibit? That’s where they keep the geldings.”
40 “David doesn’t have to go to the zoo to see one of them.”
41 “Mom, the girl elephants jab the males with their tusks.”
42 “See?”
43 “Boy elephants are always underestimating the girls, not the other way around.”
44 “I’m sure you’ll teach David a lot about how females, about fairness, about the dissolution of
45 trust, fairness again.”
46 “Fairness has been decided. And you’re broke.”
47 “I had some help getting there.”
48 “And elephants have lawyers, mom!” 49 “Look, David and I are going to the airport. If you want to tag along, we can drop you off at
50 your flat.”
51 “No, I’ll walk. It’s spring. Nothing like a brisk walk in the city while I plan out the rest of my
52 life.”
53 “Two miles? That is brisk.”
54 “A brisk trot, then.”
55 “Will we go to the zoo again, father?”
56 “Try asking your mom.”
57 “Mom?”
58 “Oh, I don’t know. Zoos have so many germs.”
59 “There’s your answer, David. Germs are bad for you. So are elephants. So are geldings.
60 Luckily, I’m a trumpeter swan with a sad song. I’ll sing it awhile and hopefully bring some germs
61 back to your life one day soon. Give your father one more hug. The swan forgets nothing, no
62 matter where his children go, to another pond, another country. What strong arms you have!
63 Find a pond of your own, David. Find a pond they can never take away from you!”
64
65 END