“Peopelike Aoki don't seae me, They'reall over the place, batt dont trouble myself wih them anymore. When [ran int> them, I dont get involved. sce them coming and I ead thr thet wy, [ean epot them in an instant. Bu atthe same tim, ve got eo admire the Aokis of his world. Their ability olay Tow untl the right monet, cher knack for ltching on 9 0+ portunises, their kil in fcking with people's minds—shats no fedinary talent, ate thir kind ro much ¢ makes me want to ke, but ite lene. No, what really scare me is how eaily, how uactsaly people wil believe the crap that slime like Aoki del out, How these Aoki types produce nothing themselves, doa have an idea inthe wodd, and talk so aie, how tis time ean sway glib types to any opinion and gos them to perform on cue, 253 group. And this group never entertains even a sliver of doubt thar hey could be wrong. They think nhing of huringsome- fone, enselesy, permanently. They dont ake any responsibi- iy for their actions, Them, Theyre he real monsters. Thee the once I bave nightmares abou. In chore dreams, there’ ony the silence, And these cles people. Thee slece seeps int ‘everything ike ce watse And thn eal goes murky. And Px Giswolving nd lm screaming, tno one bes” "Ozzie just hook ie head Tyaied Zor irs o coninoe, bute was quiet. He folded hic hands nd ny then. on the able We all have time—how sbout = beet” he sod afer 2 while ‘Yeah, ler’ Laid, We probably both could use one, translated by Alfie Bite Tre wePHAN T VANIsH: Haruki murakamiwoen re scerwant dssppened from our rownis eee [hunt house, I ead sbous iin the newsgsper. My alarm clock Spoke me tha day, aways, 3¢ 6:13. Fert to the ktthen, made cofee and roast tamed on the sad, spread the paper out on the Kitchen rable, and poceeded to munch and read. Pm ons oF these people wine read the paper from beginning en, in {dex 3 took me while ro gett the rie cbout the vanishing ‘dephant. The frone page was Slled wich cori of SDI andthe trace fiction sith Armerica, afer whi I plowed tarough the ‘tional news, intenational pois, ec nomics, letters f0 the fdtoe, book eviews, rea-eate ds, spocs reports, and fly, the regions news. ‘The elephant article wns the lead story inthe regional see sion. The unusual lage healine caught my eye: ELEPHANT Missing IN TOXYO SUBURB, and, Beneath chat, in type one ‘ze sll, Cazes’ Fass Mout. Sonn Cats £08 PROBE. ‘There was a phovo of policemen inspecting the empty elephant house. Withous the elephant, something abot he place secred ‘wrong. I Jooked bigger dan ic aeeded robe, blank and empry [ike some huge, deydeted bene from which the innards bad been plucked ‘Brushing away my toast crumbs, studied every in of the acide. The clephunt’s alsence had ft been nosced 2t 0 ‘o'clock on the afemoan of May 18—dhe day befare—when rman ffom the schoolunch company deivered their esual truckload of food (the elephant motly st leftovers om the Inches of children tie local lementary school). On she ‘ground, sll loced, lay the steel shackle that had been istened to the clephant hind leg, at though che clephane had sipped ‘ou off. Nor was the elephant the only one missing. Also gone ‘war its Keeper, the man who had been in charge of the lephant's ‘are and feeding from the sar. ‘According to the aril, the elephant and Keeper had las ‘been seen sometime afr five o'clock se previous day (May 17) ‘bya few pols fom dhe elementary schoal, who were visting the elephans hoses, making crayon sketches, These pupils mast, Inve been the last to See the clepant, said the paper since the keeper alvays closed the grt to the elephant enclrure won the sieo'dock seen blew. “Therehad been nothing unusal about eer the phan or its keeper athe time, acording tothe unanimous estimony of ‘the pupils The elephant had been standing where st ava ‘Rood inthe mide ofthe enclosure, ocasonaly wagging is teunk from sider side or avintng ite wrinkly eyes. Ie wae such fan awly old eleghan: tha is every move seemed a teen fds effore—so mich so shit people sexing it fr the fst ime ‘eared it ight collapse at any moment and dave ie final breath "The elephants gebac led rots adoption by ove tose a yest ‘ati. When Suancial problems caused tell private z00 on fe edge of tw ro cle is door, 2 wildlife dealer found paces forthe other animal in 2008 choughovr the covnty. Berl the200s hn plenty of clephants,sppazently, and not one of chem ling to take ina fxbl ld ehing that looked as ii night Fe of fear ack at any moment. And s, after its compan- fone wore gone, the elepans stayed alone i the decaying 200 fr nev four months ith nothing ro do—not that it had had anything ro do before, ‘This eased lot of diicaly, both forthe 200 and forthe town, Tie 200 ad sod its land toa developer, who vas plan: fing fo put up a highrise condo building, and the cown bac reed) sed him a permit. The longer the elephant problem. ‘etained unreiolved, the moreintezest the developer had to pay foe nothing, Sil, simply Kling the thing would have been out fof the question. iF t had been a spider monkey or a bat, they might have becn able to get aay with , but the king of an ‘lephant would have been to hard to coverup, and if it ever tame out aftrward, the repecuesons would have bees remen= ous, And so the various partes had met to deliberate onthe tattes and they formulated an agreement on the disposition of the ol dephane 1 The town would take owmenhip ofthe elephant at no "The developer would, without compensition, provide tind for housing te clephan. 3. The 2008 Former owners would be responsible for paying se keeper's wages, Thad hod my oon private teres in the elephant probes from the very cutee, ae Tkept a scapbook with every dipping Teould find on it. I had even gone to hear the town councils debates on the mater, whichis wiiy Tam able zo give such fll and scouate account of the course of eves. And while my ac- Count may prove somewhat lengthy, Ihave chosen 10 st dlown hor incase ce handing of the elphane problee should Dear direct upon the elephan’s disappearance. ‘When the myor finished negotiating the agreement —with ss provision char the town would ake charge ofthe elephant— + movement opposing the measure boiled wp ffom within the Tanke ofthe opposition party (whore very existence hid never ‘imagined ont then). "Why mast che wown take owncrship of theelephant?” they demanded ofthe mayor, and they mised the following points (tomy forall theses, but ase dems make ‘things eer to understand): 1 The elephant problems was quertion for private enter rie —the 200 and dhe developer; there was no reason for he ‘erm to become involved, 1. Careand feding costs would beoo high, 3. What did the mayor inten wo do abovt the security prob Jem ‘& What mesie would there be in the twa’ having ie own clephant? The tow bas any numberof rsponsbiltie it should be ‘aking care of before eg into the business of kecping an ele Phint—ewer repain, the purchase of anew Bie gin, eet fra" the opposition group dedlted, and while hey did na say Irinso many words, they hinted athe poribiity of some recret, dea beeween the mayor and the developes Ta response, the mayor had this tos: 1 Ifthe town permitted che construction of high-rise com os, ie ex revenues would incest o dramatic that the cost of keeping tn elephant would be isigncant by compan thus it mace sense for the town eo take on the cace of this elephant. 2. Th elephant was so old that titer ste very mich noe ‘vas ikely to pote a danger to anyone 3 When the elephant died, the town would rake fll posses sion ofthe land dcna'ed by the developer 4 The elephant could become the town's symbol ‘Taelong debate reached the concason that the wom would take charge ofthe elephant aftr al. Asan ol, wellsabished residential subusb, the town boasted 2 sclatively alent cite enn, and is Soancial footing was sound. The adoption of =Inomeles elephant was 4 mows that people could Look upon fa- only People ike ld elephants beter than sewers and ire Fagin. 1 myself was all in favor of having the town cae forthe he pant Tru, [wat geting nck of high-rise condos, bu I ied the ides of my town's owning an clephant. [A wooded aca was cleared, and be clementary schools ag- Jing gyim was moved there a¢ sn lephane house, The man who fad served asthe elophant’ kespr for many years would com> to live in the house with the elephant. The children’s lene fercps wold soeve asthe eephant® fed. Finally, ce elephact el was carted in a taler toes new home, there olive outs remaining years. T joined the crowd atthe elephanchouse dedication cert= monies. Sanding before the clephant, the major delivered 2 Speech {on the town's develepment and the entichment of i Coltoral fcilsess one elemenary-tehool pupil, reoesenting ‘he student body stood upto read» composition "Peas ives Tong and healthy life, Me. Elephant); dere was a sketch contest {Gkeshing the elephant theresfice became an integral compo- ‘pen ofthe pupil’ artic education); and each of two young fwomen in suying dresies(aeither of whom was especially tood-lookng) fod the elephant « bench of bananas. The le Phont endured these virally meaningless (forth elephant, ex- rely meaningless) formalities wich hurdly a cwitch, and i ‘homped on the Bananas wih 2 vacant eae. When it finished ‘iting the bananas, everyone applauded. ‘On its sight rear 'eg, she clephant wore 2 slid, heavy looking steel eulf 2om which thgesretched a thick cain per haps they foe long, and his in rar was securely fastened to 2 concrete sab. Anyone could ace what a stardy auchor held the ‘eas in places The elephant could have struggled with all is might fora hundred yerre nd never bon the thing oouldae lla ehe clean was bot.cre by is shackle, Oe the sevface, at eas, i scemod ll but unconscious ofthe enor ‘mous shark of metal wrapped sround its leg, 1s kept blank ‘22 fined on some indeterminate point in space, ts cas anda few white aie on its body waving gently inthe breze. “The elephant’ keeper wae 3 smal, Rony Old man. Ke was ‘bard to guest hir age; cold have been in his esl sais late seventies, He was one of those people whose appearance is ‘no longer infenced by dei age after they pas certain point {nlf His skin had the ame dorky rudd, sunbomed look both summer and winter, his hair was sf and shot, his yes were mall. His fce bad no dirtingvshing characteisis, but his > most perfectly cial ere stick o8t on ether side with dis ‘bing prominence. He was not an unfiendly man. Ifsémecne spoke him, he ‘would reply, and he exprested himself leu. Ihe wanted to he ‘could be almost charmirg—dhough you always knew be was somewhat il at eee. General, he remained a reticent, lonely= ooking cld man. He seraed ro like the childcen who visited the ‘dephant house, and he worked at being nice ro them, bot the thildeen never relly warmed to him. “The only one who cid that was the elephant, The beeper lived in smal prefib room arached tothe lephane house, and all-day Yong he tayed wth the elephant, atending to is needs ‘They had been together for more than ten yeas, and you could sense thir clouensss in cvery gesture and look. Whenever the Clephant was standing there blankly andthe keeper wanted ito [move alle Bad to do wae stand next wo che elephant, rp it on 2 Goat leg, nd whisper something ints et. Then, s¥aying is Inage bulk, the elephant would go exacly where the keeper had indicated, sake up i new position, nd contin staring ata pointin space ‘On weskends, I would drop by she elephant house and sad ther operons, but could never figure out he principle fon which the Keep elephant communication was bated ‘Maybe the dephant understood afew simple words (chad cer tainly been Biving long enovgt), or perhaps it reccve! its infor ‘mation through variations inthe saps omits leg. Or possibly it ‘had some special power resembing mental tlepathy and couldread che keepers mind. once asked ce keeper how he gov his fonder co the elephant, but ce old man just smiled and sii, reve been together tong tiene.” Avo eo. vean wey: Then, without warning thet: Fens vnihed Ove cytes thee and therenithad xsed tobe T poured mya second cop a ele an reed the sry sean topning te ons voll wae prety seatse Tice tne bad iho igh ace Shrod Holmes “took st Sn. Wason” hed ny ping pipe “A very irs a= See. Nery ereing inde “wha gv heave sr of ranges was he sbioae confusion ans berlserment of the eprter And this confision Sd bewdament cess came fom te sary of ne ‘on ole You cold sex how sh topo gel to fad ‘Sova round the aban onde to ote 3 “orm” {roe Bur te sutuggs hed ely devon confi id bo ‘Sliesnenr shops orem Tor cumple he arcs wed nich xpress as “the ex pan csaped bu iryou locked theese pice beame Sonus atthe clphan bad it no way “xeaped Ihde ‘le thin se The reper vse hs owm confide ‘rit by saying te fv “dea” rmsined "une" bat {fanwas nots esomenan sn could Be dinpored of by eing tock ora eminlogy 2" ede” 1 Ps tht wa he prob of he telco shat ad bes fend the Spans ge Tis ad bn found til ke ‘The most reomiteexpanon fr ths woud be that te Teper hd unlorked he Fing. remove trom che cepa’ 1p doing agen, and 0 ith he Chant fothes to whieh ce piper cng th dsperste ence de Te theft the pero okey! Only sve Keys ested 2Eo icy, oc scomtys ake, were kept inched fs ne otce badger andthe oer the ehoae, beh beyond Jerush oft Kaper—orof mone one who nigh tempt to scl them. And even fsomecne had succeeded in sealing 2 ‘ke, chere was no need wistewer for that person to makea point fof reruring the key afer using it. Ye he folowing morning both keys were found in their respetive safe a the police and firesations, Which brings tothe conclusion that he elephant pled its leg out of that sold steel sing without the aid of 2 Key-an abzclute imporbity unless someone had svt the foxof "The second problem ws the route of escape. The elephant ‘house and grounds were suerounded by 2 massive fance neatly ten fet high. The qoerion of security had been hotly debated {nthe town counel, nd the rovmbad seed upon a system that ‘might be considered somewhat excessive for keeping one olé ‘elephant. Heavy ron bars haa been anchored in thick concrete fodation (Ge coat of the fence was bome by the realestate company), and there was enly single entance, which was fond locked fEoms the inside, There was ne way te elephant ‘ould have exeaped from this foreressice enlosare “The thid problem was elephane wack, Directly behind the clephant enclonare wis 4 ep bill, which dhe animal could not possibly have climbed, co even if we suppose thatthe elephant had somehow managed to pul ts leg out ofthe ste ring and leap over the eon-foot-hign fence, it would sll have had toe ‘expe down the path to the front ofthe enclosure, and thers was ‘pot a single mark anywhere in the soft earth of that path that, ‘could besten a a elephant’ footprint. ‘Rdeled as tae with such peplecitis and labored crcum= Iocutions, the new: paper aril ae + whole lef but one posible ‘conelasion: The elephant ad not escaped Icbad vanished. "Needles say, owesee, nether the newspaper nor the po= lice nor the mayor was oiling to adenie—openly st east—tha the clephanbad vanished. The police were continuing inves. ‘gute, their spokesman ssying only thatthe depbaneether"was ‘taken o wat allowed to cecap ina dever, deliberately caleulated tmove. Beease of the dicey involved in hiding an elephant, itis onkya matter of ime sil we solve she xs." To this optim.sie asestment he added chat they were planing to search the fos in the ares with the ad focal hunters’ clubs nd sharp rer rom the national SeDefense Free "The mayor had held a news conference, in which he apolo- ized for she inadequacy of the town's police resources, Ax the ime die, he declared, “Que cephant-ecurty system isin n0 ‘Say inferior to simlar fis ia any 200 inthe cowstey bo Toes, is fa scronger and far moze fail-safe than che sandard “age” Heals observed, "Thisis a dangerons and senseless ai- foetal act of the most malicious kind, and we ennot alow ito se unpunished.” “As they had the year befor, the oppesition-party member cof the rown couneil mage accustions "We inten to Took into the polical responsibilty of the mayor; he has colluded with pavate enterprise order to sl the townspeople abil of goods fn the solution ofthe elephant problem.” ‘One “wortsdlooking” mother, thirty-seven, was inter viewed by te paper "Now I'm afraid ro let my chilren ou 20 play" she sid "The coverage included a detailed summary ofthe steps lead ing te the town's decision ro adope the elephant, an acialsketch ifthe elephant house and grounds, nd bref histories of both {he clephant andthe keeper who had vanished witht. The man, Nebore Watanabe, dimy-ares, was fom Tateyama, in Chiba Prefecace. He had worked for many years as a keeper inthe ‘marnialisn section ofthe 200, and “had the complete trast of the 200 suthortis, both fr hie abundant knowledge of these tnimals and for hs warm sincsze prsonalis” The elephant had ben set fiom Ease Asca rwenty-two yeas ease, but lite twas Known about its exter age oF 1s “personalin.” The report Concluded with a segues from the police for cizens ofthe tow, to come forward with any information they might bave regard ing the elephant. though about this requesfora wil a1 drank my second cup of coffee. but decided not ro call the plice—both becuse I preteted not to come into contace with them iT vould help sad becaute fle the police wotld nt aleve wat tad ell ‘hem. What good would i do ro ralk to people like tha, who ‘would oe even consider the possibley that tho cephane had simply vanished? Took my scrapbook down fom the shelf cutout the cle= phan asl and pate itn, Then I washed the dishes and lft forthe ofe watched the search onthe seven-'elock news. There were Inonters carping lrge-bote ifs loaded with ranger ders, Sele-Defense Force troops, policemen, and fuemen combing ‘every equate inch ofthe woods and hills inthe immodiare 2a ts helicopters hovered overhead, OF eourc, we're tlk about the kind f woods” and "hil you find inthe suburbs ouside ‘Tokyo, 10 they dda'thave an enormous area to cover. Was that many people involved, a day should have been mote than ‘enough wo do the job, And they were searching for some tiny homicidal manise: They were after 2 huge Afficanelephan. Thoce was imi tthe mamber of paces ting like tha could hide. But sill they had not managed to find ie. The chief of police appeared on the serezn, saying, "We intend to continne the search.” And the anchorman conceded the report, "Who releaed the elephant, and how? Where have they Aiden ‘What was their motive? Everything remains shrouded in yng” ‘The sear. went on fosevera days, bu the authorities were sanable to disover a single cue‘ the clephsne' wheresbous. 1 sadied the newspaper rejors, dipped them all, ané pasted ‘hem in my scrapbook inchuding editorial crtoons am che subject The album Sled up quill and I bad to buy another, Despite tier enormoss wleme, the clippings conrned not fone fat of the kind that I ws looking for. The eepors were cither pointers or of the mark: EHPHANT STL MISONC, CLOO™ {TmCK 7 SEARCH, MOB SEADND DISAPEEARANCE? And oeea a tile ike this became noticably scarcer after 2 week had gone by: unt here was virtlly nothing, A few ofthe weekly mas nes carried sensational stores—one even hired 2 psychic—?bt chey had nothing to substancate thir wild Readies Ie Seemed that people were bepiing to shove the elephant cs: favo the lege citegory of "unsolvable mysteries.” The disp- pearance of enc old ephant and oe old elephant keeper would have no impact on the course of socety. The earth would cone Emus is monotonous rotiens, politicians wold continue [ang ungcible proclamations, people would continue yawn ing on cei way tothe ofce, children would continue seadying for thir colege-enteance exams. Amid the endless surge and hb of everyday ie, intrestin a missing elephant could nos last forever And soa number of unremarkable months wens by, Hke sited army marching pata window ‘Whenever I had a spare moment, I would visit the Bouse where the clephans no longer lived. A. thie chain had been “rapped round and round che bars ofthe yard ion gat, to Keep peope out. Peving inside, I could sce that she elephant- ‘howe door had alte ben chined and locked, 2s though the po~ Tie were eying ro make up fr having fled to find the elephant by muloplying the liyers of security on the now-cmpty el hinclhowse. The atea vas desereed, the previo erowds having Jen splaced by flock of pigeons resting em the roof. No o2e took cave of che grounde any longer, and thick green summer [prs had sprang up there a fc had ben waiting fortis op- Forni. The chain cole around che door ofthe elephant fous reminded me of huge soake set to guard a mined palace na thik forest, A few shor months withot it elephant had fave the place a air of doom and desolation that hung cere Fike huge, oppressive ain cloud, twes nen mean che end of September Thad been ssi fing da day from moming to night—he kind of sot, monet rus, misty etn that often ills at that time of yea, washing ‘Sony bi by bit the memories of summec bummed into the eth. ‘Coursing down che gues, ail hose memories owed tothe sevvers and iver, tobe cesed tothe dep, dark ocean “We noticed ach omer a the party my compeny threw to Taunch its new advertising campaign. I work forthe PR section (fa iajor manufactuer of electrical appliances, and atthe ime Tas in charge of poblisty for a coordinated line of kitchen equipment. which was athedled to go on dhe marke in sme fr the aatama-wedding nd wiatcrbonus sestons. My job was to negotiate with several women magusnes for tieinartides— northe kind of work dat xkes a grext deal ofntlgence, bus hha tose te that the aries they wrote didnt smack of a ‘ersing. When magazines gave us publicity. we rewarded tiem by placing ads in thei pages, They sertched our backs. we scratched theirs ths an editor of a agasine for young housewives. she bad come tothe party for material fr one of hese "arte." hap ‘pened tobe in charge of showing he around, pointing ov he Farars of the eof refigerstors and eofeemakers and mi ‘rowave ovent and juices cat 2 famous Tallan designer had Sone for. "The most important point unity,” I explained, “Even the moe beautify designed item dies iit ou of balance with its Sromiings. Unity of design, unity of colon unity of fine ‘Gon: This what today’ chin needs above all es. Research tells us that a housewife spends che largest par of he dy nthe Fivchin. The hich is er woteplace, her sty, her living soos. Which is why he doce all she can to make th Michi 3 plesont place to be eas noting to do wih sie, Whether is Tange small, one fsndemental principle gover every sucess fal kiki, and that principle snity. Tiss che concepe under Tying the design of our new tries. Look a his cooktop, for example.” ‘She nodded and seribbled ching 2 small notcbook, but it yas obvious that she had i ntorer in che mates. nore Ihave any personal sake in our new cooktop. Both of ws were oir g our jobs "You knew alot about kitchens.” shes when finished. She used ths Japanese word, sithout picking upon "ick." “Thats what I do for 2 Bving." I answered with a protonsonal sale, “Aside fom tint, though, Ido like to cook, Neth fing fncy, but cook for myself every day.” PS ssi wonder if unity ial shat neiary fora kitchen” We say hits" Tadiced hee "No big del, but te com> any wants os to use the Eogish “Oh Soery Bor sil, | wonder laity #0 imporan fos ein? What do you tink? “sty peronal opinion? Tat does’ come out wal Ike sy necti of" [sad with grin. “But today TU make an ex Caption. A chen probably das nocd a Fe dings more dan it stds unr, But those other slements are chings you can el ‘And in his pragmatic world of ours, things you can sll dat fount for much “ieebe world such 2 pragmatic pace?” rook outa cgsrete and litt wih my lights 1 don’ know—the word just popped ou,” Tsu “But it explains alot. It makes work easier, to. You ean play gumes swith i make up neat expressions “essentially pragmatic’ oF ‘pragmatic in cesnee” IF you loa at aings tha way, you void all kinds of complicated problems.” “hae an interesting view!” Not eily, 15 what everybody thinks. Ob, by the way we've got some prety good champagne. Care wo ave some?” “Thanks. Plover." ‘As we chated over champagne, we realized we had sever] smurual acqusinancrs. Since ur pat of che bsiness world was not a very big pond, if you tated ina few pebbles, one or swe ‘were bound to hita mutual acquaintance. In additos, she and ry kid ster happened to have graduated from the same univer sity. Wich markers like this to follow, our conversation Went along smoathly ‘She vas unmarried, and so was. She was twenty, and] was thiey-one. She wore contact lenses, and [wore glasses. She passed my nesksie nd I raised her ache. We compared rent snd complained about ous jabs and salaries. In ozher words, we ‘vere begining tolike cach other. She war an aeatve woman, 0d nota all pusby, I stood eherecalking with her for fll, fwenty minus, unable to discover a single reason aot thik ‘wellofhee, ‘Aa the party was breaking up, Favited her to join mein the hoa’ cockal lounge, where we stein to continoe our con ‘versation, A soundles rain went on fling ouside cke lounge’ panoramic window, the lights ofthe city sending barry mei sages through the mist. A damp hush hed sway over the nearly cmp cocktail lounge. She ordered» ozendaigus and had = scotch on the rock, ‘Sipping our drinks, we cased onthe kind of consersition ha aman and wornan have i a bar when they have just met and are beginning to like each other. Weald about our college ays, our tastes in music spores, out dilyzouincs. ‘Then ftld her abour the clephanc. Exacy how tis hap pened, Iean't seal Maybe we were alking about something Ihaving to do with animals, and that was the connection. OF maybe, unconsciously, T had been looking for someane—a good lrtner—20 whom I could present my own, snigus view fp the elephant’ disappearance. Or, then agai, ic might have been the lquor that gor me aking Ta any cas, che second the words lee my mouth, Tlaew that had brought up one ofthe least suitable topics I ould have eund for this oceasion. No, Ishoald never have mentioned the lephant. The topi was-—whst?—t00 complete, #90 clored Tied to hurry oF eo someching else, bua ack would have ieshe wns more interested than mot inthe cate of the venishing ‘lephan, and once Tamitted that Thad sen the elephant maay ‘Sms she showered me with qestions-—wat kind of elephant wast how di Tehinssie had escaped, what di it exe, ase it 2 danger so the community, anda0 for Told her nothing more than what everybody knew fom, ‘he news, but she seemed to sease constant in my tone of voice. bid never been good at elling is, ‘Asif she had not noticed anything stange about my behay= fon she sipged her fecond daigust and sked, "Wereat yoToe eLerwant vancenes shocked when the ephane Cisppeaed? Ie not the kind of ‘hing thas somcbody cos have prdiced” No, probably not” Lard, [took preel fom dhe mound inthe gla dish on ovr rable, mapped i in ewo, and ate ha ‘The water placed our ashtray with an empty one. ‘She looked at me expettanly. Took out another cigarette and lit i Uhad quit smoking thece years earer but had begun gaia when the elephane disappeared “Why “probably not? You mein you could ne predicted No, of cours I coulda have predicted ie" fsald with « snail, “Foran elephant to disappear all sudden one ay— there's so preedent, no need, for such 2 thing to happen. I docs make any logical sense: “Buta, your answer was vory strange. When I si “es not th kind of thing that somebody could have predicted, you [Bi 'No, probably nor” Mo people weuld have said, You're fighs! or "Yeah, its wei or something. See what mean?” Teenta vague odin br dzeetion and used my hand to cll the waiter A kindof teatve silence took hoid 3 F waited for him co bring me my next cote, Pm finding this ite hard to grasp.” she sui softly. "Yoo were carrying on 2 porferiy normal conversation with me und 2 couple of minate ago—at least uncl che subject of the le- ‘han came up. Then someting fanny happened. Teueunder- Sand you anymore. Sosnething’ wrong, eth elephant? Or sre my cats playing eckson me?” ‘Theo nothing wreng with your ets." Issid "So then fs you. The problem's with you.” T stuck my Singer in my glae and ered ee tee ke the sound ofioe in a whiskey las "woulda calles ‘problem,’ cxaedy Ws nor ha biga deal ¥'m nothing anything.’ jstnotsure can alk about it very vwall som tying not to say anything sa. Bue you's ight — is very stange “Wise do you mean?” Iwas no te: Ta have ro al her che tory. Look one gulp of whiskey and started "Te hing is, € was probably the lattone tose the elephant ‘efor it disppeared [st i fer seven o'clock on the evening of May seventeen, and they notied it was gone onthe afer room of the eighteenth. Nobody aw itn berwera because they lock the elephant house 2s" “Ldoa' get Ifthey coved the house at sx, how did you seeit fer seven?” “There 1 kind of cif behind the elephant house. A seep hillon privae property, with no ral 00d. Tete's one spo, 7 the back ofthe bl, where yu can ses into the eephane house {'m probably the only une who knows about.” Thad found the spor purely by chance. Strlling through the arcs one Sunday aferscon, I bad Jost my way and come out at the top of the ci. I found + itd Aut open pute, just big enough fora person to stretch oat i and whea Tooked dows ‘rough the bushes, there was the elepanr-house roof. Below the edge ofthe of wae ily large vent opening, snd dhzough fet hada clear view ofthe inside ofthe clephanc house. ‘made ia habit after tha 0 vist he place every now and thon to Ince atthe elephant when i was inside the house. 1f fnyone had saked me why I bothered doing such a thing, 1 woulda’ have had 4 dosent answer. sionply exjoyed watching the lephane ducing it private ime. Taere was nothing more 0 ‘cea that, coulnt ce She ephant when the house was dark nside, ofcourse, butin the early hours ofthe evening the keeper ‘would Fare the fights on the whole time he was raking care of {he elephant, which enaoled me to study the scene in dra. ‘What seack me immediately wien I saw the elephant and keeper alone together «i the obvious king they had for each ‘other—something they never dplayed when they were out be- foe the public. Ther alton was evident in every gestae. It slimoe seemed asf they stored away their emosions during che ay, tking care Tot to et anyone nodes them. and rook them ‘ou a night when they could be alone. Which snot o say thatthey did anything difeene when they were by themselves ine fide, The clephant just stoxd there, 3 blake a8 ever, and he exper would perforin those asks one would normaly expext him to do as a keeper: scrubbing down the lephane with a dec broom. picking up dh lephane’s enormous droppings, leaning sp afer she clephant at. But ther war no way to mse the special warmth, the sense of trust, Lerween them. While the Keeper swape the Hoor the elephant would wave i unk and pat the keoper' back. {hed 0 atch the elephant doing shat. “Hive you alvays been fond of elephants?” she asked. "T sean, not jst cat particular elephant?” “Him come to think of iI do ike elephants” Tid “Thesc’s someching about them that excites me. guess Te ae sway liked them, Ione why.” And that day. t00, aftr the sun went down, I suppose you ‘were up onthe ll by yoursf. looking athe elephant. May— hac day was i?” “The seventeenth, May seventecth at seven at. The days ‘were already very long by then, and the sky had 2 reddish glow, ‘bot heights were on inthe elephant house” And was chere anything unusual about the elephant ox the “ans "Will. cere was and there wasnt, oan'asy exacy. Is not ss ifthey were tanding ight in front of me. Pm probably not ‘themost rable witness” “What did happen, exactly?” I rook swallow of my now somewhat watery scorch. The ‘ain outside the windows was sill coming dow, no stronger ot weaker than before,» sate clement ina landscape that would ever change. “Nothing happened, ceally The elephant and the keeper were doing what they always did —deaning, eating, paying around with cach other in chat finaly way oftheir. waeat ‘what they dd chat was diferent, I the mv they looked, Some ‘hing about dhe balance berween ther.” The balance?” size, Of thee bodies. The clephan's and che keep’. The belance seemed to have changed somewhat I had e fling that ro some extent the dierence berween them had Shrunk” ‘he kept her gate fd on her igus gies for acme, 1 could see thatthe ice had meled and tha the water was working its way through the cockzalike tiny ean current. "Meaning shat the clephant had gotten smaller?” “Or the keeper had gotten bggee, Or bth simalaneousy” "And you did tel this othe police?” "No, of course not.” I stid. “Pm eure they would have Ueloned me. And if had eal chem Isr watching the sephant ‘om the elif atime like that, have ended up as their num De one spect.” "Sail, are you cist thatthe balance betwen them bad changed?” “Probably. Ian only sy ‘probably dont ave ny proof and asTheep saying, I vas looking a them through the ai rent ‘Buc Thad looked at them like that dont know how many timer before, sits hard for me to bsieve haf could makes mistake bout something abasic a the reltion of thi ac Ts fac, I had wondered 2 the time whether my eyes were laying tricks on me. Thad tid closing and opening them nd shaking my nead, but the elephant’ size remained the same. It deftly looked 2 fit had shranke—20 mich eo that at fst hough the tow might have got old of anew, smaller lo phant. Dut [hadnt hend anything to chat effec, and I would ‘ever have missed any nows reports abou lephans. Ichi was not anew clephan, the only possible conclusion vas thatthe ld elephant bad, for one reason or another, shrunk, As 1 watched tbecame obvious to me that this smaller elephant had dM the same geatures asthe old one. It would tac happily on the ground with is right foot while ic was being washed, and ‘with ie now somewhat narrower trunk would pa the keeper ‘onthe back. lewasamystecious sight. Looking through the vent, adheToe euepeany van fecing hata diferent, chilling kid cftime was Bowing through lephane house—bet aawhese cle. And ie seemed 10 my too, that ce clephane and the Peeper wee gladly giving them selves ove to this new ord that as trying to envelop them — cor that had sleady partly suceeded in enveloping ther, ‘Arogethee, 1 vas probaply watching the seene i the clo phant house foe le than 2 half hour, ‘The lights went out 42 eventhisty--much erie han uual=and fom that pine om, cererything was wrapped in dering. I waited in my spot, hop ing thac the lights would go on ags'n, But they newer did. That ‘yas the at saw of the leant “So, then, you Believe that “se lephant kept shying un it was small enough ro escape rough the bars orelee that it Simply dissolved nto nochingnese. I that” Stdon' kos" Isai “AI I'm trying to dois secall what saw with my own eyes, a8 accurstely a posible, Pan haedy ‘Binking sbout what happened after dat The visa image 1 have i so stong that, to be hone, te practialy imposible formeto go beyond i ‘Thor was ll could say boue dhe lephant' disappearance, ‘And just as [nad eared, the story ofthe elephant was £00 partio= tat too compete in itself to work asa topic of convertion between young man and woman who hag jut met. A sllence descended upon us afer {had fnished my tle, What subject could either of us bring wp afer a story about an elephant that had vanished-—a story that offered vrwally no openings for father discussion? She ran her finger around the edge of her ‘ocknil gas, and Isat there reading and rereading the words sampod on my cosser Inever shoul have tol hee about the clephant. It was not the kind of sory you could el freely to snyone. “When T wat litle git, our cat disappeared,” she offered fier along silence. “But stil, for cat to disappear and for an lephant to dssppear—chose are wn dicen seria” “Yeah, ealy: There's no comparron, Think ofthe sie dif. fexencs.” ‘Thiexy minutes late, we were saying good-bye outside the hotel. She suddenly eemembered tha she ha lef her umbrella ‘nehe cockal lounge, so went ep in the elevator and brought vedown to he. Iewas a bridored umbrella with arg handle Thanks,” she ad “Good night,” Isa ‘That was the last dime Taw her. We salkod once on the hone after thar, about some details inher ten ate, While ‘ve spoke, [though seriously about inviting her ost for diane, Due ended up noe doing leur didnt scem co mater one way orthe other 1 fie like this alo after my experience with the vaithing lephant. I would begia to think Iwanted eo do smnething, but then I would become incapable of distinguishing between the probable results of doing ic nd of not doing it I often get the feeling that chings aroand me have Jos dheie proper balance ‘hough it could be thar my pezeepons ar playing sticks on me Some kind of balance inside me has broken down since the ele phant afi and maybe that eases exeral phenomena to trike ‘my eyeina srange way. I's probably something ia me [continue to sell refigeratrs and voster ovens snd collec ‘makes in the pragmatic wood, based on afterimages of mem= cories I setan from that world. The more pragmatic I ay 10 become, the more succesilly { ell—our campaign has cexded beyond our mos optimistic oreeate—and the more people I succeed in selling myzel to. That's probably becuse people are looking fora kind of unity in his chine know a8 the wocid. Unity of design. Unity of olor, Unity of function, ‘The papers print almost noting about the span any= snore. People stem to ave forgoren thit thee town once ‘owned an elephant. The grat that ook over the elephant cnlo~ sure as withered now, snd the area has the fel of winter, ‘The elephant and keeper have vanished eomperly, They vill never coming bck rant by Joy Rabin