on the mourning customs of elephants
TRANSCRIPT
On the Mourning Customs of ElephantsAuthor(s): Alex EpsteinSource: The Iowa Review, Vol. 38, No. 2 (Fall, 2008), p. 86Published by: University of IowaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20537013 .
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On the Mourning Customs of Elephants
Elephants are mediocre escape artists. True, they visit the dead body after it has decayed. And as they stand there, they undoubtedly ask
themselves: How is this elephant different from other elephants? Did he do something noteworthy with his life? Why shall we not
forget this one?
One of the elephants says: Maybe, when he was in captivity, he
visited thirty different cities. And another, very old elephant adds:
Maybe, fleeing from humans, he walked two hundred miles in a
single night. And then they all remember, with a gentle smile: The
road home was fraught with danger. The ocean waves were high. When he jumped from the deck a full moon floated in the sky...
Elephants believe that the idea of death is quite simple?they believe that they are always to blame. Contrary to popular belief, at
the necessary moment elephants can jump a little, so that all four
of their feet are in the air at once.
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