Randerup 40
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Quotation of the week
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The Magic Boy III
In The Zoo
By
Per Jespersen
One morning the phone rang in Sebastian’s house. “Who is calling at this time of the day,” Dad said. “The neighbour. She always calls, when we are busy.” “Are we busy now,” Sebastian said ironically. “Well, I am. I have my papers to go through,” Dad said. “Oh, I see.” “I wonder what she wants,” Mom said. The phone rang again. “It could be for me,” Dad said. Now Sebastian broke in again. “What about answering it. I guess that’s the way to find out who it is.” “Good idea,” Dad said. “Clever boy. You take it.” Sebastian went to the phone. It was Sharon. “What about this afternoon?” “What do you mean?” “The Zoo.” There was a big zoo in the city they lived in. “Oh, I had forgotten. Yes sure.” “So after school, Sebastian.” “Yes sure.” “You and I! I love animals.” “You and I.” His heart beat and he could see Dad listening curiously, while pretending to work with his papers. “See you, Sebastian.” “Who was it,” Dad asked. “I don’t know. But I come home later. I have an appointment.” “With whom? We have a right to know.” “A lady. “ Was Sharon a lady? Well, she would be one day. But not now. He liked her the way she was.” “Is it one of your teachers?” “In a way she is.” “In a way!” It was Dad. “Either she is your teacher or she is not.” Sebastian looked at the clock at the wall. “I have to leave now. I don’t wanna be late.” “Good boy,” Mom said. Two minutes later he was in the street, relieved. Parents were hopeless, and he could not tell them that he intended to go to the Zoo with the girl he loved. It was a private matter. The bell at the school rang, and there was only time for a wave to Sharon. It was a long school day. Sebastian and Sharon sat dreaming about their first trip together. But they would not talk about it, because it was a secret between the two of them. Sharon had told her parents, that she had a meeting with one of her teachers, and her Dad had said, “What have you done now?” “Nothing, it’s just a practical meeting.” “I see.” It was clear that Dad did not believe a word of what she was saying. Finally the school day was over –a rather dull day, because they did not have their favourite lesson. Sebastian and Sharon stayed in class, pretending they had an exercise to do. But Eve came rushing in, as she had forgotten her school bag. “Oh,” she creamed. “Is there a date going on here?” “No, we’re working.” “I see that. But calm down. I have a date too, but don’t tell anybody.” “Adam,” Sebastian suggested. “Beware of the snake, then. It’s gonna try to tempt you.” “And don’t eat the fruit from the tree,” Sharon laughed. “And do find the shortest way to Eden,” Sebastian said. Eve turned round. “You are crazy. “And she left the room. Sebastian got up. “Let’s go. I can’t wait. I’ve never been there.” An hour later they were buying their tickets and went in. The place was crowded, especially with children, but they found a place with no people and sat down on a bench, from which they could see huge cages with birds and butterflies. Sebastian had brought some burgers and coke, and they had a good and quiet talk on the bench, watching the tiny humming-birds. “They are so beautiful,” Sharon said. “The smallest birds in the world.” “In a way it’s a mistake to have these birds in cages.” “They do it, so that everybody can see them and experience them.” “I know. That counts for all animals here. It’s unethical. We don’t have the right to do that.” “So you want to close all the zoos of the world and set the animals free.” “Sure. It’s strange. Because I like it here and do like to watch the animals, and at the same time I think, it’s unethical to keep them in captivity. This means that I like something, which I see as unethical. That’s a paradox.” “That’s the way it is with mankind. We all do conflicting things. All the time. The heart of mankind is contradictory.” “Yes, even growing crops is unethical.” “Sure. There should be a forest. Even to fell a tree is unethical.” “So being human is almost impossible. How can we live with it? We were not meant to be.” “What are you saying?” “You heard. We are not meant to be.” “Have you talked to God about that?” “No, maybe I should.” “Then I’ll tell you something. He created the whole wide world, human beings included. So we were meant to be.” “I know that. But Eve was tempted to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge. “He laughed. “So the woman did the mistake!” “Hey, hey – Adam took the fruit as well.” “Tempted by the woman. And we were not supposed to know everything. Remember: The Tree Of Knowledge. When we know too much our ethics crack.” Sharon thought deeply. “That’s a difficult question. I can’t cope with it. And you can’t. Let’s take a trip in this zoo and have a look at the beautiful animals, see the beauty in them and forget the ethical problems. We can’t be philosophical all day long. We have to enjoy things through pure spontaneity.” “You’re right. Let’s go visit the owls. The birds of wisdom.“ He laughed. “Maybe wisdom is better than knowledge. We were meant to be wise. Now I see it.” Sharon laughed and clapped her hands. “Oh, my wise Sebastian. Show me the way to your wisdom!” They got up and went to a huge cage with many owls from all over the world. “They are wonderful, Sebastian. I think you are an owl. Or you have been an owl in your former life.” “There’s no such thing as a former life.” “How do you know?” “I don’t believe in it.” “They stood for a long time, watching the wonderful birds. Especially one owl caught their interest: a completely white owl from the northern areas. It was so beautiful, that it made Sharon whisper, “What a beauty. Imagine that this owl belongs to Nature.” “It’s fascinating. Look at its eyes! Marvellous.” He found Sharon’s hand and experienced a moment of total happiness. “May this moment last forever,” he thought. But it did not. A flock of small children came up to them. They talked and talked and were very noisy. The owl crept into the darkest corner of the cage, and some of the boys started to throw stones against the cage. “Stop it,” Sharon shouted. “Get away,” Sebastian cried. “It’s not your business,” one of the boys shouted back. “It’s only an owl. It’s stupid! Crazy bird!!” That was too much. Sebastian started to fight with them and succeeded in making them leave. “That’s the way children are these days,” Sharon said. “Especially boys, Sebastian!” They sat on the bench for a while, and Sebastian took Sharon’s hand again. “Let’s sit here for some minutes and enjoy the quietness.” After five minutes Sharon got up. “Look at your watch, Sebastian. We should have been home now.” “Oh, my Dad will go mad.” “Mine too. And my Mom will be so worried. They think I have a meeting with my teacher.” “Ok then. Let’s leave.” They went towards the entrance. There were so many people, that they had to take each other’s hands. The nearer they came to the entrance, the more people there were. Suddenly Sharon felt Sebastian’s hand slip out of hers, and she cried, “Sebastian, wait!” But he was not there anymore. She looked everywhere, but could not find him. And then she saw a huge white owl fly over the crowd. It flew over the entrance and disappeared. Then she understood and hurried through the crowd to the street. And there he was, waiting for her. “We’re busy, Sharon. Come on!” “Vouw! I love you, Sebastian. You’re marvellous. No, you are magic!”
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