Zbigniew Herbert: Elephant

As a matter of fact elephants are very sensitive and nervous. They have a prolific imagination, which allows them now and then to forget about their appearance. When they come down into water, they close their eyes. At the sight of their own legs they are overcome with agitation and weep.
    I myself knew an elephant who fell in love with a hummingbird. He lost weight, did not sleep, and finally died of a heart attack. Those who do not know about the nature of elephants have been saying: he was so slobbish.


Tr. Peter Dale Scott. Written in 1950s post-Stalinist Poland. An assertion that the imagination has its own autonomy outside the borders of authoritarianism. Also an assertion that you don't have to believe everything you read, even if it starts off with "As a matter of fact..."