El elefante

by Sławomir Mrożek, A. Rubió (Translator), J. Slawomirski (Translator)

La eficacia satírica de Mrozek, que lo ha convertido en una figura venerada en su Polonia natal (así como en muchos otros países en los que su obra ha sido traducida), es de tal magnitud que ha sido considerado, incluso a su pesar, referencia ineludible. Con un humor punzante, cercano a veces al jocoso disparate, siempre finísimo y a veces definitivamente poético, mantiene en el lector, viva y sin grandilocuencia, una sonrisa que estalla a menudo en franca carcajada, en la que siempre palpita la fuerza vital de la libertad.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Polish Literature, Poland, Classics, Humor, 20th Century

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Sławomir Mrożek (born June 29, 1930, died August 15, 2013) was a Polish dramatist and writer.

Mrożek joined the Polish United Workers' Party during the reign of Stalinism in the People's Republic of Poland, and made a living as a political journalist.

In the late 1950s Mrożek begun writing plays. His first play, "Policja" (The Police), was published in 1958. Mrożek emigrated to France in 1963 and then further to Mexico. He traveled in France, England, Italy, Yugoslavia and other European countries. In 1996 he returned to Poland and settled in Kraków.

His first full-length play "Tango" (1964) – a family saga – is still along with "The Emigrants" (a bitter and ironic portrait of two Polish emigrants in Paris) his best-known work, and continue to be performed throughout the world. Director Andrzej Wajda made a theatre production of "The Emigrants" in 1975 at the Teatr Stary in Kraków. In 2006 Mrożek released his autobiography called "Baltazar".

Mrożek's works belong to the genre of Theatre of the Absurd, intended to shock the audience with non-realistic elements, political and historic references, distortion and parody.

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Controversy

An illustration by Daniel Mróz for Mrożek's book „Słoń” ('The Elephant'), 1957

In 1953, during the reign of Stalinism in Poland, Mrożek was one of several signatories of an open letter to Polish authorities participating in defamation of Catholic priests from Kraków, three of whom were condemned to death (but never executed) by the communist government after being groundlessly accused of treason.

Reviews

[Nika · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The pupils who were at the zoo at the time, slipped back in their school work and became hooligans. Apparently they now drink vodka and vandalise windows. They do not believe in elephants at all."


This is how the short story The Elephant, first published in 1957 in a collection of stories under the same name, ends. Do you want to know why those pupils stopped believing in elephants? The full text can be found here.

The director of the Zoological Gardens in Poland seeks an economical way of getting an elephant. He obviously intends to kill two birds with one stone, that is to attract more customers and save money.
The fact that elephants are considered sluggish animals may help him in his ploy.
The main theme of the story is the increasing gap between reality and appearance. It is set in Poland when it was ruled by Communists. Words and slogans were often deemed more important than deeds and facts. The author takes such an approach to life to the extreme by inventing a fake elephant. Cutting costs is always a good idea, is it not?
Like most fakes, the fake creature and the entire undertaking are doomed to fail. Sooner or later, inflated bubbles (pun intended - for those who read the story) burst and dodgery loses its appeal confronting reality.
However, in this story experiencing false reality did not pass without consequences. It appears to have caused the children to stop believing in the very existence of the truth.


I would like to thank my GR friend, Bob. His thoughtful review of this short story inspired me to read it.

[Glenn Russell]

Slawomir Mrożek grew up in Kraków during World War II. He became a member of the Polish United Workers' Party during the reign of Stalinism in the People's Republic of Poland and made his living (you call this living?!!) as a political journalist.

The Elephant - Mr. Mrożek's laser-sharp satire of totalitarian practices told in 42 short, ironic fable-tales. To share a feel for the delights in store for any reader, I've focused on three yarns:

FROM THE DARKNESS
The narrator tells us he along with the others in his remote village are currently in the grip of ignorance and superstition. At the moment he wishes to venture outside in the dark to take a piss but he's afraid one of the many flying bats will lodge itself in his hair and he won't be able to get it out. So he stays inside and writes up his report.

Let's be łaskawy (gracious) and give our narrator a name - Jakub. Anyway, Jakub reports the price of grain has fallen ever since the devil appeared at the local mill wearing a red, white and blue cap embroidered with the words Tour de la Paix. The peasants have been avoiding the mill and, to top it off, the manager and his wife were driven to drink until one fine day the manager splashed his wife with vodka and set her on fire. Thereafter he departed for the People's University to read Marxism in order to counter irrational elements. Meanwhile his wife who died in the flames leaves us with one more ghost.

Jakub's report continues, informing us of such things as bloodcurdling howls at night that might be the spirit of poor Karas cursing the rich kulaks or wealthy Krywon, long dead, complaining about compulsory deliveries. Howling as a proper class war. And one day Jusienga was out reading Horizons of Technology when something got him in the back so for three whole days he never stopped staring vacantly.

Jakub requests advice from his comrades in the city since he and his villagers are all alone, surrounded by nothing but distance and graves. And he's been told by a forester that when there's a full moon heads without bodies roll around chasing and knocking into each other. And when they pour milk into jugs hunchback dwarfs appear out of nowhere to spit in the milk. And, according to the village priest, the skeleton found behind Mocza's barn was a political skeleton. No doubt about it, comrades, more than anything else, Jakub's report is a plea for help. Help!


Daniel Mroz's illustration for From the Darkness

THE ELEPHANT
Slawomir Mrożek begins his tale thusly: "The director of the Zoological Gardens has shown himself to be an upstart. He regarded his animals simply as stepping stones on the road of his own career. He was indifferent to the educational importance of his establishment."

The zoo was located in a provincial town and lacked a number of the more important animals. Whereupon on July 22, anniversary day of the Polish Committee of National Liberation manifesto under Stalin, the zoo was allocated an elephant. The staff was overjoyed. However, their joy was short-lived. The director, being a good communist, sent a letter to Warsaw renouncing the allocation and proposed a plan to obtain an elephant that would cost less and thus be less of a burden on the shoulders of Polish miners and foundry workers - an inflatable rubber elephant.

The director's rubber elephant proposal was accepted. Upon the completion of the making of the rubber elephant, two keepers were charged with blowing the elephant up to its full size. Well, comrades, you can imagine how much huffing and puffing it would take to blow that rubber into a full-sized elephant. Perhaps predictably, after many hours of such huffing and puffing and blowing by the two keepers, the rubber elephant was still nearly as flat as an enormous grey pancake. Many hundreds of puffs later, deep into the night, the keepers spot a gas pipe ending in a valve.

I suspect you can guess what happened. If you need a hint, below is Daniel Mroz's illustration for the story. As for the schoolchildren who paid a special visit to the zoo the next day, you will have to read for yourself. All I can say is, if you want to build a perfect state-controlled country, get yourself perfectly real elephants for your zoos.



THE SWAN
The Polish authorities take their totalitarianism seriously - every comrade, no matter size, shape or species, must maintain moral principles. No exceptions. Nothing less than the health and well-being of future generations is at stake.

There once was a swan on a lake in a park that was stolen by hooligans. Unacceptable. A new swan was appointed to swim on the lake in the park. So as to make sure nothing happened to this new swan, a guard was also appointed to keep watch over the swan day and night.

On one frigid night the guard could not endure nearly freezing to death, thus he decided to take refuge in the local restaurant. So as not to leave his swan unguarded, he took the swan along with him. The swan objected but was placated when the guard shared his bread and vodka. Successive nights of bitter cold and the swan acquired a keen taste for vodka.

But then it happened: one sunny morning a mother brought her small children to the park to see the swan on the lake. The swan was not swimming; the swan was reeling about in the water. Unacceptable. The mother complained to the proper authorities. Both the guard and the swan were dismissed since, in Slawomir Mrożek's own words: "Even in the most modest position its holder must have some moral principles."


Polish playwright, storyteller and cartoonist Sławomir Mrożek (1930 – 2013)

“The old woman started to scream but nobody came to see what was the matter. Can one be sure who is screaming and from what ideological position?”
― Sławomir Mrożek

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of surreal and satirical fables is perfect fare for fans of Donald Barthelme, Nikolai Gogol, or Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky. In the title story, an inflatable elephant is blown up in a zoo to save money. In ‘The Giraffe’ a little boy is unable to find any reference to giraffes in Marx and Engels, so his uncle denies their existence. In ‘A Forester in Love’ a forester’s enormous moustache is used as a makeshift washing line. In ‘The Lion’ a lion refuses to enter the coliseum and warns the Christians may come to power. In ‘A Citizen’s Fate’ a meteorologist is instructed to compile a more positive forecast, despite the village floods. In ‘Spring in Poland’ civil servants inadvertently start flying out office windows. In ‘On a Journey’ a post office conveys messages through shouting loudly. In ‘Peer Gynt’ a peasant becomes a famous crusader for roof tile repairs, while his wife shivers at home. In ‘A Fact’ a wife after seven years of marriage suddenly realises her husband is made of plasticine. These forty-two short tales are brilliantly witty and melancholic, simply written slants on post-war Polish life. A delightful find.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short story collection, The Elephant came out for the first time in communist Poland in 1957. Mrozek, who as a young man supported the communist government by 1950s evolved into a critic of the system making merciless fun of the communist stereotypes and the inflated imposed social codes and forms.
For me, who grew up in this kind of reality the stories are hilarious in their historical setting, but they also have a universal aspect insofar as lacking self-reflection groups that impose social codes may exist today...(todays raging political correctness comes to mind?).
An inflated self-importance and lack of self-reflection has always been a sign nothing good, no matter how serious were its reasons, and sense of humor used to be a good weapon against it. So let us take Mrozek as an exempel, who for his laughter may have faced consequences far more serious then we do today, and lough at what deserves to be laughed at.

[Antonomasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

[4.5] Wielkie nieba! Eastern Bloc satire that's actually amusing. A rare thing for me: I was a bit bored - other than the significant historical interest - by the likes of A Report on the Party and the Guests, and plays of Václav Havel and Ionesco - and outright irritated at times by Krzhizhanovsky's Autobiography of a Corpse, which almost everyone else loves. But between The Elephant and Vera Chytilova's Daisies (perhaps a surreal image in itself; Daisies [Sedmikrásky] is one of my favourite films) what provokes plenty of actual-LOL is when the action is silly and absurd, regardless of political implications, and it's also usually, jeee-ust, physically possible /realist. (In the handful of misfires among Mrożek's 42 very short stories - IMO - were those that went into outright fantasy, without a folkloric element, much like Krzhizhanovsky: in one the narrator finds a population of tiny people living in a drawer. I think I simply prefer fantasy writing when its primary purpose is fun, not critique: how much more entertaining The Borrowers were than those.) Much credit to the translation by Konrad Syrop, with a tone that appeals to the combination of dryness and ridiculousness found in British humour, no doubt helped by his working for the BBC. A good translation of humourous writing makes the difference between really laughing, and merely feeling as if, in a parallel universe - or another language - you might have laughed (which I found with Moldovan black comedy The Good Life Elsewhere).

For pithy summaries of several of the stories, have a look at the blurb for this hipsterly-snazzy Penguin edition and also MJ's review. Many stories are only 2-5 pages each, and this could even be read comfortably on a commute frequently interrupted by irksome beeps, announcements, and changes. They seem to give a flavour of real life at the time of writing (1950s) alongside the humour and satire. There are moments of universality applicable to bureaucracies and busybodies everywhere, and the schismatic nitpicking of committed leftwing politics in democratic countries is more similar to this than some may like to think. There are also a few unexpectedly beautiful and moving paragraphs about surroundings and scenery which couldn't help remind me of Dukla, a Polish book written forty years after this one. (Review of that unfinished at time of writing this one.) I also liked the illustrations by Daniel Mroz, which satisfy a childish desire for exaggeration and strangeness, alongside a very grown-up precision and a hard-to-pinpoint surreal quality that seems to convey the pressure of the times.

I don't know anything about Sławomir Mrożek beyond Wikipedia and similar webpages, but these indicate a political ambiguity: yes he was involved in satire, but he was once also involved in condemning some priests to the authorities. Some of these stories read as surprisingly daring, but in others he's very deftly hedging his bets. ('Deft' - one of the most over-used words in book blogging and reviewing, and one I normally avoid, but here it feels justified to wheel it out.) For instance in a story about a chap made out to be a great underground hero working against the Communists, his main activity is revealed to be graffiti in public loos; it could be mocking oppositionists, or a regime so authoritarian that even this is daring, never mind any other possible interpretations.

Favourites: From the Darkness, Birthday, The Elephant, The Swan, The Monument, Background to an Era, The Co-Operative, Peer Gynt, The Last Hussar, On a Journey, A Forester in Love, Spring in Poland, Chronicle of a Besieged City.
Not so keen on: The Drawer, A Fact, Siesta.
Which is a remarkably good hit rate for a short story collection.

[João Reis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and bizarre short stories from a communist Poland.

[Tomasz Salski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Było kilka bardzo dobrych, ale sporo takich średniawych

[Richard Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories - really at the short end of short stories. Mostly about 3 pages long, a few under a page, and one longer piece at the end of the book over a dozen or so pages. Hence, to enjoy these pieces you really need to like your literature in short pieces. Some parts are excellent, others less so, but it is definitely a worthy read. Mrozek's style varies between odd to the truly surreal. Many, but not all, are amusing. It is both playful and serious, much of it being satire against the totalitarian regime ruling Poland in the 1950s when this was written.

I think reading it benefits from knowledge of Poland and the communist experience, but is not essential. This edition has limited number of illustrations, which suit the book very well.

If you like something a little different, then I would recommend giving this a go.

[Miku · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo ciekawy zbiór satyrycznych opowiadań, gdzie ewidentnie jest wyśmiewany komunizm oraz wszystkie związane z komunizmem absurdy. Oprócz ustroju pod oko krytyczne wpadają ludzie - bezmyślni, bez wyobraźni, chciwi oraz biurokracja z decyzjami na jedno kopyto i szukaniem z każdej strony oszczędności.

[Lamia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Styl bezbłędny, ale troszkę za krótkie, troszkę za proste te nowelki.

[Pooia · Rating 3 out of 5]

اسلاومیر مروژک در مجموعه داستان فیل ما رو با موقعیت های غریبی روبه رو می‌کنه. چیزهایی که فقط از دل یک جامعه دیکتاتوری زده و احمق می‌تونه خارج شه، چیزهایی بشدت آشنا و ملموس.
فقط به تکه‌ای از داستان فیل گوش کنید: مدیر باغ وحش برای اینکه پول خرید یک فیل رو نده پیشنهاد میده که فیل پلاستیکی بسازند و بادش کنن و اون رو توی قفس بگذارند، روی قفس هم بنویسند که فیل بخاطر هیکل گنده اش خیلی حرکت نمیکنه و موجود آرومی هست. پیشنهاد قبول میشه و دو کارگر بصورت مخفیانه شبانه مشغول باد کردن فیل میشن ولی فیل به این راحتی باد نمیشه. یکی از کارگرها به اون یکی میگه زنم صبح پدرم رو در میاره، اون هیچوقت باور نمیکنه که تمام شب در حال باد کردن فیل بودم.
کل داستان های مجموعه همینطوری هست. موقعیت احمقانه‌ای که یک نظام دیکتاتوری اون رو خلق می‌کنه و تا خصوصی ترین لحظات زندگی آدمها هم نفوذ می‌کنه.
کتاب چاپ سال ۱۳۴۶ و ترجمه فخری گلستان هست. خیلی انتظار چاپ و ترجمه خوب از این کتاب نداشته باشید. خیلی جاها رو باید زور بزنید تا بتونید منظور نویسنده رو حدس بزنید ولی نگران نباشید، اونقدر موقعیت های کتاب به زندگی عادی ما شبیه هست که حدس زدن منظور اون کار سختی نیست.

[Agnieszka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection contains forty or so stories, most of them are pretty short, two-three pages max. The stories are wise and funny, surreal and hilarious and in highly satiric way show everyday reality in socialistic system with its all grotesque solutions and blessings. Set in unspecified time and place are nonetheless universal and can be commonly understandable. Mrożek ridicules communist propaganda and bureaucracy, mocks obtusity, hypocrysy, sycophancy and thoughtlessness. And after reading the title story you probably will never look at elephant the same way again.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book.

It is a slim volume, with forty or so short stories each a few pages long. The stories are surreal and very funny, often poking fun at authority.

A couple of the stories didnt work for me hence four stars.

[Krolikbuks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Słoń oraz Spółdzielnia "Jeden" zdecydowanie odstają poziomem od reszty. Niemniej, wszystkie czyta się świetnie!

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is only the Complacent Ones who will view these short often crucifyingly amusing surreal pieces as descriptive of Totalitarian regimes.

Australia has recently declared the possibility of forcing artists to classify their works so that it can cut down on, control any sign of genitalia and other offensive stuff. An English playwright recently wrote a work about a teacher brought to trial because of abusive behaviour which consisted in gently pushing a student in the direction of the classroom door.This sort of paranoia was thriving and encouraged at my school in my last years of teaching."Touch" had become a dirty word and now a teacher cannot pull apart two brawling children even to protect a weaker child from a bully.

This book is so far a Wonderful Read and I have no reason to think that will alter. What will alter will be my temperature.

What we consider to be the Politically Correct characters of Communist Regimes has more to do with Human Nature and Human Stupidity and Human Conniving and at the moment it is thriving in the West because it suits the Power Ambitions of certain individuals as it did in Communist countries.Communism in the hands of good, decent people was a Force of Justice and Good, just like Democracy. Democracy in the hands of Power Mongers, Big Business, Liars and Politicians,(here the opposite of Statesmen/women)is no different to Bad Communism.

I remind myself of this every time I read another story in this mindcrunching and painfully funny book.

[Brandon Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

[martini ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ · Rating 3 out of 5]

najlepsze opowiadania: "chcę być koniem" i "spółdzielnia jeden"

[bella · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to give this collection of short stories a try after it was recommended to me by my father. At its core Mrożek's prose reminded me a great deal of Kafka or Gogol, in that seemingly simple and fantastical stories are used to criticize the government/society. I love reading these types of novels under normal circumstances, however "The Elephant" did not strike a chord within me because I could not relate to it.

As a reader, I could tell that the underlying message beneath each short story was extremely purposeful and intelligent. Despite their comedic nature, each story condemned varying aspects of communism in central Europe (specifically Poland) during the 20th century. Examples include the domestication of progressive thought in "Birthday", the inability to question Marxist beliefs in "The Giraffe", and the untouchable nature of civil servants in "Spring In Poland". Being familiar with the political environment of Hungary while it was a socialist state under Soviet influence, I found that this collection spoke truths that many didn't have the courage to say at the time it was published. Through his use of satire, Mrożek calls out Marxist ideology for what it was.

I didn't HATE these short stories, but I didn't particularly enjoy reading them or relate to them like I did with Gogol/Kafka. I understood what was being criticized, but I felt that some of the meaning was lost on me, especially since I have not experienced communism first-hand. As a result, I found the short stories a bit repetitive and taxing to read... going to be harsh on this one: 2.5 stars.

***

OUTLIER SHORT STORIES I ENJOYED: "Birthday"; "On A Journey"; "Spring In Poland"

[Miglė · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can a book be bad when it starts like this:

"In this remote village of ours we are in the grip of terrible ignorance and superstition. Here I am, wanting to go outside to relieve myself, but at this moment hordes of bats are flying about, like leaves blown by an October wind, their wings knocking against the window panes, and I am afraid that one of them will get into my hair and I will never be able to get it out. So I am sitting here, comrades, instead of going out, repressing my need, and writing this report for you."

S. Mrožek's short satirical stories are something between Orwell and Daniil Kharms, not quite as long and elaborate as the former, not quite as short and absurd as the latter. It's a satirical look to Poland under totalitarian regime, and SSSR in general. I'd even say that some stories go further from a critique of the regime and satirize the certain kind of stupidity of people, the kind of stupidity that allows such regimes to take place at all.

Some stories, such as "Siesta" and "It's a Pity", I think, are truly brilliant. Others, such as "Children" or "Peer Gynt", I felt, were a bit too straightforward. However, the book contains 42 stories in total, most of them great to read, so I think everyone could find something that's worth pondering and incredibly funny.

[Sónia Teixeira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inteligente, criativo e sátiro.

Tenho que ler mais livros deste senhor ^^

[H.Sapiens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biedny gajowy. Nic z tego by go nie spotkało, gdyby tylko był koniem :(

[Issie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favoritos:
Onomástica
El cisne
La jirafa
Realmente
La cooperativa Una
De viaje

[klaudusia jaworusia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tu dostrzegam niedostrzegalny dla mnie dotąd urok Mrożka- bardzo proste, a jednak ciekawe opowiadanie

[Sam Kuivenhoven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meesterlijke korte verhalen. Aanrader! Heel erg geestig ook.

[Jonathan Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jolly mixture of tales. Some of them follow the more fantastical ideas of Kafka (miniature people found inside a drawer; an elf appearing in a cafe). Some of them take a swipe at the bureaucracy of the communist regime, but in a way that avoids being explicitly against official doctrine. A few unclassifiable oddities as well, including "I'm Subtle", which can be read as the self-regarding monologue of a sexual harasser.

[agata · Rating 4 out of 5]

jprdl slonia nadmuchali

[Vartika · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Elephant is a collection of short, surreal, absurdist and often Kafkaesque stories from 1950s Communist Poland. Amusing, witty and highly satirical — so much so that some stories require repeated reading and may still end in uncomprehension — this slim volume lays humourous ground for an understanding of life under totalitarianism (indeed, the humour of these stories paves way for a realisation of the horrors of lived reality). While I found myself unable to properly appreciate some of the stories, I liked many and thoroughly enjoyed "Children", "Peer Gynt" and "The Chronicle of the Besieged City".

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of surreal short stories (from the 1950s), all based on the crazy actions of a repressive regime.

Some of the stories were clever, but they all felt dated. To someone living in a “free society” the stories come across as more bizarre / insane than a statement on the state of the world.

[Agnik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Na początku chciałam napisać, że szkoda, że nie żyłam w czasach, w których ta książka była napisana, bo napewno nie wyłapałam wszystkich nawiązań. Jednak nie mogę tak stwierdzić. Mrożek umiejętnie przedstawia jakie były realia i widzę jak bardzo się różnią od tego co jest teraz. Nie mówię, że teraz jest idealnie, ale pod wieloma względami jest łatwiej.

[Grzegorz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bardzo przyjemnie było przeczytać coś pięknie napisanego, gdzie każde słowo ma jakiś cel i niczego nie jest ani za mało, ani za dużo. Nie trafiła do mnie natomiast forma, którą była seria opowiadań. Ciągła zmiana kontekstu nie pozwalała się jakoś zahaczyć w tym wszystkim.