Medardo Arias-Satizábal © 2000
Translation by Jon Parisi
For Gabriela María, with the sun and the moon
Raffe the giraffe went out among the puddles of rain one morning to contemplate life, beside
the prairie where the zebras tranquilly grazed.
- "I see you're still wearing pajamas," said Raffe mockingly, while she opened her long legs in the shape of a pyramid.
- "How many times do I have to tell you that they're not pajamas," said one of them. "This striped suit was with me when I came in to this world; God gave it to me to distinguish me from the horse!"
Raffe the giraffe laughed with pleasure and scratched her shiny skin with her teeth. She batted her eyelashes coquettishly and followed some butterflies to a tree, just upon seeing them fly. Slowly, she reached her muzzle up among the highest leaves, still moist from the morning dew, and shook her ears with a nervous tremble. The fresh water that came down from the branches was a morning shower for her. Conceited, proud of her stature, she paused on the hill to watch the arcs of water that the elephants made in the river.
She stretched out on the pasture and blinked happily, hearing the clicking of her hooves upon the land. In front of her, before she could straighten herself up, she saw a group of stags advancing lithely amidst a cloud of dust. Further behind, Mr. Kudu was showing off his long and elegant leap.
"But what a ridiculous hat, with its brim turned backwards!" -Raffe the giraffe said to herself, laughing.
As soon as he was near she disguised her laughter and paid him a respectful bow. From there she could see the groove of the crocodiles' tails, the pink suit of the flamingos, and the fur overcoat of the big monkeys.
"I am the wisest", she thought, and she slipped away to the river to confirm it.
Yes, she was of a discrete beauty, she never wore glasses, like certain bears, her skin was smooth and her yellow eyes revealed kindness. She was still caught up in those thoughts when a male lion passed swiftly by, toward the curtain of trees that served as a door to the forest, followed by a female lion arduously trying to run against the wind.
"She's pressing him to go to the barber right away . . .", Raffe meditated.
"A mane so uncared for must take up the whole house!!!"
Above the forest, petals flew around in commotion, along with dried stamens and flower pollen, the first signs of summer. That, together with the persistent noise of a nearby mill, made Raffe think about the lot of that male lion that had run by. She imagined him with a cloak around his neck, judicious and obedient, before a big mirror and under the vigilance of his mother, while Sam Scissors, a tapir that was also attending to a family of little foxes, smiled.
In the bright shine of the sun, Raffe observed the leaves of the coconut trees, which protected Sam's barber shop from the downfall of water. She rested her head on the trunk of a baobab, crossed her legs placidly, and readied her binoculars in order to get a better view of the crickets' festival that was buzzing on at this time across the river. She smiled upon seeing the images of a wedding. The newlyweds walked solemnly before their attendance. Him, carrying a top hat in his right hand; her, done up with a crown of citrus blossom and donning a pair of high heels too tall for her stature. The bottom of her dress swept daisies along with it. The nuptial entourage advanced toward the top part of a branch. Oh how the green stripes of the cricket groom's tuxedo shined! The bow around his neck, his patent leather shoes! Behind them, an orchestra decked out with tropical shirts intoned:
"Oh Mother Inette,
Oh Mother Inette,
all of us crickets
we dance minuet."
"What a beautiful life!" -Raffe repeated through her insides, as meanwhile she spotted something disquieting through her binoculars. From a wide and plump leaf, a thick dripping descended, threatening to throw a family of ants off of the steep cliff. Raffe ran over, bordering the river, and with a single gulp prevented the avalanche just about to drown her friends.
"Thanks, Raffe!", exclaimed the Queen Ant, betaking herself toward the secret passageway through the tree, followed by her retinue. The giraffe showed approval with her eyes, transmitting to them a message: "I am tall and strong and I am here to protect you." At that moment the sky shuddered with several lightning bolts. The ants that were marching farthest behind ran to shelter themselves under the felled trunk of an oak, and they gave cheers to Raffe.
"It's no big deal," she said. "I believe I've only fulfilled my duty. I don't think this action merits coverage in the Ant Hill Times . . ."
"Don't worry, no one's going to see you in the newspapers," Jarret the parrot chattered to Raffe from a palm tree. "Run, rather, for the downpour is coming immediately!
Jarret flew up to a flowering vine that formed a ceiling over the forest and from there saw how Tamai the butterfly opened her green and yellow umbrella to protect Raffe, smiling amid the storm.
The next day, a brilliant sun appeared, showing its orange-tinged roundness above the mountains.
The animals whispered in the morning fog, their gaze fixed on the star.
- "It's a peach," said a squirrel.
- "No, I think it's something like a fried egg bigger than any we've ever seen," argued an iguana.
- "It could be a shiny coin too…", a monkey argued thoughtfully.
- "With all of your permission, I would like to affirm to you that it is the sun," intervened a deer. "Did you maybe lose your senses at the crickets' party? Could you tell me what you drank at that wedding?"
- "Just rainwater," responded Jarret the parrot, while he laughed loudly. "Can't you see it's a liquor? The humans have made a vile potion of it which confuses the senses and makes you take the sun for a peach."
- "After tomorrow we'll put leaf-filters in the highest treetops," said the monkey. "That way the rain will turn sweet again and we'll have nice feasts and parties . . ."
Everyone applauded and climbed onto Raffe's back, who at the time was already looking for the most tender leaves for her nourishment. From their height they saw in the distance a giant gray beehive sown into the earth, with long smoke stacks and black clouds in the sky above.
- "Want to go there?" asked Tamai the butterfly. "It rains there all the time a bitter and toxic oil, which leads reason astray. There the rivers have disappeared. The few birds that are still alive are sad and ill. They flee to other places, with each and every day . . ."
Nobody answered. Raffe went down to the river with her friendly cargo and happily shook her neck from side to side, throwing all of them to the water with a disorderly plunge. The last butterfly hunter that passed by there decided to donate his net to adorn the mother zebra's hat, pleased by the wedding announcement of one of his daughters.
- "You haven't invited me to the marriage of the sleepyhead colts," said Raffe mockingly, but the zebra had heard it before.
- "Haven't they told you that someone spread chocolate all over your body?", she asked.
"We don't go saying it around there, but it seems you had smallpox or measles. You're
clumsy and lanky, but you're our friend and don't think twice about coming to the party . . ."
Raffe winked at the ex-butterfly hunter and ran off to the river to contemplate life once again. It was certain; she was not as tall, as beautiful, or as strong as she had thought, but recognizing it did not cause her melancholy. The birds flew very high up; nothing seemed to her as perfect as a flower detached from the vine, and her neck was not as powerful as the stone from which water sprang forth.
Already the drums from the festival could be heard from the clearing in the forest. Raffe spied the horizon from above, investigating with her keen sense of smell the distant breeze from that obscure beehive that they called "the world", and she lowered her head with compassion.
- "I think we will do something to return to paradise," she said, while clicking her hooves and inviting the Queen Ant to dance a merengue. In the darkening sky, stars were already appearing, clear and distinct.
Jon Parisi (St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, 1978) A student at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, he is in his senior year. His concentration of study is in Spanish, and he plans to work as a full-time translator upon graduation in January 2001. He lives in Branford, Connecticut, enjoys reading, in both Spanish and English, language learning, playing billiards, and of course, meeting with friends and socializing. He loves pizza, Mexican and Chinese food, but no dish can compare, as far as he's concerned, to a well-made Fettuccini Alfredo. His favorite sports are football to watch (New England Patriots), and basketball to play.
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