FAITHFUL ELEPHANTS

(A true story of Animals, People and War)

Yukio Tsuchiya
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FOR THE READERS
Building a world without wars has been the greatest human ideal
throughout history. Unfortunately, it has never been accomplished.
Politicians, diplomats, and military men possess the keys to achieving
peace. The responsibility should not, however, be left entirely to them
when the threat of nuclear war is as great as it is today.
I believe it is absolutely necessary for each human being to work
toward the prevention of war and establishment of peace. The power
of the individual is small, yet we believe in the strength of the collective
human energy, just as we know a drop of water is the source of a great
river.
For the past 22 years, one of the things I have done is to read on
television and radio, and to include in my lectures, the story of the
Faithful Elephants, written thirty seven years ago by Yukio Tsuchiya.
During the last stage of World War II, Tokyo was often attacked
from the air. At the city zoo, the keepers, with tears in their eyes, had
to kill many of the animals for fear that they would run amuck in the
town if the zoo was bombed directly. Faithful Elephants describes how
three elephants died at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo at that time.
My act of reading this story seems trivial. However, twenty two
years of tenacious and continuing sowing of the seeds of peace and the
prevention of war are now bearing fruit. Strongholds of peace have
been built in the hearts of adults and children when they realize the
sorrow, misery, horror, and foolishness of war.
The biggest gift adults can give children is to make public the complete
history of and the different viewpoints about war, and to help them
consider how we can realize the human ideal.
I hope this book will be read throughout the world and that the seeds
of peace and war prevention will be sown. I hope that those seeds will
soon bud, bloom and bear fine fruit.
Chieko Akiyama (Radio and Television commentator and critic, Tokyo, 1988)
(Written in 1951 this book is in the 70th edition in Japan.)
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The cherry blossoms are in full bloom at the Ueno
Zoo. Their petals are falling in the soft breeze and
sparkling in the sun. Beneath the cherry trees, crowds
of people are pushing to enter the zoo on such a
beautiful day.
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Two elephants are outside performing
their tricks for a lively audience. While
blowing the trumpets with their long trunks
the elephants walk along large wooden logs.
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Not far from the cheerful square, there stands
a tombstone. Not many notice this monument for
the animals that have died at the Ueno Zoo. It is
quiet and peaceful here, and the sun warms every
corner.
One day, an employee of the zoo, while tenderly
polishing the stone, told me the sad story of three
elephants buried there.
He said today there are three elephants in this
zoo. But years ago, we had three different
elephants here. Their names were John, Tonky and
Wanly. At that time, Japan was at war. Gradually,
the war had become more and more severe. Bombs
were dropped on Tokyo every day and night, like
falling rain.
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What would happen if the bombs hit the zoo? If the cages were broken and dangerous animals
escaped to run wild through the city, it would be terrible! Therefore, by command of the Army,
all the lions, tigers, leopards, bears and big snakes were poisoned to death.
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By and by, the came time for the
three elephants to be killed. They
began with John. John loved
potatoes, so the elephant keepers
mixed poisoned potatoes with the
good ones when it was time to feed
him. John, however, was a very clever
elephant. He ate the good potatoes,
but each time he brought a poisoned
potato to his mouth with his trunk,
he threw it to the ground.
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As it seems there is no other way, the
zoo keepers said, we must inject poison
directly into his body.
A large syringe, the kind used to give shots
to horses, was prepared. But Johns skin was
so tough that the big needles broke off with
a loud snap, one after the other. When this
did not work, the keepers reluctantly decided
to starve him to death. Poor John died
seventeen days later.
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Then it was Tonkys and Wanlys
turn to die. These two had always
gazed at people with loving eyes.
They were sweet and gentle-
hearted. The zoo keepers wanted
so much to keep Tonky and Wanly
alive that they thought of sending
them to the zoo in Sendai, far north
of Tokyo.
But what if bombs fell on
Sendai? What if the elephants got
loose and ran wild there? What
would happen then?
Tonky and Wanly, too were
doomed to be killed at the Ueno zoo,
just like all the other animals.
The elephant keepers stopped feeding Tonky and Wanly. As the days passed, the elephants became
thinner and thinner, weaker and weaker. Whenever a keeper walked by their cage, they would stand
up, tottering, as if to beg, Give us something to eat. Please, give us water! Their small, loving eyes
began to look like round rubber balls in their drooping, shrunken faces. Their ears seemed too large
for their bodies. The one big, strong elephants had become a sad shape.
All this while, the elephants trainer loved them as if they were his own children. He could only pace
in front of the cage and moan, You poor, poor, pitiful elephants! One day, Tonky and Wanly lifted
their heavy bodies, staggered to their feet, and came close to their trainer. Squeezing out what little
strength they had left, Tonky and Wanly made their last appeal.
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They stood up on their hind legs and
lifted their front legs up as high as they
could. Then, raising their trunks high in the
air, they did their banzai trick. Surely, their
friend would reward them with food and
water as he used to do.
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The trainer could stand it no longer. Oh,
Tonky! Oh, Wanly! he wailed, and dashed to
the food shed. He carried food and pails of
water to them and threw it at their feet.
Here! he said, sobbing, and clung to
their thin legs. Eat your food! Please
drink. Drink your water!
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All of the other keepers pretended not to
see what the trainer had done. No one said a
word. The director of the zoo just sat very
still, biting his lip and gazing at the top of his
desk. No one was supposed to give the elephants
any food. No one was supposed to give them
any water. But everyone was hoping and praying
that if the elephants could survive only one
more day, the war might be over and the
elephants would be saved.
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At last, Tonky and Wanly could not move. They just lay
on their sides, hardly able to see the white clouds floating
in the sky over the zoo. However, their eyes appeared
clearer and more beautiful than ever.
Seeing his beloved elephants dying this way, the elephant
trainer felt as if his heart would break. He had no more
courage to see them. All of the other keepers felt the same,
and they too stayed away from the elephants cage.
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Over two weeks later, Tonky and Wanly were dead. Both died leaning against the bars
of their cage with their trunks stretched high in the air, still trying to do their banzai
trick for the people who once fed them.
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The elephants are dead! Theyre dead! screamed the elephant trainer as he ran into the office. He
buried his head in his arms and cried, beating the desk top with his fist.
The rest of the zoo keepers ran to the elephants cage and stumbled in. They took hold of Tonky
and Wanlys thin bodies, as if to shake them back to life. Everyone burst into tears, then stroked the
elephants legs and trunks in sorrow.
Above them, in the bright blue sky, the angry roar of enemy planes returned. Bombs began to drop
on Tokyo once more. Still clinging to the elephants, the zoo keepers raised their fists to the sky and
implored, Stop the war! Stop all wars !
Later, when the bodies of the elephants were examined nothing was found in their washtub like
stomachs - not even one drop of water.
With tears in their eyes, the zoo keeper finished his story. These three elephants - John, Tonky
and Wanly - are now resting peacefully under this monument.
He was still patting the tombstone tenderly as the cherry blossoms fell on the grave, like snowflakes.
End
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