Irwin Shaw - Two Weeks in Another Town

The great elephant has by nature qualities which are rarely found in man, namely honesty, prudence, a sense of justice, and of religious observance. Consequently, when the moon is new they go down to the rivers and there solemnly cleansing themselves bathe, and after having thus saluted the planet they return to the woods.

They fear shame and only pair at night and secretly, nor do they then rejoin the herd but first bathe in the river.

Leonardo da Vinci, after Pliny.

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IT WAS A GRAY, COLD day, without wind. By nightfall, it would rain. Above the airport, in the wintry cover of cloud, there was the spasmodic engine-whine of unseen planes. Although it was early afternoon all the lights in the restaurant were on. The plane from New York had been delayed and the echoing voice had announced in French and English over the public-address system that the flight for Rome had been put back by a half-hour.

The usual gloom of airports, that mixture of haste and apprehension which has become the atmosphere of travel, because nobody waits comfortably for the take-off of an airplane, was intensified by the weather. The neon light made everyone look poor and unwell and suffering from lack of sleep. There was a feeling in the room that if each traveler there had the choice to make over again he would cancel his passage and go by boat or train or automobile.

In a corner of the restaurant, whose tables were decked with the sad little banners of the companies that flew out of Orly, a man and woman waited, drinking coffee, watching the two small children, a boy and a girl, who were plastered against the big window that overlooked the field. The man was big, with a long bony face. He had rough dark hair neatly brushed back, in a style that was somewhat longer than crew-cut, and there was a little sprinkle of gray that could be seen only from close up. His eyes were deep-set and blue under heavy eyebrows, and his eyelids were heavy and guarded, making him seem reserved and observant and giving him an air of cool, emotionless judgment as he looked out at the world. He moved slowly and carefully, like a man who would be more comfortable out of doors, in old clothes, and who had been constrained for many years to live in enclosed places that were just a little too narrow for him. His skin was incongruously pale, the result of winter living in a gray city. The air of patience and good humor that his face wore seemed to have been applied that day under considerable pressure. From a little distance, these small modifications were not evident, and he looked bold, healthy, and easy-going. The woman was in her early thirties, with a pretty figure pleasantly displayed by a modest gray suit. She had short black hair swept back in the latest fashion, and her large gray eyes in the white triangle of her face were accented cleverly by make-up. There was a secret elegance in her manner, a way of sitting very erect, of moving definitely and cleanly, without flourishes, a sense of crispness about her clothes, the tone of crispness in her voice. She was French and looked it, Parisienne and looked it, with a composed, reasonable sensuality constantly at play in her face, mixed with decision and a conscious ability to handle the people surrounding her with skill and tact. The two children were mannerly and neat, and if the family were not examined too closely, they made the sort of group that advertising men like to use, all subjects smiling widely, in color, on a sunny field, to demonstrate the safety and pleasure of travel by air. But the sun hadnt shone on Paris in six days, the neon restaurant light debased every surface it touched, and, at the moment, no one was smiling.

The children tried to clear away a part of the window, which was streaked and steamy. Through it the planes looked blurred and aquatic on the apron and runways.

Thats a Vee-count, the boy said to his sister. Its a turbo-prop.

Viscount, the man said. Thats the way its pronounced in English, Charlie. He had a voice, low and reverberating, that went with his size.

Viscount, the boy said obediently. He was five years old. He was grave and dressed with formality for the departure of his father.

The woman smiled. Dont worry, she said. By the time hes twenty-one, hell learn to stick to one language at a time. She spoke English swiftly, with a trace of a French accent.

The man smiled absently at her. He had tried to come to the airport alone. He didnt like the prolonged ceremonies of leave-taking. But his wife had insisted upon driving him out and bringing the children. They love to see the planes, she had said, supporting her action. But the man suspected that she had come with the hope that at the last moment, in the presence of them all, he would change his mind and call the trip off. Or, at the worst, with the sentimental view of the three of them, the pretty mother and the two handsome small children at her side to tug at his memory, he would hurry his trip and cut it as short as possible.

He drank his bitter coffee and looked impatiently at his watch. I hate airports, he said.

I do, too, the woman said, Half the time. I love arrivals. She reached out and touched his hand. Feeling obscurely blackmailed, he took her hand in his and squeezed it. God, he thought, Im in a filthy mood.

Its only for a little while, he said. Ill be back soon enough.

Not soon enough, she said. Never soon enough.

When I grow up, Charlie was saying, I am only going to travel in avionsraction.

Jets, Charlie, the man said automatically.

Jets, the boy said, without turning away from the window.

I must be careful, the man thought. Hell grow up with the idea that I nag him continually. Its not his fault he speaks half in French all the time.

I cant blame you, his wife said, for being so eager to leave Paris in this weather.

Im not so eager, said the man. Its just that I have to go.

Of course, said his wife. He had been married to her long enough to know that when she said Of course like that, she did not mean of course.

Its a lot of money, Hlne, he said.

Yes, Jack, she said.

I dont like airplanes, the little girl said. They take people away.

Of course, said the little boy. Thats what theyre for. Silly.

I dont like airplanes, the little girl said.

Its more than four months salary, Jack said. Well be able to get a new car, finally. And go to a decent place for once this summer.

Of course, she said.

He drank some of his coffee and looked once more at his watch.

Its just unfortunate, she said, that it had to come just at this time.

This is the time he needs me, Jack said.

Well, youre a better judge of that than I am.

What do you mean by that?

I dont mean anything. All I meant was that you know better than I do. I dont even know the man. Ive heard you talk about him from time to time, but thats all. Only

Only what?

Only if youre as close as you say you are

Were.

Were. Its funny that all these years, hes never bothered to see you.

This is the first time hes ever been in Europe. I told you

I know you told me, she said. But hes been in Europe more than six months. And he didnt even bother to write you till last week

It goes too far back for me to try to explain, Jack said.

Daddythe boy turned away from the window toward his fatherwere you ever in a plane that caught fire?

Yes, Jack said.

What happened?