Tuesday, June 09, 2009

The fashioner of forms

The Atlas of Curiosities: Part 11

The village was unremarkable, unless one found its lack of amenities noteworthy.  The manner in which sewage and rubbish was disposed of was matter-of fact.  A single ditch, dug behind the main row of huts, led into a small gulf in the forest bordering the inhabited area.  A young woman, who had remained silent throughout our visit, indicated as if to induce us to follow her to this ditch.  We hesitated, as even from several feet distant, the smell of rubbish and waste was palpable. 

As we drew closer, however, the reason for her insistence became clear.  From the bank opposite, hulking forms became clear, and as proximity increased our perception, we realized what we were seeing.  The bodies of the animals of the forest had been crafted, apparently by this one woman, out of the earth by the side of the bank.  Using leaves, bits of rubbish, twigs, and small stones, she had beautifully rendered the wild beasts with which she was familiar.

She lifted a figure of a rhesus monkey from the ground in order to display it, and she placed a tin can on its head as a crown without displaying the slightest hint of humor.

We chuckled to ourselves, but felt a sincere sense of pity when the monkey began to crumble in her hand; removed from the dampness of the riverbank the air had quickly dried the soil and was turning it to dust.  We asked our host to express our sympathies, and the young woman perceived by our tone what we intended to convey.

“She asks you to save your pity,” our host told us, “Decay is the mother of her craft.”