The Magician's Elephant

In the city of Baltese, 10-year-old Peter Augustus Duchene lives in the attic room of the Apartments Polonaise with his guardian, an old soldier named Vilna Lutz. Vilna Lutz has one wooden foot and a pointy beard, and in between his fevers, he is training Peter to be a soldier. One gloomy winter day, Peter visits the outdoor market to buy food but instead uses the florit that Vilna Lutz gave him to visit a fortuneteller. Peter knows it is wrong to use the money this way but plans to tell the truth later. The fortuneteller offers to answer one question in exchange for Peter’s coin. Peter’s parents are dead, but the woman shocks Peter by announcing that his sister, Adele, is alive. When Peter asks how he can find Adele, the fortuneteller tells him to “follow the elephant” (7). Peter disappointedly thinks she is joking, but she insists that truth is mutable. Peter wonders who is lying: the fortuneteller or Vilna Lutz. In their apartment, Peter admits his dishonorable act. Peter asks if Vilna Lutz has ever lied. Vilna, outraged, sends Peter to bed without answering the question. Peter, traitorously, hopes Vilna Lutz lied and Adele lives.