The Penguin Lessons

by Tom Michell

That was the end of the matter, and I wasn’t going to discuss it, justify it, debate it, or take advice about it, by, with, or from anyone.

For her, the joy of the things she could do outweighed the woes of those she couldn’t.

“I only want things that make me happy. So many people are captivated by things that can never make them happy!” “What makes you happy, then, Maria?” “Oh, my children and my family make me happy, and my friends. Growing things make me happy. Flowers on the tomatoes and the swelling fruit. The hens, the pigs, and the goats make me happy. My work makes me happy, too.” She paused, then said, “Growing older with the people I love makes me happy.”

How, in a world so full of astonishing beauty and priceless wonders, had humans devised so much misery, and not just for our own species?

How was it that a penguin brought such comfort and tranquility to the people whose lives he touched? Why did they go to his terrace and bare their souls to him as though they had known him for a lifetime, treating him like a real friend who could be relied upon in adversity? Was it peculiar to those times of violence and despair, and would it have been different in periods of peace and prosperity? It certainly appeared that people confided more willingly in Juan Salvado than in their fellows. Such, it seems, is simply the nature of humans with penguins.

the pain of parting is the toll demanded by fate for all the joy brought to us by loved ones, and I felt inconsolable.

Of course, time moves on, and new family, friends, and pets jostle for position in our hearts, but the vacancy left by previous occupants never fills.