Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II

Revealing an anti-authority streak, Williams hires an indigenous worker—banned by the company—with a reputation for instability and unreliability. Soon enough, this employee, Aung Kyaw, disappears after being sent on an errand to buy chickens and eggs for the camp. When he finally returns, empty-handed, Williams summons him to his office and questions him. Aung Kyaw provides no adequate explanation, so Williams insults him—“I did use every Burmese jungle expression at my command to tell him what I thought of him as a man”—before telling him rudely to “Clear out!” (119). Aung Kyaw does not obey the order. Instead, he pulls out a dagger and brandishes it as Williams charges at him. Williams is stabbed in the ribs; the wound is severe, but his lungs are luckily undamaged.

Aung Kyaw turns himself in to the authorities, while Williams feels ashamed of the incident. He thinks that “[i]f I had shown Aung Kyaw the sympathy and understanding that I prided myself on having for the elephants” (121), he would not have been injured. Thus, he attends the trial, which could lead to Aung Kyaw’s execution, to be an advocate rather than an adversary. He asks to take the Burmese oath in addition to the oath sworn on the Christian Bible before his testimony; then, he tells the story, claiming that Aung Kyaw’s actions were “never, he believed, premeditated” (123).