The Magician's Elephant

Now recovered from his fever, Vilna Lutz uses lead soldiers to illustrate a famous battlefield strategy for Peter. He declares that this, soldiery, was Peter’s father’s work. Peter thinks of his father, bloody, injured, and dying in a muddy field. He thinks of his dreams of Adele and his father playing with him in the garden. Peter thinks war is awful. Peter tells Vilna Lutz that he wishes there were no war, and that all the horror of war could be reversed. Peter expresses his certainty that Adele is alive and says he no longer believes Vilna Lutz. The old soldier tries to change the subject, but Peter is relentless. Vilna Lutz asserts that Peter’s sister is in heaven with his mother, but Peter insists he heard Adele cry and held her. Peter demands to know where she is. Vilna Lutz finally admits he does not know. A midwife thought he could not care for Adele and took her away. Peter accuses Vilna Lutz of lying to him. The soldier responds that he lied to protect Peter from heartbreak. He raised Peter to become a soldier like his father, whom Vilna Lutz respected.