The Taxidermist by Enrique Laso

Author:Enrique Laso [Laso, Enrique]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Babelcube Inc.
Published: 2017-12-29T05:00:00+00:00

VIII

With June came the exams and the end of the school year. In theory, I was risking a lot, since those exams would be the base for the final grade that would allow me to access one university course or other. Although I knew very well at the time what I wanted to be, I didn't want to upset my parents too much, and I didn't mind at all spending another four years studying one of those so-called normal professions, those that everyone thinks that will let you make a living, without many joys but without many worries either. That was the reason why, in the whole month, I only visited the taxidermist on one Saturday.

I missed him constantly: his advice, his ability to encourage me to follow my dreams, his mastery in the art of mounting... I also missed - on the hottest, most humid afternoons - while I was trying to stick mathematical formulae or philosophical quotes into my head, Adela's cheer and her fabulous lemonade.

José had taught me the correct way to mount birds, insects and small mammals, such as rabbits, squirrels or foxes. His classes, which were mostly practical, were incredibly entertaining and far from the boring, long-winded speeches of my teachers at school. Every now and then, he would spice up his explanations with theoretical details, of which I took due note. I felt that mounting animals was almost always the same, and that there was little difference between a quail and a guinea pig. But the taxidermist would always get a bit frustrated and blurt out: "If you tackle all pieces in the same way, you are always doomed to fail. Each one has its peculiarities, much more so when they belong to different species. Birds and rodents are only similar in their mechanics, nothing else. Imagine if I'd tried to preserve a squirrel using the same techniques that I use for a butterfly".

I still had to face the greatest challenge: a large mammal. I dreamed of the day that would happen, although it did involve several relevant difficulties. The first and most important: to get the piece. I had to be ready, too, because such an enterprise would require solid training on my part. "Next autumn we can give it a go, not before that. Meanwhile, you have to keep learning".

José would occasionally lend me a book on taxidermy, or his notes and black and white photographs of him, working in his study. That made me very emotional, seeing him so young, his eyes full of life, working on pieces that I knew were now in some of the best natural history museums in the world. There he was, sometimes tanning skins, in other pictures, using a mixture, or working with plaster or wood for the mannequin inside the larger animals. Those static images, devoid of colour, showed all the magic involved very well, all the art he was able to infuse into his works, all the greatness this gaunt, simple man could give to the rest of mankind.

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