As Franz Kafka
awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself
transformed into a raging bull elephant. He charged around his room
with his trunk sticking straight up and making loud trumpeting noises.
The picture of the lady in furs came crashing down, the vase of
anemones tipped over. Suddenly afraid that his family might discover
him, Franz stuck his enormous head out of the window overlooking the
courtyard. But it was too late. His parents and sisters had already
been awakened by the racket, and rushed into his room. All of them
gasped simultaneously as they stared at the great bulk of Franz's
rump. Then Franz pulled his head and turned toward them, looking
sheepish. Finally, after an awkward couple of minutes in which no one
spoke, Franz's mother went over and rested her cheek against his
trunk and said, "Are you ill, dear?" Franz let loose a bloodcurdling
blast, and his mother slipped to the floor. Franz's father was about
to help her but noticed the anemones tipped over on the table. He
picked them up and threw them out the window, saying, "With Franz
like this, who needs anemones?"
