Two men, travelling the Savannah by train. Outside the window, for a glimpse, they spot a lion. In a moment, they pass it, and both look at one another.

One of the men, the second, says to the first:

“Did you see that lion out there, in the open Savannah?”

The first gives a nod.

“I did,” he confirms.

The second man shows a proud smile.

“That lion is mine,” he declares.

The first gives him an odd look.

“The lion?” he asks.

“Yes, the lion.”

The first considers for another moment, still unsure, and confirms again.

“The lion, out there on the open Savannah – that lion is yours?”

The second redoubles his pride, and looks over his nose at the first.

“Indeed, that very lion – it is mine.”

The first becomes flustered, and turns to himself for a single thought. He then turns back to the second man.

“I suppose I am confused. The lion appeared to be naturally free, out in the wild.”

The second gives him an assertive glance.

“Yes,” he asserts, matter-of-factly, “it appeared so because it is so. That lion is free, and it is mine.”

The first gives a nod, but still feels uncertain.

“I guess it was somewhat far away. It was simply difficult for me to see its brand.”

It was now that the second man gave the first a strange look.

“Brand? The lion has no brand,” he says. “Or at least I would hope it does not! I would not like my lion to be bearing a brand that I did not put there myself!”

Helplessly, the first man’s confusion returns in full vitality.

“So the lion has no brand?”

The second man’s nostrils flare.

“It has no brand!”

“Then,” he says, “if the lion has no brand, and it is out in the wild, then how exactly is that lion yours?”

The second man, bewildered, looks the first straight in the eye.

“It is no-one else’s, that lion,” he explains, “and since it was no-one else’s, I claimed it as my own. And I told everyone, too, and now they know too that that lion is my own. I also told you, so that you may know as well.”

Just as he speaks that sentence, a woman passes the two men’s cart. Rapidly, the second man knocks out to her to grasp her attention. She catches the knocks, turning in to see the two men occupying the cart. She opens the cart door to hear their attention.

“Hello,” says the second man to her, “we have only just passed the open Savannah.”

“Yes, we have,” confirms the woman. 

“Did you happen, as we were passing it, to see in that Savannah a lion?”

The woman reflects briefly. 

“Yes,” she says, “there was a lion there.”

The second man takes the opportunity to give a pleased nod, accompanied with a smile.

“And that lion: would you happen to know to whom that lion belongs?”

The woman, this time without hesitation, knows.

“It belongs to Mr. J—” she answers. “Though I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. J— myself.”

The second man extends his hand to the woman.

“Mr. J—”

Politely, the woman pushes her own hand into the cart. Exchanging a handshake, and not giving her own name, the second man detaches his gaze, and she her own. She then closes the door, and finishes walking past the cart.

As if there was any doubt, the first man knows that the second is indeed Mr J—. He watches as the second returns his eyes to look out the window, passing once again an open plains. 

He cannot know how the lion is indeed Mr J—’s – he cannot know, how the lion belongs to the second man. He cannot know how in the open Savannah, the lion is free. He cannot know.

He looks too out the window, onto the sunny landscape. There he sees its beautiful trees, and a mountain in the distance, far away. He enjoys the trees, as they drift on by.

15.X.23