Page 14 - Fables volume 2

Tannenbaum’s Last Taxidermy

Fausto Tannenbaum knew he was in trouble, and it threatened the
final touches on his crowning achievement. Once a rising star in the
world of pickled and embalmed animal corpses, he had become
increasingly isolated in a small-town taxidermy shop with very little
business beyond stuffing and mounting the trophies of hunting
season. Yet he clung to a desperate hope of showing the world the
depth of his knowledge and subtlety of his skill in one triumphant
professional coup. Despite its promising beginning, a terrible
accident had occurred. It forced a drastic change of plan.
A year earlier his agent in the only South American country not
protecting giant armadillos had wired him that a perfect specimen
was available, and named the price. It was exorbitant, but
Tannenbaum knew such opportunities were rare, and might not
occur again. After verifying its dimensions—85 pounds, 55 inches tip
to tail, thirteen bands on the body and three on the neck—he further
arranged for it to be freeze-dried before shipping; packing it in ice in
an insulated box would add significantly to the airfreight, and left
open the possibility of spoilage. He would have to wait eight months,
but that would give him time to recoup the staggering expense.
When the crate arrived he closed his shop and began a hermetic
dedication to the project. The taxidermist had laid in fresh supplies,
cleaned and sharpened his tools, and cleared off his work bench in
the tiny back room he used as residence and studio. He spent half a
day carefully opening and unpacking the armadillo, then going over it
with a magnifying glass under a bright lamp. It was flawless.
He knew the ears would pose the greatest difficulties, so he did
them first. Then he slowly, carefully adjusted the limbs and torso into
a pose he had chosen from dozens of photographs in books and
magazines; it had seemed to him the most dynamic of them all, not
merely lifelike but as living as a candid snapshot of the animal up on
hind legs, sniffing the air for danger or a termite mound.
After three weeks of work he realized that he was experiencing
dizziness and an inability to keep his eyes focused and hand steady.
Was it the cheap coffee he brewed five times a day? The peanut

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