Fahjem: Clear Blue Sky

By Constantin Himmelried

Fahjem is the name of a little elephant girl who fell into a trap in January 2017, severely injuring her foreleg. The villagers had set up the trap to protect their crops. The injuries were so severe thatpart of Fahjem’s foreleg had to be amputated. She received a prosthesis and, in addition, hydrotherapy to help her get accustomed to this prosthesis. Pictures of her went around the world. BBC, New York Times, Euronews, China Daily, Mirror, The Guardian, Independent, The Sun, Euronews, NTV, Reuters, Global News, The New York Post and many others reported on Fahjem and photographed her and her unusual therapy. All this was made possible by a man who spared himself neither expense nor effort to save little Fahjem. Journalists, of course, inquired as to why anyone would incur such immense costs to make it possible for the little baby elephant to survive. But the man did not answer. He merely smiled. The answer to that question may be found in the story of the man who saved Fahjem.

Allow yourself to be touched by a story that evokes every aspect of human emotions. From sadness to joy, from compassion to the most profound happiness. It is a success story, a slightly different kind success story. This is a success story of humanity. Because the success of one of the most beautiful botanical gardens on our planet is founded on nothing else. The love of animals and plants, of fellow human beings, along with the unshakable belief in the goodness of all that is, enabled a man not only to live his dream, but to bring his dream to life.

This is the story of a three-legged elephant baby, a man and a botanical garden, which today is one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the world.

This is the story of Nongnooch Tropical Garden Pattaya / Thailand. And the story of Fahjem, a three-legged elephant baby.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Constantin Himmelried
• Release date: Feb 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370376186

Constantin Himmelried

Constantin Himmelried studied law, worked as a manager in management positions, and most recently as an investment banker. His collection of Stories, Guilt and Redemption was published in Germany in 2017 (Original title: Schuld und Menschlichkeit, tredition Verlag, Hamburg), followed by "Freedom is 49" (Original title: Freiheit ist 49, Scholastika Verlag, Stuttgart). Three stories of Guild and Redemption where published in English in 2018 in the Legal Studies Forum (Established by the American Legal Studies Association, West Virginia University).

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FAHJEM

CLEAR BLUE SKY

Constantin Himmelried

Copyright © 2018 Constantin Himmelried

All rights reserved.

Published by Constantin Himmelried at Smashwords

Cover design by Michael Bennett, London

Cover illustration by Tanes Rojrunglerk, Bangkok

Translated from the German by: Professor Michael C. Blumenthal, Former Director of Creative Writing and Briggs-Copeland Lecturer in Poetry at Harvard University Cambridge, MA; Professor of Law and German language, Professor

of American literature, former editor TIME LIFE Books; Attorney. His latest book Because They Needed Me: Rita Miljo and the Orphaned Baboons of 

South Africa, was published in 2016. His Be Kind: Poems 2000-2012, was published in 2012, and his book of short stories, The Greatest Jewish-American Lover in Hungarian History, in 2014. A frequent translator from the German,

he is also the author of the memoir All My Mothers and Fathers, the Ribelow Prize-winning novel Weinstock Among The Dying, and a collection of essays

from Central Europe, When History Enters The House.

No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, with the prior consent from the copyright owner of this book.

Contact: [e-mail]

Instagram: @chimmelried

DEDICATION

For Kampon.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PROLOGUE

NOVEMBER 2016

35 YEARS AGO

NOVEMBER 2016

TODAY

EPILOGUE

NOTE

NONGNOOCH TROPICAL GARDEN PATTAYA

FAHJEM IN THE NEWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the many people who helped me with the research and supported me energetically.

Also the owner of the Nongnooch Tropical Garden in Pattaya / Thailand, which made it possible for this novel to emerge.

PROLOGUE

A few weeks ago. In a District Court in London. An urgent motion is to be decided upon this morning at 9.00 a.m.

The attorneys had just put on their robes and the judge had taken his place when the cell phone of the attorney who represented the applicant rang. His client was calling. After hanging up, he explained that he was withdrawing the motion on his client's behalf. The court date was therefore cancelled.

The fact of motions being withdrawn is not unusual. But to do so at a time when the negotiations had not even begun, is quite extraordinary.

It was allegedly a matter of a Thai botanical garden's exhibition being rejected by the annual garden show in London's Chelsea district. The reason given was that the garden's director was also organizing elephant shows in his botanical garden, and he was therefore denied admission to the exhibition at the Chelsea Flower Show. Actually an unspectacular case involving equally unspectacular facts.

But behind it lay an unbelievable story. About a man. With a plantation. And an elephant.

NOVEMBER 2016

He was excited. There was much going on within him. Memories. Pleasure. Suffering. Doubt. Anxiety. A veritable bath of feelings. It was exhausting for him and, on one hand, he was happy about what he and his team had created over the past several years. Successes. Setbacks. Many years ago, he had made a decision from the heart. And he had never regretted it. He dropped into his chair and gazed at the many pictures on the wall that told his story. A tear formed in his eye. It ran slowly down his cheek. Joy. Sadness. He could only wait and hope that the doctors would do everything they could to save the baby. He experienced a feeling of déja-vu.

35 YEARS AGO

It was in the 80s. Kamon's parents operated a palm plantation. They harvested pineapples and coconuts. Sold the fruits and produced oils. They could live very well off of this. So much so that Kamon and his parents could travel a lot and see some of the world. Different cultures with all their peculiarities. Kamon grew up liberal. His mother always taught him to be open to all things and to condemn nothing. It was her charisma that Kamon inherited. Her cordiality. Despite many travels and impressions from foreign countries, Kamon's heart belonged to the plantation. To nature and animals. As a young boy he already spent his free time among the palm trees. Watched the workers as they planted and reaped. He was always fascinated. So much so that his mother sometimes had to get him off the plantation, since he questioned the workers to the point of exhaustion and kept them from their work. Kamon developed a very special relationship with the plants.

Plants feel it when you give them love, just as we do, his mother taught him. And that's exactly what Kamon internalized. He treated plants warmly. They became his friends. His companions. Even the animals. From the