Peter Ellinger Short Stories

  FIVE PROCELAIN FIGURINES               Five   figurines grace the show cabinets housing my porcelain collection.                         The earliest figurine was produced in the factory of Claudius du Pacquier, which was founded in Vienna in 1718.   It is a Turk, modeled and fired   around 1730. He   sits crossed legged on a cushion. His right hand commands a troop or band. The Turk’s powerful, perhaps even threatening, expression belies his minute size. Porcelain experts took the view that this Turk might have been intended to serve as a tureen’s finial; but I have my doubts. He has his own vocation. He is a leader and not altogether benign. His object is to implement the Sultan’s policy. Nobody would use this Turk as the mere finial of a larger object. To appreciate his nature,...

  MY FOUR ELEPHANTS             Four elephants grace a shelf in my bedroom. To me, each has a special meaning. They were given to me as I climbed up my professional and personal ladder.             The first elephant, made of sterling silver, is a fine replica. The original, which I lost years ago during one of my many moves, was given to me as a Bar-Mitzvah gift. For those unfamiliar with Jewish folklore, it is relevant to mention that when a Jewish boy turns thirteen, he ceases to be a child and must observe all rituals. One of his duties is to be called up to the Torah-reading-podium where he has to   recite the Haftara – a passage of the bible earmarked for the occasion.             Important as the ceremony may be, every Bar-Mitzvah boy looks forward to the gifts which the guests, mainly family members and ...

    THE PURIM RATCHET                   A few weeks ago, just before   the annual feast of Purim, which   in 2017 fell   in March, I went to the small shop in our synagogue in Waterloo Street in downtown Singapore to buy a new Ratchet (Ra’ashan in Hebrew). This musical percussion instrument consists of a gearwheel and a stiff board mounted on a handle. When rotated rapidly by the holder, it emits a piercing rattle. It figures when the Scroll of Esther is read out.   This Scroll relates how Haman induced the then King of Persia to issue a decree ordering the annihilation of all Jews throughout his large kingdom. The ploy is averted by the two heroes of the Scroll: Queen Esther and her Jewish uncle, one Mordecai.   Each year this scroll is read out during Purim in Jewish congregations around the world. Our people     are not disturbed by the fact that modern B...

  THE HONOURABLE THIEVES [ This story isn’t just about a stolen wallet. It’s about what we keep, what we lose or choose to forget and about the strange decency and perception that sometimes reveals itself in unexpected places ]            A short trip from our hotel in Zurich took us to the town’s airport-terminal. When the attendant   put my luggage on the scale, I   wanted to get out my wallet with my credit   cards so as to pay a surcharge. To my dismay it was gone: I had been pickpocketed.              Fortunately, Pat had her ‘supplementary’ credit card ready. We paid the extra for excess luggage and then I went over to the police department. To my dismay, the somewhat sleepy officer-in-charge was not sympathetic or, in the very least, supportive. Explaining that incidents of this sort were common, he took my details and encouraged me to proceed to t...