Aldek’s Bestiary by Romuald Roman
What's It About?
A collection of 21 connected stories gazing deeper into the psyche of beloved animals and pets — and humanity.Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?
— Job 35:11
Communist authorities in 1984 in a small Poland community create laws chasing longtime families out. The grown son, his wife and child prepare for a difficult goodbye to his mother, who has chosen to stay. She will have trouble making ends meet, even getting enough food to eat.
Just then, their dog Paw shows up with a thick steak in his mouth, making not the slightest attempt to devour it. He drops it in front of the mother — and waits for praise.
It’s unusual behavior from the furry friend, but indicative of Romuald Roman’s unofficial study into the psyche of beloved animals and pets, as told in his collection of 21 connected short stories called Aldek’s Bestiary (Chestnut Hill Press) appearing in English for the first time.
Relatable Stories From Across the Globe
Roman offers up the quote from Job to share his affection, respect and downright admiration for animals. By working animals into his various narratives, he not only portrays them with human-like qualities but positions them as key figures in helping us understand the fragile human mind and its many foibles.
Roman is a popular Polish writer who eventually left his homeland and took up residence and grew his family in Philadelphia. The fiction stories almost read like an autobiography, some tying in political and social issues of the times, all strung together with one animal or pet as the thread.
The author is, with no threat of hyperbole, a master storyteller, showing heart, humor and flaws as he navigates from one situation to another. He divides the chapters into stories from Poland, from Philadelphia, about his dog Roxy, and about his wife Marta.
Weasels, Marmots and Cats — Oh My!
One telling tale is when Marta, fearful of dogs, goes on a two-week business trip, and Aldek (Roman, our narrator as he is known to his friends) and his children conspire to get a dog while she is gone. Upon her return, her screams can be heard throughout the county. He writes, “It was like knowing the date of the flood without means to build an ark.”
But something beautiful happens. As the dog begs forgiveness for crimes of which she is uncertain, Marta suddenly shows compassion, becomes curious about this creature with a suffering heart, and pets her on the head. They become friends; the dog can stay.
In another story, Roxy bonds with Marta’s dad, Alexi, effectively raising the question of whether dogs can understand human speech — a belief of many people who “show no signs of mental illness. But many hide this wild conviction deep in their souls, knowing that to reveal it might expose them to ridicule.”
While the author peppers us with dogs, marmots, weasels, cats, sparrowhawks and others, he also devotes a chapter to a human animal, Jan, a handyman who can fix anything but whose vices compromise his well-being.
Master Storyteller with Heart
So what is the meaning of it all? Maybe it’s simpler than it seems.
“Let me serve others by giving a brief respite from routine thoughts,” says Roman. “I lack material wealth to build a hospital or library, but if my animal stories make you relax and chuckle instead of worrying about problems, then I will have succeeded far beyond Jeff Bezos, for he has only his billions, but I have made a new friend.”
And as for the animals, well, Roman asks is it “confirmation that humans do not think but instead follow impulse or imagination, often making wrong decisions? And the poor animals. They have to live around us. And suffer.”
Unless they don’t.
About Romuald Roman:
Romuald Roman is a popular Polish writer whose work has never before appeared in English. He is a graduate of the Agricultural University of Krakow and Temple University. He has published six books in Poland and is a member of the Association of Polish Writes Abroad. Since 1984, he has resided in Philadelphia.
Romuald Roman grew up under the thumb of incomprehensible Polish bureaucracy, but has lived in Philadelphia for decades, where his children were born and raised as Americans. He is in a unique position to grapple with the fraught and often absurd history of his native country in contrast to his adopted America, and he has the verbal wit to entertain us while sharing deep-felt truths.
