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On the other hand, maybe he really talked like that. He was singing another song now, something about Nagasaki.
    “It certainly is a nice day for the zoo, Mr. Swan,” I said.
    “Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk, sho’ nuff, bless yo’ heart, chile, hyuk, hyuk, hyuk!” Charles Swan said. I settled back in my seat. “Hot ginger an’ dynamite,” Charles Swan sang. I had a funny feeling about Charles Swan. There was something I wanted to ask him, but he always went into the “Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk” thing every time I was sort of clearing my throat, getting ready to try and start a conversation.
    The cab was very noisy. There wasn’t much in the way of a muffler, and the doors and windows all rattled. Every time we went over a bump, stuff rattled and crashed in the trunk. Charles Swan was singing, and sort of talking to himself the whole time. I wanted to know if he knew the Chicken Man, but he never gave me a chance to talk. The taxi screeched to a stop outside the Hogboro Zoo. Charles Swan stamped on the brakes, and the door swung open all by itself. I handed him his quarter. The engine had died, and he was trying to get the cab started. I started to walk away, then turned back and asked through the window, “Mr. Swan, do you know anything about a guy called the Chicken Man?”
    “The Chicken Man?” The engine came to life. There was a rattle and a roar. “Never heard of him.” The cab pulled away and left me standing in the gutter. “Bye, Victor!” Charles Swan shouted. I was certain I heard a chicken clucking over the engine noise. I took out my notebook:
    8. Chicken Man disguised as cab driver.
    I went into the zoo. It occurred to me that I had never been in a zoo before. It had a weird smell. There was a big gate to go through. Then there were a lot of big brick buildings. People were walking around. Most of them had little kids with them. Some of the brick buildings had iron cages along one side. In one of them was a tiger! I went closer and looked at the tiger. It was fantastic! In the next cage was another tiger, and a leopard next to that, and lions! They were beautiful. I spent a long time looking at the big cats. I kept going back to the tigers. I just couldn’t believe how beautiful they were. I didn’t like the idea of all those animals being kept in cages, but I was glad they were there to look at just the same. I spent the whole day at the zoo, and I never did find out where they keep the lizards, which I had come to look at in the first place.
    From the cats, I went to the elephants and the bears. I spent a long time with them. I was just getting to appreciate the different kinds of antelopes, and zebras and buffaloes, when a guard kicked me out of the place—closing time. I had already decided that I was coming back the next day. As a matter of fact, I was planning to come back every day for the rest of my life. I never dreamed that zoos were so wonderful. I mean, I thought they’d be interesting—sort of like the animal programs on television—but looking at the animals for real and hearing them and smelling them—and sometimes the animals look back at you. Wow. It’s just great. There was one thing called a lesser kudu that I was looking at just before the guard kicked me out. It had wavy horns and a gray body with thin white stripes and these nice warm eyes. I could still see the lesser kudu on the bus ride to the Hogboro terminal and then home.
    I didn’t get home until the middle of the news. I switched on Roger Mudd and turned the volume way up so I could hear him in the kitchen. I had forgotten to eat all day. There was stuff to eat for sale in the zoo, and I had bought some peanuts for the bears, but I hadn’t remembered to eat anything. I checked the TV dinners. Somehow none of them appealed to me. I thought maybe I’d try some eggs. I had never actually cooked eggs, but I had seen it done often enough.
    First I got the frying pan and put about half a stick of butter in it. I turned up the