In Miriam Roth's classic Hebrew children's book A Tale of Five Balloons (Hebrew: מעשה בחמישה בלונים), five children each get a balloon:
In sequence, each child sees their balloon pop. And each is told not to cry, with the refrain, "That's the end of every balloon" -- "זה סופו של כל בלון".
While this is a very simple children's story, it deals very directly and explicitly with loss and impermanence; possibly even grief.
Which is why I'm always a little unsettled by the first iteration, which is a little different -- a small difference, but I feel a significant one. When Uri's green balloon pops, he isn't told to cheer up because "that's the end of every balloon." Instead, he's exhorted:
אל תבכה, אורי
אל תצטער
נקנה לך בלון אחרDon't cry, Uri,
Don't be sad
We'll buy you a new balloon
This is a perfectly reasonable thing to say to a crying young child -- but it feels to me at odds with all the following repetitions. None of the other children are promised another balloon; all of them are told to accept the popping of balloons as inevitable.
Why is Uri different from all the others? Isn't it odd to break the story structure in this one, initial instance? Is there thematic significance here; does this somehow tie into the theme?
I welcome both analysis, and any commentary from the author that addresses the question.
