Phil Robinson

Name: The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo
Author: Phil Robinson

The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (1894)

Summary

“The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo”, published in 1894, is a work by Phil Robinson. It explores elements such as Jack, straw and apes.

Quotes from The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (Phil Robinson)

Phil Robinson, The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (1894)

“ No, Jack will have none of it. He will take the pannikin, smell its contents, touch them with his pouted-out under-lip, but every time it is the same—he whimpers and tries to upset it. Then the attendant pretends he will waste no more time with him, and, picking up the fruit, makes believe to go. At this the ourang throws itself down on its back on the straw, rolls from side to side holding its toes with its hands and screaming like a naughty baby in a passion. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Phil Robinson, The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (1894)

“ Jack is very good-tempered and easily amused; a broomstick, for instance, sufficing to keep him at play, or, failing even that, the straw he lies on and his own toes. Just like an ordinary human baby, he lies on his back sprawling about, catching hold of his own feet and rolling from side to side. Occasionally, however, he gets out of temper, and is then nothing more or less than a spoilt child in a temper, his passion subsiding as suddenly and unreasonably as it began. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Phil Robinson, The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (1894)

“ But Jack is only a child of four years as yet, and, intelligent though he is, it is only the intelligence of a human baby, and will never, even if he live to the full span of ourang-outan life of five-and-twenty, be anything more. But he is well worth going to see, and, as a “show,” Jack having his hands washed is far superior to the lions being fed.
For Jack gets his hands very dirty in the course of a day or two, and then they are washed. A chair is taken into the cage, and the attendant, having got out a pail of warm water, soap, towels, and flannel, calls the ourang out. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Phil Robinson, The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (1894)

“ A tendency to chest and throat complaints is always present, and if visitors only knew it, it is they themselves, with their wet clothes, waterproofs, and dripping umbrellas, who as often as not give the man-apes that are brought to the Zoo “their death of cold.” For himself, Jack is very careful in trying not to catch cold, and it is delightful to see the skill with which he completely covers himself with straw whenever he lies down. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Phil Robinson, The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (1894)

“ It is Wallace who tells us of one hunt in which the ourang, having had both legs broken, its thigh and the base of the spine shattered, its neck shot through and its jaw smashed by six successive bullets, still struggled only to conceal itself in foliage, and its strength failing it fell to the ground from its lofty perch with a terrible thud, and had to be despatched on the ground. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Phil Robinson, The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (1894)

“ But trustworthy English travellers all assure us that the man-apes are singularly mild in manner, the ourang especially. Of course, if driven into a corner and at bay for its life, the ourang might be expected to defend itself as fiercely as any other animal, even a sheep, and its great strength and powerful jaws would make it a dangerous antagonist in a hand-to-hand encounter. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Phil Robinson, The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (1894)

“ When travelling, they seldom descend to the ground, but pass from tree to tree, often at great altitudes, walking along the larger limb of one till they reach the small boughs of the next, and swinging themselves by them into it, and so proceeding mile after mile. When we remember the weight of these great apes, it seems almost incredible that vegetation of such loftiness is to be found anywhere growing in such interwoven density as to make a continuous highway for these bulky and heavy-treading creatures. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Phil Robinson, The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (1894)

“ In its wild state the ourang is curiously inoffensive; intrusion upon its privacy excites only its curiosity, and attack perplexes and alarms it. But it does not fight, and though repeatedly wounded appears to think only of escape. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Phil Robinson, The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (1894)

“ Every year these interesting creatures are becoming rarer. In Sumatra they are even now very scarce where quite recently they were common, and, now that Borneo has become in so many directions a field for enterprise and exploitation, “the wise men of the woods” may be expected to disappear altogether before long from their present haunts. ”

[↩︎]

Source: Wikisource

Phil Robinson, The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (1894)

“ In their wild state they construct shelters for themselves against the rain, and sleep at night on platforms which are often roughly roofed over, never getting up, unless alarmed, until the sun is high and the dew is gone off the leaves. ”

Phil Robinson

Summary

Quotes from The Zoo Revisited — IX.—The Clever Boy at the Zoo (Phil Robinson)

Common terms

Similar works

Get perspective with Kwize: daily news enlightened by great literature