Unknown

“ A tame elephant kept by a merchant was allowed to go at large. The animal used to walk about the streets in as quiet and familiar a manner as any of the people, and took great pleasure in visiting the shops, especially those which sold herbs and fruit, where he was well received, except by a couple of brutal cobblers, who, without any cause, took offense at the generous creature, and once or twice tried to wound his trunk with their awls. The noble animal, who knew it was beneath him to crush them, did not hesitate to punish them by other means. ”

“ The ease with which the elephant is taught to perform the most difficult feats forms a remarkable contrast to its huge size and clumsiness. Aristotle tells us that in ancient times elephants were taught by their keepers to throw stones at a mark, to cast up arms in the air, and catch them again on their fall; and to dance, not merely on the earth, but on the rope. The first, according to the historian Suetonius, who exhibited elephant rope dancers, was Galba at Rome. ”

“ The parties engaged were a hen of the game species and a rat of middle size. The hen, in a walk round a spacious room, accompanied by an only chicken, the last one left of a large brood, was roused to madness by an attack made by a fierce rat on her helpless little one. The frightened cries of her beloved little chick, while it was being dragged away by the rat, awoke all the mother-love in the bosom of the hen. ”

“ To make the elephant keep this position, an attendant threw fruit and nuts into the open mouth, but sometimes he only pretended to throw them. This made the animal very angry, and as if knowing that the painter rather than his servant was the one to blame, he finally turned to him and dashed a quantity of water from his trunk over the paper on which the painter was sketching his portrait. ”

“ One day a tradesman, walking with a friend, offered to wager that if he were to hide a five-shilling piece in the dust, his dog would find it and bring it to him. The wager was accepted, and the piece of money marked and hidden. When the two had gone on some distance, the tradesman called to his dog that he had lost something, and told him to seek it. The dog turned back at once, and his master and his friend went on their way. Meanwhile a traveller, driving a small chaise, saw the piece of money which his horse had kicked from its hiding-place, alighted, took it up and drove to his inn. ”

“ A young man, anxious to get rid of his dog, took it along with him to the river. He hired a boat, and rowing out into the stream, threw the animal in. The poor creature tried to climb up the sides of the boat, but his master, whose wish was to drown him, kept on pushing him back into the water with the oar. In doing this, he fell into the water himself, and would certainly have been drowned, had not the dog, as soon as he saw his master struggling helplessly in the stream, allowed the boat to float away, seized his master's coat, and held him above water till help came, and his life was saved. ”

“ A mastiff dog, who owed more to the kindness of a neighbor than to his master, was once locked by mistake in the well-stored pantry of his benefactor for a whole day, where there were, within his reach, milk, butter, bread and meat, in abundance. ”

“ A faithful servant conducted him to the mouth of a cave and gave him an abundant store of food. The fugitive crept in at a low opening, dragging his stores along. When he reached a wider and higher place, he found some obstacle before him. He drew his dirk, but unwilling to strike, lest he might take the life of a companion in hiding, he stooped down, and found a goat with her kid stretched on the ground. He soon saw that the animal was in great pain, and feeling her body and limbs, found that her leg was broken. ”

“ A goose was once observed to attach itself in the strongest and most affectionate manner to the house dog, but never offered to go into the kennel except in rainy weather. Whenever the dog barked, the goose would cackle, and run at the person she supposed the dog barked at, and try to bite him by the heels. She would sometimes try to feed with the dog, but this the dog, who treated his faithful companion with indifference, would not allow. This bird would not go to roost with the others at night, unless she was driven by main force ”

“ Elephants were, of old, employed in India in the launching of ships. It is told of one, that, being directed to force a very large ship into the water, the work proved to much for its strength. Its master, in sarcastic tones bade the keeper take away the lazy beast, and bring another. The poor animal instantly put forth still greater efforts, fractured his skull, and died on the spot. ”

“ In a large menagerie there was a lion called Danco, whose cage needed some repairs. His keeper hired a carpenter to do the work, but when the workman came and saw the lion, he started back in terror. The keeper entered the animal's cage, and led him to the upper part of it, while the lower was being fixed. He there amused himself for some time playing with the lion, and being wearied, at last fell asleep. The carpenter, relying fully upon the vigilance of the keeper, went on rapidly with his work, and when he had finished it, he called him to see what was done. ”

“ A favorite house-dog, left to the care of its master's servants, while he was himself away, would have been starved by them if it had not found a friend in the kitchen of a friend of its master's, which in better days it had occasionally visited. ”

“ A pair of crows once made their nest in one of the trees that were planted round the garden of a gentleman, who, in his morning walks, was often amused by watching furious combats between the crows and a cat. ”

“ The hare is scarcely a domestic animal; yet we have an account of one that was so tame as to feed from the hand, lie under a chair in the sitting-room, and appear in every way as easy and comfortable as a lapdog. It now and then went out into the garden, but, after hopping about in the fresh air for a while, it always returned to the house. Its usual companions were a greyhound and a spaniel, with whom it spent its evenings, the whole three playing and sleeping together on the same hearth. ”

“ King Porus, in a battle with Alexander the Great, being severely wounded, fell from the back of his elephant. The Macedonian soldiers, supposing him dead, pushed forward, in order to rob him of his rich clothing and accoutrements; but the faithful elephant, standing over the body of its master, boldly drove back every one who dared to come near, and while the enemy stood at bay, took the bleeding Porus up with his trunk, and placed him again on his back. ”

“ Persons who have the care of elephants have often noticed that they know very well when any one is making fun of them, and that they very often revenge themselves when they have an opportunity. A painter wished to draw an elephant in the menagerie at Paris, and wanted to get the animal in a ridiculous attitude, which was with his trunk lifted up and his mouth open. ”

“ The dog was always by his side, and to him he gave a signal secretly, whenever he saw any particular sheep he wanted. Sometimes he would pick out ten or twelve from a flock of some hundreds. Dog and man then went away, and from a distance of several miles, the dog would be sent back by himself in the night time. The wise creature picked out the very sheep the man had selected, separated them from the rest of the flock, and drove them before him, often a distance of ten or twelve miles, till he came up with his master, to whom he delivered them up. ”

“ A gentleman in the county of Stirling kept a greyhound and a pointer, and being fond of coursing, the pointer was accustomed to find the hares, and the greyhound to catch them. When the season was over, it was found that the dogs were in the habit of going out by themselves, and killing hares for their own amusement. To prevent this, a large iron ring was fastened to the pointer's neck by a leather collar, and allowed to hang down so as to prevent the dog from running or jumping over ditches and dykes. ”

“ The captain of a Greenland whaler being anxious to secure a bear, without wounding the skin, made trial of the trick of laying a noose of rope in the snow, and placing a piece of meat within it. A bear, roaming over the ice nearby was soon attracted to the spot by the smell of the dainty morsel. ”

“ A sow, which was a thin, long-legged animal, when young took such a fancy to some pointer puppies that a gamekeeper on a neighboring estate was breaking, that it played, and often came to feed with them. This led the gamekeeper, who had broken many a dog as obstinate as a pig, to think he might also manage to break a pig. ”

“ Most people have, at one time or another, seen a partridge run; and therefore know that there is no man whatever able to keep up with it; and it is easy to imagine, that if this bird had a longer step, its speed would be much greater. The ostrich moves much like the partridge, with this advantage ”

“ At this time the goose generally sat in the kennel, and would not allow any one to come near it, except the person who brought the dog's or her own food. The end of this faithful bird was very sad; for when the dog died, she would still keep possession of the kennel. A new house dog was bought, which in size and color so resembled the one lately lost that the poor goose was unhappily deceived, and going into the kennel as usual, the new dog seized her by the throat and killed her. ”

“ The town of Bindrabund in India is in high regard with the pious Hindoos, who resort to it from the most remote parts of the empire. The town is surrounded by groves of trees, which are the homes of numberless apes, whose fondness for mischief is increased by the religious respect paid to them in honor of a divinity of the Hindoo mythology, who is represented as having the body of an ape. Because of this superstition, such numbers of these animals are supported by the free-will offerings of pilgrims, that no one dares to resist or ill-treat them. ”

“ An excellent, quick-scented dog always went some paces before the others, stretched out his nose toward all quarters, and when he scented custom house officers, turned back, which was the signal for immediate flight. ”

“ Various have been the opinions upon the difference of speed between a well-bred greyhound and a racehorse, if opposed to each other. Wishes had been often expressed by the sporting world that some standard could be adopted by which the superiority of speed could be fairly ascertained, when the following incident happened, and afforded some information upon what had before been considered a matter of great uncertainty. ”

“ The animal that is to be the wagon, lies down on its back, and stretching out its four legs as wide as it can, allows itself to be loaded with hay; and those that are to be the horses, drag it, thus loaded, by the tail, taking care not to upset the creature. ”

“ The people were pleased with this action, and said that the animal should be kept at public expense as long as it lived. Many people have shown particular marks of regard in burying animals which they have cherished and been fond of. The graves of Cimon's mares, with which he thrice conquered at the Olympic games, are still to be seen near his own tomb. Xanthippus, whose dog swam by the side of his galley to Salamis, when the Athenians were forced to abandon their city, afterward buried it with great pomp upon a promontory, which to this day is called the Dog's Grave. ”

“ To his surprise, he found that the moment when they thought no one was looking at them, the greyhound took up the iron ring in his mouth, and carrying it, they set off to the hills, and began to search for hares as usual. They were followed, and it was discovered that whenever the pointer scented the hare, the ring was dropped, and the greyhound stood ready to pounce upon the poor little creature the moment the other drove her from her form, but that he always came back to help his friend after he had caught his prey. ”

“ Hogg's care, broke up at midnight, and scampered off in three divisions across the hills, in spite of all that the shepherd and an assistant lad could do to keep them together. “Sirrah,” cried the shepherd, in great alarm, “my man, they're awa.” The night was so dark that he did not see Sirrah, but the faithful dog had heard his master's words, and without more ado he set off in quest of the [Pg 35] flock. The shepherd and his companion spent the whole of the night in scouring the hills, but of neither lambs nor Sirrah could they obtain the slightest trace. ”

“ During the war between Augustus Cæsar and Mark Antony, when all the world stood wondering and uncertain as to which one Fortune would favor, a poor man at Rome, in order to be prepared for making, in either event, a bold move for his own advancement, hit upon the following clever plan. ”

“ The Indian ichneumon, a small creature, looking like both the weasel and the mongoose, is of great use to the natives because of its great hatred of snakes, which would otherwise make every footstep of the traveller most dangerous. This little creature, on seeing a snake, no matter how large, will instantly dart on it, and seize it by the throat, if he finds himself in an open place, where he has a chance of running to a certain herb, which he some way knows to be an antidote against the poison of the bite, if he should happen to receive one. ”

“ The parrot answered, “From Marignan.”
The prince asked, “To whom do you belong?” It answered, “To a Portuguese.” He asked again, “What do you there?” The parrot answered, “I look after chickens.” The prince laughing, exclaimed, “You look after chickens!” The parrot in reply said, “Yes, I do; and I know well how to do it;” clucking at the same time in imitation of the noise made by the hen to call her little chicks together. ”

“ At last, so sure was the master of the wisdom and faithfulness of his dog, that he made a wager that he would trust him with a certain number of sheep and oxen, and let him drive them to the market all by himself. It was agreed that no person should be within sight or hearing—at least no one who had any control over the dog ”

“ The monkeys in India, knowing by instinct how dangerous snakes are, are most vigilant in their destruction. They seize them by the neck, when asleep, and running to the nearest flat stone, grind down their heads by a strong friction on the surface, often looking at them, and grinning at their progress. ”

“ In the midst of this play, it unfortunately happened that one of the rooks, by a sudden turn, struck his head against the wing of another. The wounded bird instantly fell into the river. A general cry of distress followed. The birds hovered with every expression of anxiety over their distressed companion. ”

“ A traveller tells a singular anecdote of a lion, which he says was told to him by a very credible person. About the year 1614 or 1615, two Christian slaves at Morocco made their escape, travelling by night, and hiding themselves in the tops of trees during the day, their Arab pursuers often passing them by. One night, while travelling along, they were much astonished and alarmed to see a great lion close by them, walking when they walked and standing still when they did. ”