Bowing

“ The ancient Egyptian may be seen in the sculptures abbreviating the gesture of touching the ground, by merely putting one hand down to his knee in bowing before a superior. A slight inclination of the body indicates submission or reverence, and becomes at last a mere act of politeness, not involving any sense of inferiority at all. ”

“ A fairer bower was never seen.
From year to year the spacious floor
With withered leaves is covered o'er,
You could not lay a hair between:
And all the year the bower is green.
But see! where'er the hailstones drop
The withered leaves all skip and hop,
There's not a breeze—no breath of air—
Yet here, and there, and every where
Along the floor, beneath the shade
By those embowering hollies made,
The leaves in myriads jump and spring,
As if with pipes and music rare
Some Robin Good-fellow were there,
And all those leaves in festive glee
Were dancing to the minstrelsy. ”

“ A more experienced bird may be more difficult in its choice of a bower; but in my present temper of mind, the budding flowers, the fresh grass of spring, and the happy creatures about me that live and enjoy these pleasures, are quite enough to afford me exquisite delight, even though clouds should shut out Mont Blanc from my sight. ”

“ Being out one day with a party of hunters, I saw at a distance a thick bush moving slowly, as by magic, along the top of a dense copse of gum cistus. No horse or man could be seen. One of the hunters exclaimed, ‘a boar has been caught in a noose! See the bush to which it is fastened moving along the top of the copse.’ We decided to take the animal alive, so approaching the bush and long rope to which the noose was attached, we laid hold of the rope and pulled it tight, until the boar was half-strangled. ”

“ You will hear a low moaning sound rising to a roar, then subsiding to a murmur like distant surf—or, as I fancy, the cry of the damned in Dante's ‘Inferno.’ When the cattle are like that it is a good sign. But in the moonlight this strange noise, the dark mass of cattle with the occasional flash of an eye or a polished horn catching the light—it always conjures up strange fancies in me: I seem to be in some other world. ”

“ Horses grew lean and ill-fitting saddles worked their wicked will upon backs that shrank to their touch of a morning. Wild range cattle were herded, a scared bunch of restlessness, during long, hot forenoons, or longer, hotter afternoons, while calves that had known no misfortune beyond a wet back or a searching wind learned, panic-stricken, the agony of capture and rough handling and tight-drawn ropes and, last and worst, the terrible, searing iron. ”

“ To hunt the boar, to breakfast on wild boar, to dine on the same dish, day after day, to drink beer and wine, and from time to time that mulled egg which the moon furnished, to fight morning and evening, to die and come to life again, merely for the purpose of fighting again—these were the amusements of that delightful place. ”

“ He builds a bower, or walk, and decorates it with any gaudy feathers or other things he can find, and also with shells, bleached bones, and similar small objects. So well is his propensity known that when we drop a pipe-bowl or a penknife in the bush, we search for it in the bowers or runs of these birds, and very often find it there. As the bower-bird feeds entirely on seeds and fruits, it is evident that he secures these small things for the sake of ornament. ”

“ A poor, half-starved range cow with her calf which the round-up had overlooked in the fall, stood at bay against a steep cut bank. Before them squatted five great, gaunt wolves intent upon fresh beef for their supper. But the cow’s horns were long, and sharp, and threatening, and the calf snuggled close to her side, shivering with the cold and the fear of death. The wolves licked their cruel lips and their eyes gleamed hungrily—but the eyes of the cow answered them, gleam for gleam. ”

“ The ling-fish long Of the land of Hadding, Wheat-ears unshorn, And wild things' inwards. In that beer were mingled Many ills together, Blood of all the wood And brown-burnt acorns, The black dew of the hearth, The God-doomed dead beast's inwards, And the swine's liver sodden Because all wrongs that deadens. ”

“ The rope began to hang the butcher, the butcher began to kill the ox, the ox began to drink the water, the water began to quench the fire, the fire began to burn the stick, the stick began to beat the dog, the dog began to bite the pig, and the pig squealed at the top of its lungs and scrambled over the stile and ran for home so fast that the little old woman could hardly keep up with it. ”

“ Through the fields, scattering the cattle, through the woods, startling the fruit watchers, through shallow rivers, rousing the submerged water buffaloes. How good it is to be young, with every pulse throbbing, every nerve straining, away to where a little cloud of dust and a momentary scuffle, betoken a kill in the open. ”

“ Somehow, by life's marvellous alchemy, the blood was laying hold of the material of the yolk, turning it into more blood, and carrying it away to be used in building up bone and muscle everywhere from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail. You might not have detected the actual transformation, but you could have seen the beating of the engine, and the throbbing rush of the little red rivers, all toiling with might and main to make a big, strong trout out of this weak and diminutive baby. ”

“ To form the nap of a hat, one half or three-fourths of an ounce of beaver, and some other less costly fur, are bowed together and imperfectly felted in the manner already described, and shaped the same as the body to which it is to be applied; that body is then softened by immersing it in the boiler, when the nap is applied and worked as in felting, until the required union is effected between the two bodies. ”

“ All day their bodies are cooled and refreshed by water. I wish I were a boar.” Accordingly at night he recounted to the Rishi the troubles of the life of an ape and the pleasures of that of a boar, and begged of him to change him into a boar. The sage, whose kindness knew no bounds, complied with his pet’s request, and turned him into a wild boar. For two whole days our boar kept his body soaking wet, and on the third day, as he was splashing about in his favourite element, whom [135] should he see but the king of the country riding on a richly caparisoned elephant. ”

“ The dogs and the cattle, mere skin and bone, sniff with parched tongues and eager eyes; and though they may receive their share of the muddy liquid, yet man and beast lie down at the end of the burning day with parched throats to be tantalised with dreams of the flowing streams and wide pools of the monsoon. ”

“ Here's cattle that's got you skinned for looks, old girl, and they know it's coming blamed tough; and you just bat your eyes and peg along like yuh enjoyed it Bawl, or something, can't yuh? Drop back a foot and act human!"
The Silent One looked across at him with a tired smile. "Let her go, Pink, and pray for more like her," he called amusedly. "There'll be enough of them dropping back presently."
Pink threw one leg over the horn and rode sidewise, made him a cigarette, and tried to forget the cow—or, at least, to forgive her for not acting as dog-tired as he felt. ”

“ We, therefore, at once collecting some fuel, lighted a fire, and having skinned and opened one of the beavers, extended it, spread-eagle fashion, on some sticks to cook. They watched our proceedings with eager eyes; but before there was time to warm the animal through their hunger made them seize it, when tearing off the still uncooked flesh, they began to gobble it up with the greatest avidity. ”

“ The sun goes down, there come sounds of cow-bells nearing the saeters, the musical cries and calls of the saeter-girls, the lowing of the cattle. The mountains stand silent in the distance, their snow-clad tops grown golden ”

“ For a boil, house-flies are to be taken, their heads cut off, and they are to be arranged like herrings in a barrel round the swelling. A poultice is to cover all—but it is the flies that bring the gathering to a head. ”

“ Of the season and nature of boar and of other beasts, [Pg 144] I have spoken here before. And if men ask him of a boar's feeding, it is properly called of acorns of oak's bearing, and of beechmast, the other feeding is called worming and rooting of the roots out of the earth that feed him. The other kind of feeding is of corn and of other things that come up out of the land, and of flowers and of other herbs; the other kind of feeding is when they make great pits, and go to seek the root of ferns and of spurge within the earth. ”

“ Around most of these great boulders the buffalo used to walk from time to time, rubbing against the rough surface of the rock to scratch themselves, as a cow rubs itself against a post or as a horse rolls on the ground—for the pleasant feeling that the rubbing of the skin gives it. ”

“ The first mule, which had crossed, terrified by the electric shocks received, had retreated from the lagoon and, in a state of great fright, had plunged into a browsing herd of cattle, dangling its swaying pack and causing a frightened stampede among the half-wild herd. ”

“ The bower-constructing instinct is so strong that it is practiced even in confinement. A naturalist in describing the habits of some satin bower-birds kept in an aviary says that at times the male will chase the female all over the aviary, then go to the bower, pick up a gay feather or a large leaf, utter a curious kind of note, set all his feathers erect, run round the bower, and become so excited that his eyes appear to start from his head. ”

“ If you abuse the rain, the angels cry and the devil tears his hair.
If the cow is bewitched and will not allow herself to be milked, place the pail over her head; or go to the cemetery, procure a decayed old wooden cross, and beat the animal with it.
If the cow kicks, cover her head with an old apron and stick holes through the apron with the pitchfork. *The witch will feel the stabbing from the prongs. If the witch has taken away the milk of the cow, procure nine ants'-nests, [121] bury this with nine pieces of bread on the road over which the cattle goes, so that the cow may step over it. ”

“ Then he may be seen skulking about the borders of the streams, sheltering in the weeds or clambering about the drift. The other [302] time is in the spring, when the male shoots up into the air a few feet above the reeds, like a ball from a Roman candle, and sputters all the way, only to drop back, extinguished, into the reeds again. This is a part of the tactics of his courting season, when, if ever, a body may be allowed a little liberty. For the rest, he clings sidewise to the cat-tail stems or sprawls in midair, reaching, rather than flying from one stem to another. ”

“ I have gone out on the footropes of the bowsprit many a time when I was not turned twelve, and it had come on to blow, and she was plunging into a head sea—she pitched fearfully, with her shallow body, and a head sea just about stopped her—and I have been trying to stow the jib—not to furl it, just to tie it down any way—and holding on for my life, and have been plunged to my neck in one sea after another as she dived into them. ”

“ I would sit down beside a burn, and the trout will swim out from below a stone, and the cattle will come to drink, and the muirfowl will be crying to each other, and the sheep will be bleating, oh yes, and there are the bees all round, and a string of wild ducks above your head. ”

“ Now it must be admitted that, apart from a short look into the valley, and occasional starings at the light out in the weed, I gave little attention to aught but my plans for the great bow, and to such use did I put my time, that when I was relieved, I had each particular and detail worked out, so that I knew very well just what to set the men doing so soon as we should make a start in the morning. ”

“ These bowers are built on the ground, and are for the sole purpose of courtship, since the nests are formed in the trees. They are highly decorated with leaves, berries, feathers, shells, and kindred objects. Both sexes assist in the erection of the bower, although the male bird is the principal worker. ”

“ He could merely see a dark blotch behind the bushes—the carcass of a cow or steer probably—and he watched the beautiful black-and-white birds speculatively as they uttered their shrill, raucous cries, and fluttered about the thicket. ”

“ In the winter holidays, the boys saw boar-fights, hog-fights, bull and bear-baiting, and when ice came they slid, and skated on the leg-bones of some animal, punting themselves along with an iron-shod pole, and charging one another. ”

“ The liquid food is brought up without difficulty or straining, as one might, indeed, expect would be the case, seeing the ease with which the bird can at any moment squirt it out, when angry, and the distance to which it is shot. ”

“ With that I rose and lifts twa or three long straws, and casting knots on them, into the byre I went and throws a knotted straw to every cow's stake, saying, thy days shall not be long: The wife followed, wringing her hands, earnestly prayed for herself and all that was hers. ”

“ Routing or rooting. A wild boar is said to root when he is feeding on ferns or roots (Turb., pp. 153, 154) .
Argus, as our MS. calls the dew-claws of the boar, were in the later language of venery called the gards (Blome, p. 102) . Twety and Gyfford named the dew-claws of the stag os and of the boar ergos. "How many bestis bere os, and how many ergos? The hert berith os above, the boor and the buk berith ergos."
Grease, as the fat of the boar or sow was called, was supposed to bear medicinal qualities. ”

“ Bulls with broad dewlaps, cows in careworn plight,
Heifers that startle at the curlew's flight,
With solemn steps, and balancing their heads,
Dull, as reluctant to forsake their beds
Of straw, descend, preceded one by one,
By their long shadows in the risen sun ”

“ The Cow represents the sky in which the Boats of Ra, sail, and her four legs are the four cardinal points which cannot be changed. The region above her back is the heaven in which Ra reigns over the beings who pass thereto from this earth when they die, and here was situated the home of the gods and the celestial spirits who govern this world. ”