Kitabı oku: «Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 2 [July 1902]», sayfa 3

THE ANIMALS’ FAIR
PART I

Once upon a time – for this is a fairy story – all the beasts and birds and bugs gathered in a solemn convention. The object of their meeting was explained by the dog, who – because of his intelligence and his intimacy with men and their ways – had been elected chairman of the convention.

He spoke thus:

“My friends, we have gathered here to discuss an important question, namely, ‘Our dealings with men, and men’s dealings with us.’ It is a sad fact that although we are the benefactors of mankind, and positively necessary to their well-being and even to their lives, they do not appreciate us as they should. If you will pardon my egotism, I will illustrate this assertion by my own experience. I may say modestly – for I am only quoting men’s words – that I am considered the most intelligent of beasts, and am chosen as the companion, the playmate, the assistant, yea, the protector of man. I cheer hours of his loneliness from the cradle to the grave, and am ever ready to assist him in a thousand different ways. Yet how am I treated? A hard crust, a dry bone, kicks and curses and harsh words, a bed on a hard plank or on the cold ground, wherever I can find it. These are too often the inventory of my rewards; while the torments inflicted by small boys, and the indignity and torture of tin cans tied to my tail, fill the full record of my tale of woe. No doubt the rest of you have grievances many and various.

“We will be pleased to hear from any of you who desire to speak, and will be glad of any suggestion, or plan for the general good which may present itself to you. The meeting is now open for remarks.”

He sat down on his tail and assumed his most dignified and intelligent expression, while he looked about the miscellaneous assembly. In an instant the horse walked forward, and was duly recognized by the chairman.

“The words of our chairman have struck a responsive chord in my heart,” he said gravely. “I have pondered on this subject many times when suffering from the abuse of men. Sometimes I am driven at my utmost speed for hours at a time, while my head is held unnaturally high and my graceful neck cramped and stiffened by the cruel check-rain; my body exposed to the torments of flies because my beautiful tail has been docked; and then, when weary and sore and over-heated, I am tied up in some chilling draught of wind while my feet are obliged to stand in a wet gutter, and I am stiffened and ruined for life by some person’s ignorance or foolishness.

“It does seem a pity, to me, that some more rational creature than man had not been chosen as ‘The lord of creation’ in the beginning. Why, he cannot govern himself. Then how can he be capable of governing us who follow unerring instincts with unfailing faithfulness? The question is wide as the world and deep as the sea. As I have said, I have pondered it many times in all its aspects, but as yet have reached no definite conclusion which might suggest a remedy.

“Therefore, let me urge upon you all to give us your wisest thoughts upon this subject, which is of vital importance to us all.”

He returned to his place and waited anxiously for the next speaker.

The cat took the floor with a graceful step and a gentle expression which caught the favor of the assembly.

“I am small among beasts, but my grievances are many and great. I am chosen by men as a playmate for their children, so that the mothers may be free to attend to what they call their ‘necessary work’ in peace and without interruption. How am I rewarded?

“The children whom I strive to amuse drag me ceaselessly around, pull my tail and pinch my ears, blow in my face and jerk my sensitive whiskers; and if I remonstrate with voice or teeth or claws, I am beaten and kicked and tossed out of doors without even the privilege of trial by jury.

“I catch the rats and mice which infest men’s houses, and then when they forget to give me milk which is so necessary to prevent the ill effects which follow a diet of meat and I help myself delicately to a few laps of cream, I am abused as if I had committed a mighty and unpardonable sin.

“They call me a necessity, yet they drown my beautiful kittens, or carry them off in bags and cast them helpless and forlorn upon the mercy of a cold and cruel world. And then men presume to say that they are made after the image of God, and have been divinely appointed masters of the world! What blasphemy! What blind stupidity! Words fail me in view of these appalling facts.”

Half the assembly was in tears before poor pussy had finished her category of woes.

A fly buzzed forward with impulsive haste, and spoke with a little rasping voice:

“We flies are small; but we are mighty. We remove mountains of dirt for uncleanly men, and how do they reward us? They catch us in traps and drown us with boiling water. They snare our feet with treacherous fly-papers, and after laughing at our struggles to get free, burn us without mercy. Small boys torture us with pins, or pull off legs and wings for what they call ‘fun.’ If they do not want us about them, why do they make the filth which necessitates our presence? That is a conundrum beyond my solving. I leave it for this wise assembly to answer.”

The fly buzzed back to a sunny spot, and an unwieldy hog ambled forward.

“‘As greedy as a hog.’ ‘As lazy as a pig.’ ‘As fat as a pig.’ ‘No more sense than a hog.’ Have you never heard such expressions as these fall from the lips of men? They shut us up in little dirty pens where we must needs be lazy, since we cannot run about. They continually tempt us with food, and the more we eat the better they like it, since it produces the fat which they afterwards deride. If we weary of dry corn or thin slop, and break through some convenient hole which their own carelessness has left, and help ourselves to the tender cabbages and peas of their gardens, they chase us with yells and sticks and stones, and send their dogs to make devilled ham of us before we are dead.”

His pun so amused the assembly that they were convulsed with laughter. After vainly waiting several minutes for silence the hog returned calmly to his place, convinced that he had at least presented his grievances in a striking manner.

A handsome black Spanish rooster strutted forward to the platform, and stretching his neck, called the audience to order with his clear-toned

“How-do-you-do? I am the ‘Cock-o’-the-walk,’” he explained, “a term which men are pleased to borrow and apply to themselves. They rely upon me to give them warning of the approach of day, and then grumble because I disturb their slumbers. How can they expect to wake up without having their slumbers disturbed? That’s what I would like to know. They rely upon me to eat the worms and bugs and grasshoppers that destroy their gardens, and then chase me with stones and dogs when they find me in their gardens doing my duty.

“They pen me up, often for days at a time, with insufficient food and water, and do not even deign an apology for their neglect.

“My wives supply numerous eggs for men’s food, yet they wring our necks without mercy if we venture to eat an egg ourselves when they have forgotten to feed us. ‘As full as an egg is of meat,’ is a comparison which might properly be balanced with ‘As full as a man is of inconsistency.’

“If men would attend to their business and scratch for a living as I do, the world would be a far better place than it is today.”

He ended amid prolonged applause, and walked proudly to a conspicuous perch in the sunshine.

By this time there was much excitement among the audience, who all signified a desire to speak at once. While the chairman was busy quieting them with most vigorous barks, a monkey with much agility made his way over the heads of the audience, and leaped to the platform, where he was ready to make his profoundest bows to the assembly the moment quiet reigned.

“You may consider me an alien, since I hail from a far country, yet I am truly American – for even South America reveres the Stars and Stripes,” he said, and his words were applauded by the very ones who had but a moment previous frowned at his audacity.

“I hold myself the superior of mankind since many of their scientists assert that the human race are but highly developed monkeys. To be sure, a few haughty fellows have lately declared that monkeys are but the offspring of degenerate men, but we monkeys resent such assertions as uncalled-for insults. Why, it is bad enough to have to endure the thought that possibly – mind you, I say possibly, not probably – possibly men have descended from our race. There is no monkey but what lives up to the best of his God-given instincts, whereas, on the other hand, there is no man that does at all times the very best that he knows. Therefore, by all the rules of logic, the monkey is superior to the man, and must be thus considered by all fair-minded judges.

“This, however, is but a prologue to my more serious remarks. I have only been presenting my credentials to this court.

“May I now proceed to disclose my plan for calling the attention of ungrateful men to the benefactions we are daily bestowing upon them?” He paused and bowed respectfully to the chairman and then to the audience.

A thunder of applause greeted his proposition, and the hall resounded with cries of “Good! good!” “Go on!” “Three cheers for Brother Monkey.”

When quiet was restored, the monkey continued rapidly:

“Since my time is necessarily spent in intimate association with men, I have taken note of many of their schemes for self-aggrandizement. The most popular at the present time, is the Fair, where everyone seeks to outdo his neighbor and to proclaim his own superiority to the whole world, while he exhibits his own abilities and his own genius by a display of his productions.

“Now, what I propose is this: Let us secure a convenient enclosure, and let each family of birds and beasts and reptiles erect a booth in which to display the gifts which they are daily bestowing upon mankind. Perhaps in this way the hearts of men will be drawn to honor us, and they will – after the ruling passion of men – seek to advance their own interests by favoring ours. Does my plan meet with approval? If so, your humble servant feels highly honored.” He placed his hand upon his heart and bowed deeply to his audience, then, with customary dexterity, returned to his place as he had come, while the hall resounded with prolonged applause.

The meeting was at once declared a “Committee of the Whole,” and vigorous plans were laid for the carrying out of the monkey’s scheme.

Because of his familiarity with such places of resort, the monkey was elected President of the Fair, an office which he accepted with many expressions of humility, and equally numerous feelings of self-complacency.

Other officers and directors were speedily appointed, the place for holding the Fair selected, and the time set. Being unacquainted with the red tape and appropriation-grabbing customs of men, the animals thus speedily brought their business affairs to the working point, and in the utmost harmony adjourned to begin their preparations without delay.

Mary McCrae Culter.

THE BIRD AND THE MOUSE

Belonging to our household was a tiny creature, Nixie, who from his gilded cage between the lace curtains observed and commented on all our actions. His door was left open occasionally, and his gregariousness moved him to go where he could take part in conversations and see people. He desired company even at his bath; he had never heard of fear, and won our hearts by his perfect trust. Morning and evening we gave him first salutation, and allowed him to pick our fingers by way of shaking hands. Messages came to him from over sea; gifts fell to him at Christmas; in all our life he had a part. And even the mouse made its bow.

Our hearts had been softened toward the “wee, cow’rin, timrous beasties” by a tender little tale of a parsonage mouse, and we made friends with a gray visitor that showed itself, now in the den at the back of our house, now in the sitting room in front. Because we took our meals out, Monsieur Mousie’s crumbs were uncertain; but he investigated thoroughly and managed to find a livelihood. In our quiet rooms we often heard him at his hunting, and smiled at thought of his daring and industry. Twice he was emptied out of the carpet-sweeper (he must have fallen on very hard times at those periods), but seemed none the worse for the adventure, although the manipulator of the sweeper was herself much disturbed. The waste paper basket finally became his cupboard, and peanut shells his favorite fare. Often as we sat, my brother smoking and I reading, we would hear bits of paper rustling and would know bright eyes were watching us while sharp teeth nibbled the husks we had saved for them. Daily, for a month or two, the small thing came for his share.

Alone in the room one Sunday evening, I was lying on the couch reading when I saw a little gray shadow steal out and creep toward the waste paper basket. I knew there was nothing in it, and lazily felt for Mousie’s disappointment. The gray shadow stole back, halted by the lace curtains, floated up them half way, and stopped near Nixie’s cage. I held my breath. What next? Was he after bird seed? Was this the explanation of Nixie’s empty cup that had perplexed me the last week? But a peculiar, quick chirp made me wonder if the bird were afraid, if the mouse could get at and hurt him. I raised my head and saw the gray thing sitting on the seed cup eating like one starved. Nixie was looking at it, his wings wide spread, eyes flashing, mouth wide open in protest, body poised for attack. But the feast went quietly on. Nixie gave a few sharp questions and then settled down to study his visitor.

It was too good to keep to myself; I called my mother and brother and whistled up the tube for neighbors to join us in watching the strange scene. By the time the audience was gathered the actors were ready to play their parts. Nixie went close to the seed dish and chirped a welcome to his guest, then, hopping backward, selected a station and sang a sweet song for him. The mouse seemed to like it. He left off his eating and crept along outside the floor of the cage, which extended a couple of inches from the bars. Nixie within and Mousie without promenaded together around the four sides; and close together, too, Nixie all the time gayly gossiping and chattering. We say they kept it up for half an hour, but that is a pretty long time. At any rate it was several minutes.

How the acquaintance might have ended I cannot say. The next day the curtains were taken down and Mousie, sadly disappointed, had no ladder by which to climb. And later in the week Nixie went out of town for the summer. We wanted to take the mouse, too, but the noise the packers and movers made probably frightened him to such an extent that he dared not show himself. We do not know what his future was, but we trust it was crowned with the success due pluck and gentleness.

Katharine Pope.