Anecdotes of Animals

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Unknown. Anecdotes of Animals

I. ANIMAL CONCERTS

II. A NEWFOUNDLAND DOG

III. STUDYING

IV. A GRATEFUL LIONESS

V. A REMARKABLE NEWSMAN

VI. SHARP-WITTED BRUIN

VII. MAKING SURE

VIII. THE BEAR AND THE CHILD

IX. A CLEVER CROW

X. THE POWER OF MUSIC

XI. AN AMUSING MIMIC

XII. OLD HABITS

XIII. NOBLE PERSEVERENCE

XIV. THE CAT AND THE CROWS

XV. HEROISM OF AN IRISH HEN

XVI. THE SHEPHERD'S DOG

XVII. TRAVELLERS

XVIII. FILIAL DUTY

XIX. A DOG SHEEP-STEALER

XX. A MOTHER'S AFFECTION

XXI. A STRANGE MOUSER

XXII. SABINUS AND HIS DOG

XXIII. A JUST RETALIATION

XXIV. AN ODD FAMILY

XXV. THE DOLPHIN

XXVI. A GOOD FINDER

XXVIII. REVENGE

XXVIII. MICE AS SAILORS

XXIX. DRAWING WATER

XXX. THE BROKEN HEART

XXXI. REMORSE

XXXII. A COMEDY OF ELEPHANTS

XXXIII. CUNNING AS A FOX

XXXIV. FAITHFUL THOUGH UNLOVED

XXXV. A FAITHFUL COMPANION

XXXVI. ELEPHANT ROPE DANCING

XXXVII. A PROVIDENTIAL SAFE CONDUCT

XXXVIII. THE DOG AND THE GOOSE

XXXIX. THE DEATH OF ANTIOCHUS REVENGED

XL. A NOBLE REVENGE

XLI. LONG LOST FOUND AGAIN

XLII. THE DOG OF MONTARGIS

XLIII. CRAB FISHING

XLIV. THE HORSE AND GREYHOUND

XLV. THE WATCH DOG

XLVI. THE GOAT

XLVII. FOX CHASING

XLVIII. THE RIGHTS OF HOSPITALITY

XLIX. A SLY COUPLE

L. OSTRICH RIDING

LI. RETRIBUTION

LII. AN ELEPHANT'S REVENGE

LIII. STRANGE PLAYMATES

LIV. HONORS TO THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

LV. MONKEY VERSUS SNAKE

LVI. FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH

LVII. MUSICAL SEALS

LVIII. A STRANGE FOSTER MOTHER

LIX. SONNINI AND HIS CAT

LX. THE DINNER BELL

LXI. FORAGING

LXII. THE TAME SEA GULL

LXIII. A STRANGE PROTECTOR

LXIV. THE LION AND HIS KEEPER

LXV. A USURPER PUNISHED

LXVI. STRANGE ROOKS

LXVII. TAME HARES

LXVIII. THE PIG POINTER

LXIX. A WISE OURANG-OUTANG

LXX. A GRATEFUL RETURN

LXXI. WRENS LEARNING TO SING

LXXII. RARE HONESTY

LXXIII. DIVISION OF LABOR

LXXIV. A TALKING PARROT

LXXV. A CHARITABLE CANARY

LXXVI. CHOOSING THE LEAST OF TWO EVILS

LXXVII. GOING TO MARKET

LXXVIII. THE CATCHER CAUGHT

LXXIX. SNAKE DESTROYERS

LXXX. MUSICAL MICE

LXXXI. A CARRIER'S DOG

LXXXII. A TAME COLONY

LXXXIII. THE BEAR CUBS

LXXXIV. DECEIVING THE FOWLER

LXXXV. ASKING ASSISTANCE

LXXXVI. DOG SMUGGLERS

LXXXVII. PORUS SAVED BY HIS ELEPHANT

LXXXVIII. A HUMANE SOCIETY

LXXXIX. A MOTHER WATCHING HER YOUNG

XC. A REFUGEE SQUIRREL

XCI. ESCAPE OF JENGIS KAHN

XCII. A SHREWD GUESSER

XCIII. ARE BEASTS MERE MACHINES?

XCIV. AN ASS CAST AWAY

XCV. QUARRELSOME APES

XCVI. A FALSE ALARM

XCVII. A CHILD SAVED

Отрывок из книги

An abbot, a man of wit, and skilled in the making of new musical instruments, was ordered by Louis XI., king of France, more in jest than earnest, to procure him a concert of swines' voices. The abbot said that the thing could doubtless be done, but it would cost a good deal of money. The king ordered that he should have as much as he required for the purpose. The abbot then contrived as strange a thing as ever was seen. Out of a great number of hogs of various ages, which he got together under a tent, or pavilion, covered with velvet, and before which he had a table of wood painted with a certain number of keys, he made an organical instrument, and as he played upon the keys with little spikes which pricked the hogs, he made them cry in such order and consonance that he highly delighted the king and all his company.

If his master was away from home, and the command was given “Go fetch thy master,” he would at once pick up the lantern, hold it fast between his teeth, and start for the town, which was more than a mile away from the home of his master. He would stop at the door of every house which he knew his master was in the habit of visiting, and laying down his lantern, growl and strike the door making all the noise in his power, until it was opened. If his master was not in the house, he would go on farther in the same way, till he found him. If he had gone with him only once to a house, this was enough to make him take in that house in his rounds.

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If his master was away from home, and the command was given “Go fetch thy master,” he would at once pick up the lantern, hold it fast between his teeth, and start for the town, which was more than a mile away from the home of his master. He would stop at the door of every house which he knew his master was in the habit of visiting, and laying down his lantern, growl and strike the door making all the noise in his power, until it was opened. If his master was not in the house, he would go on farther in the same way, till he found him. If he had gone with him only once to a house, this was enough to make him take in that house in his rounds.

Some time after this Maldonata fell into the hands of the Spaniards, and was brought back to Buenos Ayres on the charge of having left the city contrary to orders. The governor, a man of cruelty, condemned the poor woman to a death which none but the most-cruel tyrant could have thought of. He ordered some soldiers to take her out into the country, and leave her tied to a tree, either to die of hunger, or be torn to pieces by the wild beasts. Two days later, he sent the same soldiers to see what had happened to her. To their great surprise, they found her alive and unhurt, though surrounded by lions and tigers, which a lioness at her feet kept at some distance. As soon as the lioness saw the soldiers, she fell back a little, so they were able to unbind Maldonata, who told them the story of this lioness, whom she knew to be the same one she had formerly helped in the cavern. When the soldiers were taking Maldonata away, the lioness fawned upon her, as though unwilling to part from her. The soldiers repeated the story to their commander, who could do no less than pardon the woman who had been so wonderfully protected, or he would have proven himself less humane than the lions themselves.

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