90. THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANIMALS [1] Says the black with a brightening face: “Yes, yes, yes, now I also understand this very well and believe at the same time to understand also other things which I earlier have not comprehended so well! In this way we also understand the language of the animals completely and who wants to go through the trouble to modulate the few noises of the animals according to the inner feeling and the nature soul-like intelligence, which of course requires a little practice, can speak with animals almost like with people and learn from them what in all seriousness is of no little importance. I have tried it already, but never managed to speak a language understandable to all animals, because my organs are not equipped accordingly and still not suitable; but I can understand everything what any animal says to its equal. [2] As such I have overheard very clearly two ichneumons at home at the Nile when being very close to them without them noticing me. The well recognizable male said to the female: ‘You, I fear for our children, who a day’s travel from here downstream, are chasing after crocodile eggs! I fear that our oldest son, when fully stuffed sluggishly rest at the shore, being caught by an evil eagle and carried into the air and is despicably torn to pieces on a rock and eaten to the bones! If we both hurry very nimbly, we could still prevent this misfortune from happening! In the evening the lions and panthers are coming to the Nile to drink water, and travelling would be dangerous for us; but let us quickly leave this place in which not much is to be gained anyway, and there will be no danger on the long route to there, and we save our oldest son!’ The female got up and said nothing else than: ‘Then let’s hurry in the usual way!’ And when the female had said this, they moved fast like an arrow over rocks and stones along the Nile. [3] After about fourteen days I came again to the same place, because I noticed in myself that a whole ichneumon family was present there. With silent steps I came closer and found seven ichneumons playing and having fun on a sandbank and teasing each other in a friendly manner. But this time I also took my servant along, because he was especially good to speak to various animal species. [4] When we came very quietly behind a bush to the place at the river and could hear their gossiping quite well, the familiar female said to the male: ‘You, look at the bush over there; behind it are lurking two people! Should we flee, since one can never trust them?’ Thereupon the male sniffed several times at our direction and said to the female: ‘Be calm, little woman! I know these two; they are not evil people, and they will not hurt us in the least. They understand us, and one of them could even speak to us if he wanted to. We will still talk to them, and then they will give us milk and bread to eat!’ [5] Upon this the female was quiet and started to joyfully jump and dance around again; since it was very happy to have saved the son finding himself in great danger. But the son was also a particularly well-build animal and expressed a way of self-feeling which could be referred to in our human moral sphere as pride. [6] My guide thought that without any further hesitation we could get closer to the cheerful society of ichneumons and they would not flee from us. We did this, and see, the old male even showed us a kind of politeness and guided us to a comfortable place as spectators, however mentioning that we should not step onto the sandbank, because there were many crocodile eggs buried and that he now was busy to let his young practice to find the evil eggs. [7] We did this and my servant gave the male his full assurance that he and his society does not have to fear anything and that we will feed them copiously with milk and milk-bread (cheese) during our stay. Upon this the male said: ‘This will be very good, and I will clean for you the stream from all crocodile eggs. However, wait with your charity for another two full days; since my young have to be forced by the hunger, to destroy crocodile eggs, only then will on the third day the sweet tasting reward be at the right place.’ [8] Thereupon the servant again asked the male how it happens that crocodile eggs are planted in this area since never ever has anyone seen a crocodile in this region of the river. And the male said: ‘The crocodiles are quite clever and are very knowledgeable about nature. By their nature and experience they know, that their eggs in these high lying areas of the stream are developing better and healthier as in the low lying areas of the river. Therefore immediately after the rainy season they swim at night to here and still several day-travels further from here upwards into the area of the hard water of the river and bury countless many eggs in the warm sand. When finished with this work during the time when you big people just like us cannot get close to the shore of the river because of the mud, they return again swimming at night to the low lying areas where there are rich herds, which they successfully hunt at night. After the young are hatched they go immediately into the water and are swimming quite comfortable to the locality where their parents are usually staying. There they find food and grow very quickly. However, since we know where to find their strongest eggs, we follow them, try to destroy them as much as possible and feed ourselves with this for us good tasting food. Only finding them is initially a little troublesome, and in addition we are bothered by a few enemies; the one is the mighty inhabitant of the air, the eagle, and the second is the damned rattlesnake. But if we are together in a group, then both cannot cause us any harm. But now pay attention how we are searching and finding the eggs and destroy them immediately!’ [9] Hereupon the male jumped up and squeaked for the human ear a few monotonous, inarticulate sounds whose meaning I could not understand very well; but my sharp listening servant said that the male has given the command to search for the eggs. And right, the little animals started to sniff into the sand, and as soon as they found a place where a layer of eggs were buried in the sand, they made a very specific noise, dug quickly into the sand and exposed the eggs, and immediately began to exterminate the found prey. They only consumed the little ones; the large ones were only bitten and thrown nimbly in the water with their front paws. Thereafter the hunt immediately started anew. 91. EXAMPLES OF INTELLIGENCE OF THE ANIMALS [1] (The black:) “We watched them for half a day undisturbed and had a nice conversation with them, since with each step of these little animals we could clearly recognize a certain order and a well calculated plan and were at the same time highly astonished about the special skill, by which these truly superhumanly intelligent beings carried out their work. I thought about a tiredness of these workers; but no trace about this. The longer the work continued, it always started with even a bigger zeal than before. [2] After about three hours according to your time measurement the male came back and said: With this sandbank they could not finish within four days, and at the opposite shore is also a sandbank with many crocodile eggs buried. They must also be destroyed otherwise it would be swarming with crocodiles and in ten years there would be so many that no human could walk one step in the lower area, without stepping on to a crocodile. The people of these regions therefore could not be thankful enough towards the ichneumons for their continued effort to destroy crocodile eggs at both shores in the lower- and upper regions of this river. [3] But my servant asked the cheerful male, how it happens with such diligence that there are still crocodiles in the river and flourish. The male said by being very serious: ‘The great Spirit of all nature wants it like this that the crocodiles of this stream should never be completely exterminated; since also their destination is to serve the earth and its inhabitants. However, they are not allowed to become dominant; therefore we are there to keep their multiplication within boundaries. The great Spirit has all this foreseen wisely and everything must happen like that, so that one life finds its perfection in another. The transitions are always bitter, but for this the higher being is pleasant!’ [4] Then the servant asked him how he came to the knowledge of a highest Spirit. The little male started to giggle and this was a kind of laughter. When the male finished giggling, it said to the servant: ‘We then daily see His sun in the sky, and how all kind of good spirits are streaming from the sun towards us! From where else should they come than from the large light-spirit of the sun?!’ [5] And the servant again asked the little male: ‘Do you also honor such great light-spirit?’ Said the male: ‘This is quite a strange question from a big human! You surely will not be more silly than we weak animals? If we all the time do with pleasure and undauntedly what His will placed into our nature-life, we then honor the great Spirit in the best manner possible?! See, therein lies everything, that one does the will of him, whom you really honor!’ With this the male left us again and returned with all diligence to his work. However, we left the place and went home to engage our domestic activities. [6] A few days afterwards we provided the little animals with milk and cheese, which they consumed with great pleasure, and upon this they rested for a whole day from the work. [7] The servant asked the little male if crocodile meat could also be eaten by people, of course when cooked on the fire before. The male said: ‘The meat of the stomach yes, since this is digestible; but with the other meat nothing can be done because it is indigestible hard. The hippopotamus would be better and even better the hippopotamus calf, which however stays mostly near the sea deep underwater and comes only to the surface during times of underwater storms and then plays with the vessels of the people.’ [8] After this explanation all seven sprung up and swam to the opposite shore where we did not follow them, since we had sufficiently learned about their nature and their character. [9] I only have told you about this example of the ichneumons, since this was something completely new for me and because I have never found so much cleverness in any other animal known to me. [10] Also among the birds one find very wise characters. Especially the ibises and storks, cranes, wild geese and swallows belong to it. Among the four foot earth animals the camel and even more so the elephant, the donkey, the dog, apes, goats, then the fox, the bear and the lion are the most intelligent and use a quite clear language. The intelligence of other domestic animals is weaker and their language is more incomprehensible and silly. Among the cold blooded animals the large lizard is tops; with us it is regarded almost as a prophet and informs us often for a few days in advance what is about to happen. Therefore we look after these animals quite well and feed them with milk and cheese. [11] It is in the highest degree astonishing where these animals are getting their knowledge from. Now, I surely did not tell you a fable, although what I have told you now must appear to the inexperienced whites as a fable. However, if they cannot believe it at all, that everything is just like I told you, for a practical demonstration bring a completely foreign donkey here, and my servant will ask him a few questions and tell him to do certain things, and the animal will surely punctually carry out what the servant ask him to do!” 92. DISCUSSION WITH THE DONKEY OF MARCUS [1] Says the old Marcus to Me: “Lord, should I bring a donkey, but one of my natural ones, to here? Since the two newly created ones could give rise to prejudice!” [2] I said: “Yes, yes, do this; since from this there will follow a quite important teaching!” [3] Marcus quickly went away and returned with a donkey and said with a smile to the black: “There is one of your world-wise; do with him as you please!” [4] The black called his servant. He immediately directed with a voice of a donkey all kind of questions to the animal, and see, the animal told him many things about the household of Marcus, as well as about its earlier very crude owner, his name and many astonishing facts, what the black servant could not normally have known, which astounded Marcus in the highest degree. Finally the servant ordered the donkey to walk three times around our table and at the end let hear everyone quite loudly seven times the ‘j-a’. The donkey immediately obeyed and after that left by himself. [5] Upon this the black leader asked our society if this was an unbelievable fable. [6] And Cyrenius, overwhelmed by amazement, said: “No, no, friend, this is no fable; but I nearly want to believe that also our famous fable composer, Aesop, could speak to animals! Lord, this is again a new property of the blacks, of which we had no idea earlier on! Yes, if this continues, it will take quite a while until we are finished with these blacks. It is coming better all the time, increasingly more unbelievable and incomprehensible! In the books of your script I once read about a donkey who spoke to the prophet Bileam who mistreated him too much; but what is this where this black is being classically told the whole biography of this quite harmless donkey! And that this was no poetry of the black, the old Marcus can vouch for! [7] This and that is quite alright and I have nothing against it, if I together with all the other wise teachings which I heard up to now, could only imagine a little this new miraculous phenomena, namely how is it possible to converse with animals by linguistic means! The well-being of humanity will not depend on this explanation; but since the highly extraordinary miraculous appearance, going forth from the human side, is there, I would like to know a little more about the how and whereby! How can animals converse with people linguistically, and how a person with animals? – Lord, give us just a few short hints in this regard!” [8] I said: “People who are able to do this are therefore not more advanced than you are who cannot do this; since the closer any person’s soul is to animal souls, the more it has the ability to converse with them, of course only in its life orderly, fully purified condition. If she merges too much with the flesh, she loses these properties and the dark laws of matter take its place, and the soul is then harmed by everything what also can harm the flesh.” (GGJ Book 10) (The Lord:) [5] At the same time you still today have a living proof with your shepherds, because some prudent shepherds guide their herds by peculiar names and noises, let them recognize their will and the herds suddenly act accordingly. Does the donkey or the ox, even if somewhat slow, not understand the signs of its master and guide completely? Who does not know that even the fierce lion always recognizes his benefactor and never, even in its fiercest rage, will harm him in any way? This proves, that the animals in their own way, also have an understanding, an appraisal and often a very sharp ability of recognition and at many opportunities indicate to people, awaiting dangers, by all kinds of gestures and often by striking contumacies and save people if they pay attention to it.” (Book 10, chap. 97)
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