Autobiographies; Boys -- Biography; Country life; New England
Speaking of Latin reminds me that I once taught my cows Latin. I don't
mean that I taught them to read it, for it is very difficult to teach a
cow to read Latin or any of the dead languages,—a cow cares more for
her cud than she does for all the classics put together. But if you
begin early you can teach a cow, or a calf (if you can teach a calf
anything, which I doubt), Latin as well as English. There were ten
cows, which I had to escort to and from pasture night and morning. To
these cows I gave the names of the Roman numerals, beginning with Unus
and Duo, and going up to Decem. Decem was of course the biggest cow of
the party, or at least she was the ruler of the others, and had the
place of honor in the stable and everywhere else. I admire cows, and
especially the exactness with which they define their social position.
In this case, Decem could "lick" Novem, and Novem could "lick" Octo,
and so on down to Unus, who couldn't lick anybody, except her own
calf. I suppose I ought to have called the weakest cow Una instead of
Unus, considering her sex; but I didn't care much to teach the cows
the declensions of adjectives, in which I was not very well up myself;
and besides it would be of little use to a cow. People who devote
themselves too severely to study of the classics are apt to become
dried up; and you should never do anything to dry up a cow. Well, these
ten cows knew their names after a while, at least they appeared to, and
would take their places as I called them. At least, if Octo attempted
to get before Novem in going through the bars (I have heard people
speak of a "pair of bars" when there were six or eight of them), or
into the stable, the matter of precedence was settled then and there,
and once settled there was no dispute about it afterwards. Novem either
put her horns into Octo's ribs, and Octo shambled to one side, or else
the two locked horns and tried the game of push and gore until one
gave up. Nothing is stricter than the etiquette of a party of cows.
There is nothing in royal courts equal to it; rank is exactly settled,
and the same individuals always have the precedence. You know that at
Windsor Castle, if the Royal Three-Ply Silver Stick should happen to
get in front of the Most Royal Double-and-Twisted Golden Rod, when the
court is going in to dinner, something so dreadful would happen that we
don't dare to think of it. It is certain that the soup would get cold
while the Golden Rod was pitching the Silver Stick out of the castle
window into the moat, and perhaps the island of Great Britain itself
would split in two. But the people are very careful that it never
shall happen, so we shall probably never know what the effect would
be. Among cows, as I say, the question is settled in short order, and
in a different manner from what it sometimes is in other society. It
is said that in other society there is sometimes a great scramble for
the first place, for the leadership as it is called, and that women,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account