Lola : $b or, The thought and speech of animalsKindermann, Henny
Science
Lola : $b or, The thought and speech of animals
Kindermann, Henny
Animal intelligence; Dogs -- Folklore
All this I found quite easy to do, either using my fingers or using
lumps of sugar for my purpose; I was at the same time careful to speak
very distinctly and to use as few complicated phrases as possible. I
would say, for instance, "Look here! two fingers and two fingers are
1--2--3--4 fingers!" But soon she ceased to follow with her eyes, so
that I became disheartened and thought I had gone ahead too rapidly,
or, had not roused sufficient interest; not waiting for the
psychological moment, but seeking to handle the sensitive mechanism of
a sentient creature too roughly. Yet--surely this could not be so, for,
after all, I was but tentatively trying, and, indeed it was open to me
"to try"--even if without confidence! I then said: "How much is two and
five?" doing so without illustrating the question with my fingers, and
the dog rapped seven! I felt a warm thrill of delight, yet I controlled
my joy and proceeded with my questions, although at that moment I said
to myself: "A living creature has given you a conscious answer!"
We now continued: "1 and 3?" Answer: "4." "2 and 6?" Answer: "8." This
seemed to me enough for one day, and I allowed her to scamper off with
a reward for her diligence; then I sat and meditated on my experience.
The fact was evident: the dog had understood me--I had seen it in her
eyes. She had reflected first and had then tapped the palm of my hand
with unwavering certainty. I had seen the process and had felt it. Now,
it is not wise to be guided by one's feelings alone--our judgment
should be unbiased, and so I decided to test these facts according to
reason and in every conceivable way. Yet, no one having once
experienced what I had, could ever forget the sensation, for it was
like the dawning of some great truth, rising suddenly before one's
eyes--clear and immense. It appeared to me as some beautiful gift of
life, and I was seized with a feeling of reverence for all that may yet
lie undiscovered. For this new light of which I had caught the first
flash, as though reflected in some bright crystal such as I might hold
in my hand--how I yearned to transmit it--to pass this gift--this
joy--on to others as soon as the veil should have further lifted and
the horizon have become wider. And, before passing on again to the
practical and scientific side of these investigations, I should like to
say that where we have to do with warm, pulsating life, feeling too has
its rights, and must go hand-in-hand with reason. For it is feeling,
love and patience that must first penetrate the _subject-matter_,
while to reason is assigned the studying, the weighing and the proving
along the path pursued by the creative, seeking spirit of man. Such is
man: how humble by comparison is the animal! Yet should our love
henceforth assign to it its own place--as well as its own rights--as
our lowlier companion in the work of life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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