Seldwyla Folks: Three Singular TalesKeller, Gottfried
General
Seldwyla Folks: Three Singular Tales
Keller, Gottfried
Switzerland -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
But now Zues grew jealous. Rather nettled, she spoke: "Animals all love
me and like to stay with me. One of my birds remained with me for eight
years, until unfortunately it died. Our cat is so fond of me that it
forever purrs about me, and our neighbor's pigeons crowd about me every
day when I scatter some crumbs for them on my window sill. Wonderful
qualities animals have, anyway, each after its kind. The lion loves to
follow in the footprints of kings and heroes, and the elephant
accompanies the prince and the doughty warrior. The camel bears the
merchant through the desert and keeps a store of fresh water in its
belly for him. The dog again shares all the dangers with his owner and
pitches himself headlong into the sea just to prove his devotion. The
dolphin has a strong love for music and swims in the wake of vessels,
while the eagle accompanies armies. The ape bears a strong resemblance
to the human species and imitates everything he sees us do. The parrot
understands our speech and converses with us just like any person of
sense. Even the snakes may be tamed and then dance on the tip of their
tails. The crocodile sheds human tears and is consequently in those
parts esteemed and spared. The ostrich may be saddled and ridden like a
horse. The savage buffalo pulls the carriage of his human master, as
the reindeer does the sledge of his. The unicorn furnishes man with
snow-white ivory and the tortoise with its transparent bones--"
"Beg pardon," interrupted all the three combmakers together, "herein
you are slightly in error, for ivory comes from the teeth of the
elephant, and tortoise-shell combs are made out of the shell of that
animal and not of the bones of the tortoise."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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