Story of the Bible Animals: A Description of the Habits and Uses of every living Creature mentioned in the Scriptures, with Explanation of Passages in the Old and New Testament in which Reference is made to them — John Shaqi
Story of the Bible Animals: A Description of the Habits and Uses of every living Creature mentioned in the Scriptures, with Explanation of Passages in the Old and New Testament in which Reference is made to themWood, J. G. (John George)
Religion
Story of the Bible Animals: A Description of the Habits and Uses of every living Creature mentioned in the Scriptures, with Explanation of Passages in the Old and New Testament in which Reference is made to them
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Animals in the Bible; Nature in the Bible
"Going out in the daytime, it is not difficult to find traces of the
fights of the night about the limbs of all the street dogs. There
is not one, among their vast number, in the possession of a perfect
skin. Some have their ears gnawed away or pulled off; others have
their eyes taken out; from the backs and haunches of others perfect
steaks of flesh had been torn away; and all bear the scars of
desperate combats.
"Wild and desperate as is their nature, these poor animals are
susceptible of kindness. If a scrap of bread is thrown to one of
them now and then, he does not forget it; for they have, at times,
a hard matter to live--not the dogs amongst the shops of Galata or
Stamboul, but those whose 'parish' lies in the large burying-grounds
and desert places without the city; for each keeps, or rather is
kept, to his district, and if he chanced to venture into a strange
one, the odds against his return would be very large. One battered
old animal, to whom I used occasionally to toss a scrap of food,
always followed me from the hotel to the cross street in Pera,
where the two soldiers stood on guard, but would never come beyond
this point. He knew the fate that awaited him had he done so; and
therefore, when I left him, he would lie down in the road, and go to
sleep until I came back.
"When a horse or camel dies, and is left about the roads near the
city, the bones are soon picked very clean by these dogs, and they
will carry the skulls or pelves to great distances. I was told that
they will eat their dead fellows--a curious fact, I believe, in
canine economy. They are always troublesome, not to say dangerous,
at night; and are especially irritated by Europeans, whom they will
single out amongst a crowd of Levantines."
In the same work there is a short description of a solitary dervish,
who had made his home in the hollow of a large plane-tree, in front
of which he sat, surrounded by a small fence of stakes only a foot
or so in height. Around him, but not venturing within the fence,
were a number of gaunt, half-starved dogs, who prowled about him
in hopes of having an occasional morsel of food thrown to them.
Solitary as he was, and scanty as must have been the nourishment
which he could afford to them, the innate trustfulness of the
dog-nature induced them to attach themselves to human society of
some sort, though their master was one, and they were many--he was
poor, and they were hungry.
[Illustration: EASTERN WATER-SELLER.]
THE WOLF.
Identity of the animal indisputable--its numbers, past and
present--The Wolf never mentioned directly--its general
habits--References in Scripture--its mingled ferocity and
cowardice--its association into packs--The Wolf's bite--How it
takes its prey--its ravages among the flocks--Allusions to this
habit--The shepherd and his nightly enemies--Mr. Tristram and
the Wolf--A semi-tamed Wolf at Marsaba.
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