American wit and humor; Evolution (Biology) -- Wit and humor
Don't imagine them as a collection of tigers walking around on their
hind-legs. They would have only been like tigers in the sense that
we men are like monkeys. Their development in appearance and
character would have been quite transforming.
Instead of the small flat head of the tiger, they would have had
clear smooth brows; and those who were not bald would have had
neatly parted hair--perhaps striped.
Their mouths would have been smaller and more sensitive: their
faces most dignified. Where now they express chiefly savageness,
they would have expressed fire and grace.
They would have been courteous and suave. No vulgar crowding
would have occurred on the streets of their cities. No mobs.
No ignominious subway-jams.
Imagine a cultivated coterie of such men and women, at a ball,
dancing. How few of us humans are graceful. They would have
all been Pavlowas.
Like ants and bees, the cat race is nervous. Their temperaments are
high-strung. They would never have become as poised or as placid
as--say--super-cows. Yet they would have had less insanity, probably,
than we. Monkeys' (and elephants') minds seem precariously balanced,
unstable. The great cats are saner. They are intense, they would
have needed sanitariums: but fewer asylums. And their asylums would
have been not for weak-minded souls, but for furies.
They would have been strong at slander. They would have been far
more violent than we, in their hates, and they would have had fewer
friendships. Yet they might not have been any poorer in real
friendships than we. The real friendships among men are so rare
than when they occur they are famous. Friends as loyal as Damon
and Pythias were, are exceptions. Good fellowship is common, but
unchanging affection is not. We like those who like us, as a rule,
and dislike those who don't. Most of our ties have no better footing
than that; and those who have many such ties are called warm-hearted.
The super-cat-men would have rated cleanliness higher. Some of
us primates have learned to keep ourselves clean, but it's no
large proportion; and even the cleanest of us see no grandeur in
soap-manufacturing, and we don't look to manicures and plumbers for
social prestige. A feline race would have honored such occupations.
J. de Courcy Tiger would have felt that nothing _but_ making soap, or
being a plumber, was compatible with a high social position; and the
rich Vera Pantherbilt would have deigned to dine only with manicures.
None but the lowest dregs of such a race would have been lawyers
spending their span of life on this mysterious earth studying the
long dusty records of dead and gone quarrels. We simians naturally
admire a profession full of wrangle and chatter. But that is a
monkeyish way of deciding disputes, not feline.
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