Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A DOG'S EYE VIEW OF MAN



BY
JAMES THURBER

If man has benefited immeasurably by his association with the dog, what, you may ask, has the dog got out of it?  His scroll has, of course, been heavily charged with punishments: he has known the muzzle, the leash and the tether; he has suffered the indignities of the show bench, and the tin can on the tail, the ribbon in the hair; his love life with the other sex of his species has been regulated by the frigid hand of authority, his digestion ruined by the macaroons and marshmallows of doting women.  The list of his woes could be continued indefinitely. But he has also had his fun, for he has been privileged to live with and study at close range the only creature with reason, the most unreasonable of creatures.

The dog has more fun out of Man than Man has got out of the dog, for the clearly demonstrable reason that Man is the  more laughable of the two animals.  The dog has long been bemused by  the singular activities and the curious practices of men, cocking his head inquiringly to one side, intently watching and listening to the strangest goings-on the world.  He has
seen men sing together and fight one another in the same evening.  He has watched them go to bed when it is time to get up, and get up when it is time to go to bed.  He has observed them destroying the soil in vast areas, and nurturing it in small patches.  He has stood by while men  built strong and solid houses for rest and quiet, and then filled them with lights and bells and machinery.  His sensitive nose, which can detect what's cooking in the next township, has caught at one and the same time the bewildering smells of the hospital and the munitions factory. He has seen men raise up great cities to heaven and then blow them to hell.

For your reading pleasure
To Diva and Mimi RIP

1 comment:

  1. Cuando era niña, escuchaba en el radio, un programa que se llamaba "El alma de las cosas", y lo buscaba con interés, a tu entrada le llamo el alma de perro, me lo recuerda.

    Hasta pronto

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