Anecdotes of Animals.

by Unknown.

I

ANIMAL CONCERTS

An abbot, a man of wit, and skilled in the making of new musical instruments, was ordered by Louis XI., king of France, more in jest than earnest, to procure him a concert of swines' voices. The abbot said that the thing could doubtless be done, but it would cost a good deal of money. The king ordered that he should have as much as he required for the purpose. The abbot then contrived as strange a thing as ever was seen. Out of a great number of hogs of various ages, which he got together under a tent, or pavilion, covered with velvet, and before which he had a table of wood painted with a certain number of keys, he made an organical instrument, and as he played upon the keys with little spikes which p.r.i.c.ked the hogs, he made them cry in such order and consonance that he highly delighted the king and all his company.

II

A NEWFOUNDLAND DOG

One of the magistrates in Harbor Grace, in Newfoundland, had an old dog of the regular web-footed species peculiar to that island, who was in the habit of carrying a lantern before his master at night, as steadily as the most attentive servant could do, stopping short when his master made a stop, and going ahead when he was ready to follow.

If his master was away from home, and the command was given "Go fetch thy master," he would at once pick up the lantern, hold it fast between his teeth, and start for the town, which was more than a mile away from the home of his master. He would stop at the door of every house which he knew his master was in the habit of visiting, and laying down his lantern, growl and strike the door making all the noise in his power, until it was opened. If his master was not in the house, he would go on farther in the same way, till he found him. If he had gone with him only once to a house, this was enough to make him take in that house in his rounds.

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III

STUDYING

A magpie belonging to a barber in Rome, could imitate very perfectly almost everything it heard. Some trumpets happened one day to be sounded before the shop, and for a day or two afterward the magpie was quite mute, and seemed sad and melancholy. All who knew it supposed that the sound of the trumpets had so stunned it as to rob it at once of both voice and hearing.

But this was not the case, as very soon appeared. The bird had all this time been studying how to imitate the sound of the trumpets; and when at last master of it, the magpie, to the astonishment of all its friends, suddenly broke its long silence by a perfect imitation of the flourish of trumpets it had heard; repeating with the greatest exactness all the repet.i.tions, stops, and changes. The learning of this lesson, however, so exhausted the magpie's brain that it forgot everything it had known before.

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IV

A GRATEFUL LIONESS

A dreadful famine raged at Buenos Ayres, yet the governor, afraid of giving the Indians a habit of spilling Spanish blood, forbade the people, on pain of death, to go into the fields in search of food, and he placed soldiers at all outlets to the country, with orders to fire upon those who should try to disobey him.

However, a woman, called Maldonata, was artful enough to get past the watchful guards, and made her escape. After wandering about the country for a long time, she came upon a cave into which she went. As soon as she was inside, she saw therein a lioness, the sight of which frightened her greatly. She was, however, soon quieted by the caresses of the animal, who in return for a service done for her by the woman, showed every sign of affection and friendliness. She never returned from searching after her own daily food without laying a part of it at the feet of Maldonata, until her cubs were large and strong enough to walk abroad, then she took them out one day and never came back.

Some time after this Maldonata fell into the hands of the Spaniards, and was brought back to Buenos Ayres on the charge of having left the city contrary to orders. The governor, a man of cruelty, condemned the poor woman to a death which none but the most-cruel tyrant could have thought of. He ordered some soldiers to take her out into the country, and leave her tied to a tree, either to die of hunger, or be torn to pieces by the wild beasts. Two days later, he sent the same soldiers to see what had happened to her. To their great surprise, they found her alive and unhurt, though surrounded by lions and tigers, which a lioness at her feet kept at some distance. As soon as the lioness saw the soldiers, she fell back a little, so they were able to unbind Maldonata, who told them the story of this lioness, whom she knew to be the same one she had formerly helped in the cavern. When the soldiers were taking Maldonata away, the lioness fawned upon her, as though unwilling to part from her.

The soldiers repeated the story to their commander, who could do no less than pardon the woman who had been so wonderfully protected, or he would have proven himself less humane than the lions themselves.

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V

A REMARKABLE NEWSMAN

One of the carriers of a large newspaper being ill, his son took his place; but, not knowing the subscribers he was to supply, he took for his guide a dog which had usually gone over the route with his father.

The animal trotted on ahead of the boy and stopped at every door where the paper was to be left, without making a single mistake, or forgetting anybody.

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VI

SHARP-WITTED BRUIN

The captain of a Greenland whaler being anxious to secure a bear, without wounding the skin, made trial of the trick of laying a noose of rope in the snow, and placing a piece of meat within it. A bear, roaming over the ice nearby was soon attracted to the spot by the smell of the dainty morsel. He saw the bait, crept up cautiously, and seized it in his mouth; but his foot at the same time, by a jerk of the rope, became entangled in the noose. He quietly pushed it off with his paw, and walked slowly away. Having eaten the piece he had carried away with him, he returned. The noose, with another piece of meat, having been replaced, he pushed the rope aside, and again walked off with his capture. A third time the noose was laid, but having seen how clever the bear was, the sailors buried the rope beneath the snow, and laid the bait in a deep hole dug in the centre. The bear once more came back, and the sailors thought they were now sure of success. But bruin, much wiser than they expected, after snuffing about the place for a few moments, sc.r.a.ped the snow away with his paws, threw the rope aside once more, and again escaped unhurt with his prize.

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VII

MAKING SURE

During the war between Augustus Caesar and Mark Antony, when all the world stood wondering and uncertain as to which one Fortune would favor, a poor man at Rome, in order to be prepared for making, in either event, a bold move for his own advancement, hit upon the following clever plan.

He set himself to the training of two crows with such great care, that at length he had taught them to p.r.o.nounce with great distinctness, the one a salutation to Caesar, and the other a salutation to Antony.

When Augustus returned the conqueror, the man went out to meet him with the proper crow perched on his fist, and every now and then it kept calling out, "_Salve_, _Caesar_, _Victor Imperator!_" "Hail, Caesar, Conqueror and Imperator!" Augustus, greatly amused and delighted with so novel a greeting, bought the gifted bird of the man for a sum which was so large that it made him rich.

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