Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - V. Patients
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
travelling menagerie. The cruel wild beast is
not behind the bars of the cage, he stands in
front of it.
A propos of monkeys and menageries I venture
with due modesty to pride myself on having been
in the days of my strength a good
monkey-doctor as well. This is an extremely difficult
speciality, hampered by all sorts of unexpected
complications and pitfalls, and where great
rapidity of judgment and profound knowledge of
human nature are essential conditions for success.
It is sheer nonsense to say that as with children
the chief difficulty lies in the fact that the patient
cannot speak. Monkeys can speak quite well if
they choose to. The chief difficulty is that they
are far too clever for our slow brains. You can
deceive a human patient—deception, alas, forms
a necessary part of our profession, the truth is
so often too sad to be told. You can deceive a
dog who believes blindly everything you say,
but you cannot deceive a monkey, for he sees
through you at once. The monkey can deceive
you whenever he chooses and he loves to do it,
often for sheer fun. My friend Jules, the aged
baboon in the Jardin des Plantes, puts his
hands on his tummy with the most pitiful air of
dejection, and shows me his tongue—it is much
easier to make a monkey show you his tongue
than a small child—says he has completely lost
his appetite and has only eaten my apple to
oblige me. Before I have time to open my
mouth to say how sorry I am, he has snatched
my last banana from me, eaten it, and thrown
the skin at me from the top of the cage.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
