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ANECDOTE XLV.
CONCERT OF ANIMALS
AN abbot, a man of wit, and skilled in the construction of new musical instruments, was ordered by Louis XI., King of France, more in jest than in earnest, to procure him a concert of swines' voices. The abbot said that the thing could doubtless be done, but that it would take a good deal of money. The king ordered that he should have whatever he required for the purpose. The abbot then wrought a thing as singular as ever was seen; for out of a great number of hogs of several ages which he got together, and placed under a tent, or pavilion, covered with velvet, 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 said keys with little spikes, which pricked the hogs, he made them cry in such order and consonance, he highly delighted the king and all his company.
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ANECDOTE XLVI.
AN innkeeper once sent, as a present by the carrier, to a friend a dog and cat tied up in a bag, who had been companions more than ten months. A short time after the dog and cat took their departure together and returned to their old habitation, a distance of thirteen miles. They jogged along the road side by side, and on one occasion the dog gallantly defended his fellow-traveller from the attack of another dog they met.
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ANECDOTE XL.
THE OSTRICH
A GENTLEMAN tells how, during the time of his residence at Podor, a French factory on the banks of the river Niger, there were two ostriches, though young, of gigantic size, which afforded him a very remarkable sight. "They were," he says, "so tame, that two little blacks mounted both together on the back of the largest. No sooner did he feel their weight, than he began to run as fast as possible, and carried them several times round the village, as it was impossible to stop him otherwise than by obstructing the passage. This sight pleased me so much, that I wished it to be repeated, and to try their strength, directed a full-grown negro to mount the smallest, and two others the largest. This burthen did not seem at all disproportionate to their strength. At first they went at a tolerably sharp trot, but when they became heated a little, they expanded their wings as though to catch the wind, and moved with such fleetness, that they scarcely seemed to touch the ground. Most people have, at one time or another, seen a partridge run; and consequently know that there is no man whatever able to keep up with it; and it is easy to imagine, that if this bird had a longer step, its speed would be considerably augmented. The ostrich moves like the partridge, with this advantage; and I am satisfied that those I am speaking of would have distanced the fleetest race-horses that were ever bred in England. It is true they would not hold out so long as a horse; but they would undoubtedly go over a given space in less time. I have frequently beheld this sight, which is capable of giving one an idea of the prodigious strength of an ostrich, and of showing what use it might be of, had we but the method of breaking and managing it as we do a horse."
<!-- image -->ANECDOTE XLI.
CHOICE RETALIATION
A TAME elephant kept by a merchant was suffered to go at large. The animal used to walk about the streets in as quiet and familiar a manner as any of the inhabitants, and delighted much in visiting the shops, particularly those which sold herbs and fruit, where he was well received, except by a couple of brutal cobblers, who, without any cause, took offence at the generous creature, and once or twice attempted to wound his proboscis with their awls. The noble animal, who knew it was beneath him to crush them, did not disdain to chastise them by other means. He filled his large trunk with a considerable quantity of water, not of the cleanest quality, and advancing to them as usual, covered them at once with a dirty flood. The fools were laughed at, and the punishment applauded.
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ANECDOTE XLII.
THE HORSE AND GREYHOUND
VARIOUS have been the opinions upon the difference of speed between a well-bred greyhound and a racehorse if opposed to each other. Wishes had been frequently indulged by the sporting world that some criterion could be adopted by which the superiority of speed could be fairly ascertained, when the following circumstance accidentally took place, and afforded some information upon what had been previously considered a matter of great uncertainty. In the month of December 1800 a match was to have been run over Doncaster racecourse for one hundred guineas, but one of the horses having been withdrawn, a mare started alone, that by running the ground she might ensure the wager; when having run about one mile in the four, she was accompanied by a greyhound, which joined her from the side of the course, and emulatively entering into the competition, continued to race with the mare for the other three miles, keeping nearly head and head, and affording an excellent treat to the field by the energetic exertions of each. At passing the distance post five to four was betted in favour of the greyhound, when parallel with the stand it was even betting, and any person might have taken his choice from five to ten; the mare, however, had the advantage by a head at the termination of the course.
ANECDOTE XLVII.
A THIEF who had broken into the shop of Cellini, the Florentine artist, and was breaking open the caskets in order to come at some jewels, was arrested in his progress by a dog, against whom he found it a difficult matter to defend himself with a sword. The faithful animal ran to the room where the journeymen slept, but as they did not seem to hear him barking he drew away the bedclothes, and pulling them alternately by the arms, forcibly awaked them; then barking very loud he showed the way to the thief, and went on before; but the men would not follow him, and at last locked their door. The dog having lost all hopes of the assistance of these men undertook the task alone, and ran downstairs; he could not find the villain in the shop, but immediately rushing into the street came up with him, and tearing off his cloak, would have treated him according to his deserts if the fellow had not called to some tailors in the neighbourhood, and begged they would assist him against a mad dog; the tailors believing him came to his assistance, and compelled the poor animal to retire.
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ANECDOTE XLVIII.
A FRENCH officer, more remarkable for his birth and spirit than his wealth, had served the Venetian republic for some years with great valour and fidelity, but had not met with that preferment which he merited. One day he waited on a nobleman whom he had often solicited in vain, but on whose friendship he had still some reliance. The reception he met with was cool and mortifying; the nobleman turned his back upon the necessitous veteran, and left him to find his way to the street through a suite of apartments magnificently furnished. He passed them lost in thought, till, casting his eyes on a sumptuous sideboard, where a valuable collection of Venetian glass, polished and formed in the highest degree of perfection, stood on a damask cloth as a preparation for a splendid entertainment, he took hold of a corner of the linen, and turning to a faithful English mastiff which always accompanied him, said to the animal, in a kind of absence of mind, "Here, my poor old friend; you see how these haughty tyrants indulge themselves, and yet how we are treated!" The poor dog looked his master in the face, and gave tokens that he understood him. The master walked on, but the mastiff slackened his pace, and laying hold of the damask cloth with his teeth, at one hearty pull brought all the glass on the sideboard in shivers to the ground, thus depriving the insolent noble of his favourite exhibition of splendour.
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ANECDOTE XLIX.
TAME COLONY
A WELL-KNOWN traveller, in a description of the Island of Tristan d'Acunha, states that the animals found on this solitary spot were so tame, that it was necessary to clear a path through the birds which were reposing on the rocks, by kicking them aside. One species of seal did not move at all when struck or pelted, and at length some of the company amused themselves by mounting them, and riding them into the sea!
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ANECDOTE L.
AN USURPER
SOME years ago a sparrow had early in spring taken possession of an old swallow's nest, and had laid some eggs in it, when the original builder and owner of the castle made her appearance, and claimed possession. The sparrow, firmly seated, resisted the claim of the swallow; a smart battle ensued, in which the swallow was joined by its mate, and during the conflict by several of their comrades. All the efforts of the assembled swallows to dislodge the usurper were, however, unsuccessful. Finding themselves completely foiled in this object, it would seem that they had held a council of war to consult on ulterior measures; and the resolution they came to shows that with no ordinary degree of ingenuity some very lofty considerations of right and justice were combined in their deliberations. Since the sparrow could not be dispossessed of the nest, the next question with them appears to have been, how he could be otherwise punished for his unlawful occupation of a property unquestionably belonging to its original constructor. The council were unanimous in thinking that nothing short of the death of the intruder could atone for so heinous an offence; and having so decided, they proceeded to put their sentence into execution in the following very extraordinary manner. Quitting the scene of the contest for a time, they returned with accumulated numbers, each bearing a beak full of building materials; and without any further attempt to beat out the sparrow, they instantly set to work and built up the entrance into the nest, enclosing the sparrow within the clay tenement, and leaving her to perish in the stronghold she had so bravely defended.
<!-- image -->ANECDOTE LI.
THE RIGHTS OF HOSPITALITY
A NATIVE Moor who went to hunt the lion, having proceeded far into a forest, happened to meet with two lion's whelps that came to caress him; the hunter stopped with the little animals, and waiting for the coming of the sire or the dam, took out his breakfast, and gave them a part. The lioness arrived unperceived by the huntsman, so that he had not time, or perhaps wanted the courage, to take to his gun. After having for some time looked at the man that was thus feasting her young, the lioness went away, and soon after returned, bearing with her a sheep, which she came and laid at the huntsman's feet.