Thoughts from Crow Cottage (My Main Blog.)
crowbelle's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grab the nearest book GRAB THE NEAREST BOOK... Copying Grousin' In The Sage 1. Grab the nearest book. 2. Open the book to page 23. 3. Find the fifth sentence (not line, sentence). 4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions. "I regard the Chap and the Boss as my chauffeurs and they even hold the door open to enable me to get in and out and close it after me, as good chauffeurs should." From: One Dog and Her Man by Dido, assisted by Chapman Pincher, pub. by Weidenfelt and Nicolson, London, 1991, in the chapter entitled "Territorial Imperatives", where Dido (a then three year old chocolate Labrador, who, along with her "Man" Chapman Pincher (or "Chap") has written the most lovely book from Dido's perspective, on what it's like being a dog. "I am the colour of bitter chocolate, though there is nothing bitter about me. I am a very happy dog - I cannot say "gay dog" safely these days - with a capacity to spread happiness around me. Happiness is dogshaped, I say. In fact, if I hadn't been called Dido, I would like to have been called Happy. (She goes on to explain:) "It is from our wolf ancestors that we inherited the special features that have made our close alliance with you possible. By nature the dog and the human are both pack animals, submitting to a leader, and from that common feature everything else has flowed. I regard my Chap as the pack leader, which is why, when I have to be, I am deferential to him and show him fidelity, though I can take more liberties with him than I would dare with the canine leader of a pack." (On "Seeing - at Hem-line Level"): "We don't often see you face to face because we are usually looking up at you while you look down on us, giving us a psychological disadvantage, as a man does when he wants to dominate you at an interview and sits you in a lower chair than he has. Unless we are on a chair or a bed, your face is mostly chin to us and not at all what you see in a mirror. When we try to communicate it is as though you were trying to talk to a crow in a tree. We recognize you by the whole of your body, and especially by your legs, for our world is dominated by legs." (And finally, on "Intelligence - A Matter of Definition"): "I suppose the commonest behavioural complaint about a dog is that it is "spoiled" by being over-humanized. But what does it mean? Spoiled for any form of work? What does that matter if you are not going to do any? I suppose it means over-indulged and paid too much attention. But there is nothing wrong with that so long as both sides enjoy it and a dog is not overfed. And what about people being "spoiled" by dogs? We never hear complaints about that, yet the extent of our affection and dutiful submission is so great as to be grossly flattering. Does that impair the human character? If it does, then millions of you are "spoiled" beyond redemption." This is one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time. Chapman Pincher wrote a wealth of books about spies in England and around the world, but this one he helped to write with his dog, Dido, as well as the follow-up book A Box of Chocolates about Dido having her puppies, are gems! Happy Mother's Day! Bex 7:50 am - 09 May 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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