THE ASS 371 



force only when no other course is possible ; but then 

 its courage rises to meet the danger. If in its wild 

 state it is surprised by an assailant, it hastens to re- 

 join its companions of the pasture ; and, all grouping 

 together as do wild horses in their war tactics, they 

 begin to kick and bite with such fury that the enemy 

 decamps as quickly as possible, with jaw-bone frac- 

 tured by a flying hoof." 



1 1 After such an exploit," said Jules, "let no one 

 tell me the donkey is a coward. ' ' 



"I fancy," put in Emile, "that after routing the 

 enemy the donkeys do not fail to chorus a song of 

 victory. ' J 



"It is not to be doubted that, to congratulate one 

 another and to celebrate their triumph, the donkeys 

 sound a few clarion notes, such as they so well know 

 how to give. The horse neighs and the donkey 

 brays, the latter cry being very loud, very prolonged, 

 very disagreeable, and composed of a succession of 

 discords ranging from sharp to grave and from 

 grave to sharp." 



"And the last notes," added Emile, "are hoarser 

 and gradually die away." 



"I see Emile is well acquainted with the donkey's 

 voice. Let us go on to some of its other peculiari- 

 ties. From time immemorial the ass has had the 

 reputation of being stupid : its very name is synony- 

 mous with stupidity. There is k whole vocabulary 

 of abusive epithets that we bestow on the ass, and 

 these epithets nearly always allude to its stupidity. 

 We call it a numbskull, a ninny, a jackass, a wooden- 



