WRONG AND UNCERTAIN ANSWERS 119 



do you mean ' when you ran ' ? " (lief = ran, the 

 past tense of laufen = to run), "no." " Did you 

 learn that word from me ? " " yes." " Then explain 

 yourself." " ich rante in wald zu re " (=1 ran in 

 the wood after deer). Apparently she was in no mood 

 for explanations, and it was only after wrestling with 

 her that I could get any sequence of words at all. At 

 other times when urged to get on with the subject she 

 will in her contrariness rap as follows : " o zu ich " 

 or " e wo zu " or " zum zu wozu " or " we " and so on 

 letters with which it is rarely possible to put together 

 even such small words as wo (= where) or zu (= to, 

 or for) and the longer one persists on such occasions, 

 the more senseless her remarks become ; it is the rarest 

 thing for her to suddenly pull herself together so as 

 to give a proper answer. And here again I can find 

 no excuse for her behaviour ; though it may be that 

 she dislikes my persistence, and therefore has recourse 

 to any nonsense by way of a quick reply 1 So as to 

 get her in some manner to recognize the errors of her 

 ways I have again and again persevered with the 

 utmost patience, so as to arrive at some consistent 

 answer yet all I have succeeded in arousing, has been 

 increased reluctance on the dog's part. 



