COMIC ANIMALS 267 



long neck never suggests a smile, yet from the 

 anatomical point of view its owner should be among 

 the most grotesque of beasts. On the other hand, 

 there is nothing ludicrous in the appearance of prairie- 

 dogs, yet they are intensely comic, mainly because of 

 their exaggerated earnestness of demeanour. Their 

 every action, whether keeping watch as sentry or 

 collecting straw for their beds, might be labelled 

 " Most important," and the contrast between matter 

 and manner enhances the joke. No cat is ever 

 comical ; from the lion to the kitten they are dignified 

 when at rest, and pretty or amusing, but not comic, 

 when at play. Neither is the elephant ; that is partly 

 because it is not a fat animal, for its skin hangs quite 

 loosely on it, and drops into folds at the joints of the 

 limbs, and partly because it walks with great freedom, 

 deliberation, and dignity. But little elephants, which 

 are fat and have tight skins like a young hippopo- 

 tamus, are ludicrous enough, and it is in the likeness 

 of their rounded contours that Hindoo artists re- 

 present the jolly elephant-headed god Ganesha, the 

 subject of endless clever comic treatment, a domestic 

 joke in earthenware, and the Indian equivalent of 

 Mr. Punch. 



