ANIMAL REPUTATION. 83 



Boatswain, Cowper's hares, Poe's and Dickens's ravens, 

 Caligula's horse. 



And, just as in man, fame in such cases becomes the sub- 

 ject of verse or story, and is rendered permanent and classical. 

 Certain animals acquire celebrity ; their achievements, their 

 virtues, their mere companionship it may be, are recorded 

 in pages that mankind will not willingly let die. 



Man, however, is only too apt to form an erroneous idea 

 of animal character, and it is on this erroneous, popular, 

 frequently merely poetical, ideal that he bases his com- 

 parisons between human and animal character, and bases also 

 certain epithets applied to himself. He regards certain ani- 

 mals as the incarnation or embodiment of certain moral or 

 mental qualities that in himself constitute virtues or vices, 

 and hence he makes use of the names of the animals in 

 question, in popular as well as figurative language, as 

 emblems of the said virtues or vices. 



The difference or divergence between the real and the 

 ideal character varies considerably. While certain animals, 

 like certain men, possess and enjoy a much better reputation 

 than they deserve, others suffer from a much worse one than 

 the reality exhibits. 



Thus man ascribes to the following animals the following 

 qualities, or he adopts them as the emblems, types, or repre- 

 sentatives of the following qualities or conditions in himself 

 and his personal relationships : 



1. Lion. Majesty of demeanour, dig- 



nity of character, bravery. 



2. Tiger. Ferocity, bloodthirstiness, un- 



tamability. 



3. Hyaena. Ferocity, uncontrollable rest- 



lessness. 



4. Wolf. Ferocity, rapacity. 



5. Bear. Ferocity, bloodthirstiness, 



awkwardness, roughness. 



6. Cat. Spitefulness, selfishness, cold 



cruelty, stealthiness, trea- 

 chery, attachment to place 

 and not to person. 



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