LAUGHTER AXV WEEPING. 319 



fox. 5 And she illustrates this assertion by the narrative of 

 a practical joke played on a number of pigs by a flock of 

 geese. The poor porkers were caused to c run the gauntlet ' 

 down a ]ane of geese biting at them with their bills, simply 

 in order to frighten them and that the geese might enjoy 

 the terror and squalling of the pigs. Wood mentions an 

 Irish terrier that had a keen love of fun, ' and no one could 

 have been more fertile in hitting upon plans for gratifying 

 it.' The horse (Nichols), the hare (' Percy Anecdotes '), rooks 

 (White), all engage in frolic of different kinds. All young 

 animals occupy themselves largely in gambols, and all their 

 various modes of self-amusement involve a certain amount 

 of fun. The humorousness of their practical jokes has 

 been specially noted in the Ehesus and Diana monkeys 

 (Cassell). 



These practical jokes, and consequently the humour 

 involved, are sometimes of a grim or ghastly kind for 

 instance, in certain cases in which the perpetrator takes a 

 cruel delight in the suffering or torture of its fellow. Such 

 cruel fun is not confined by any means to monkeys (Buck- 

 land), but is to be met with also in the parrot. The dog, 

 too, has certain modes of making or taking fun at the 

 expense of suffering in other animals. For instance, it 

 amuses itself not only by chasing sheep, but by worrying 

 them or biting their forelegs or feet ('Animal World'). I 

 had a terrier that proved a nuisance from its habit of seizing 

 all barefooted beggars by the feet. 



' One of my horses,' says Baker Pasha, ' out of pure 

 amusement, kicks at the men as they pass, and having 

 succeeded several times in kicking them into the river, he 

 perseveres in the fun I believe for lack of other employ- 

 ment.' 



Certain animals, and especially certain dogs, under- 

 stand or appreciate man's fun, entering into it thoroughly, 

 co-operating with him in carrying it on or out. Thus a 

 favourite terrier of Sir Edwin Landseer's 'readily learned 

 his master's will, and equally understood his fun ' (Macaulay 

 and ' Animal World '). Dogs, and even cats, take part in the 

 fun and frolic sometimes rough or boisterous enough. of 



