“By nature a tortoise may be no stupider than a
bird. But you must admit that its
way of living doesn’t exactly encourage intelligence.”
-- Aldous Huxley, Point Counter
Point (1928), p. 102
That it does not; but, contemplation.
For a meditation upon the contemplative nature of our shelly
friends, try this:
And, for those of us who just can’t get enough of these
fellows, these:
~
The owl has met a variety of folkloristic fortunes around
the world, being seen here as a
sage, there as a fool. Being
partial ourselves to the former image, we were delighted to stumble upon this
passage
The prince was overjoyed to find
the owl so deeply versed in topography, and now informed him, in confidence, of
his tender passion and his
intended elopement, urging him to be his companion and counselor.
“Go to!”said the owl, with a look
of displeasure. “Am I a bird to
engage in a love-affair? -- I, whose time is devoted to meditation and the moon?”
-- Washington Irving, “The Legend
of Prince Ahmed Al Kamel”, in The Alhambra (1832)
But all turns out well, as the fowl allows himself to be
persuaded. After the adventure,
the prince appoints the owl his privy-counselor -- “It is needless to say that
never was a realm more sagely administered.”
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