Wednesday, March 23, 2016
What More Can Life Offer?
Robertson Davies (1913-1995), The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks (New York: Viking, 1986), pp. 139-140:
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Once, years ago, I watched a chimpanzee in the London Zoo; the Latin name over his cage was Simia Satyrus, and truly he seemed like some bawdy, happy old satyr from the Golden Age when the world was young, and Rights, and Duties, and Social Problems were still maggots in the womb of time. He lay on his back with his arms folded under his head, and bit great mouthfuls of grapes from a bunch which he held in his toes. Every now and then he looked out at me, spat seeds, and shook with silent laughter, as though to say, "If you had any sense, old boy, you'd join me. This is the life." I have often regretted that I did not accept his invitation. A nice private cage and plenty of grapes—what more can life offer?
