In the case of those domestic animals
which are honorific and are reputed beautiful, there is a subsidiary basis of merit
that should be spoken of. Apart from the birds which belong in the honorific class
of domestic animals, and which owe their place in this class to their non-lucrative
character alone, the animals which merit particular attention are cats, dogs, and fast
horses. The cat is less reputable than the other two just named, because she is less
wasteful; she may even serve a useful end. At the same time the cat’s temperament
does not fit her for the honorific purpose. She lives with man on terms of equality,
knows nothing of that relation of status which is the ancient basis of all distinctions
of worth, honor, and repute, and she does not lend herself with facility to an invidious
comparison between her owner and his neighbors. The exception to this last
rule occurs in the case of such scarce and fanciful products as the Angora cat, which
have some slight honorific value on the ground of expensiveness, and have, therefore,
some special claim to beauty on pecuniary grounds.
No comments:
Post a Comment