Chapter 34 Report to an Academy of Sciences

Dear Gentlemen of the Academy of Sciences: It is a great honor for you to invite me to write a report on the life of apes I have experienced to your hospital. Unfortunately, however, I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to satisfy the gentlemen's request.It has been nearly five years since I left my life as an ape.This period of experience seems to be just a short moment in the long river of time, but I still feel that the passage of time is extremely long.It is true that I have had good company, advice, applause, and music in my life, but on the whole I am still alone, because all the companions stay far away from the iron bars in order to maintain their image.If I had clung to my ancestry, clinging to my boyhood memories, I would never have achieved greatness today. "Nick is stubborn" is my unswerving highest creed. Although I am a free ape, I am willing to be fettered by this, so that the memory of the old days is becoming increasingly blurred.As long as human beings allow me, I could have crossed the threshold created by the heavens and the earth, and returned to the journey of my own race. However, this door has become narrower and lower with the progress and development I have been spurred on, and I I feel that living in the human world is more comfortable and comfortable.The old wind that followed me was weaker and weaker, and now it was only a breeze at my heels.The "cave" in the distance - the place where the wind and I were made - has become so narrow that even if I had the strength and the will to go back, I would have to shed a layer of skin in retraversing it.To tell the truth—though I like to use euphemisms—to tell the truth, gentlemen, the distance between your past life as an ape (if you have any experience of it) and your present is not necessarily any greater than that between me and How far is the distance between my own clan.If there is a penchant for scratching one's heels, so does every creature on Earth, from the tiny chimpanzee to the great Achilles.

In the narrowest sense, however, I seem to be able to give you an answer, and I even enjoy it.One of the first things I learned was to shake hands.Shaking hands means frankness and sincerity.Today, at the height of my career development, I would like to speak frankly about that first handshake.In fact, what I want to talk about is nothing new to your court, so it will naturally be far away from your requirements.Even if I intend to, it is really difficult to express.Even so, I can give a rough idea of ​​what a former ape must have gone through to enter the world of man and find a place to live.If I were not confident today, that my place is not yet secured on the great stage of the civilized world, I would certainly not trouble you with the following details.

My ancestral home is on the Gold Coast.As for the whole process of capturing me, I heard people say it later.It was late one evening when we, a group of apes, were drinking from the river when a hunting party from the Hagenbeck company happened to be in ambush in the jungle on the bank—by the way, I later drank many bottles of red wine with the head of the company —they fired, and I was the only ape shot, with two bullets. The first shot hit me on the cheek, not badly but leaving a large hairless red scar.From then on, I got a nickname of "Red Peter", which disgusted me, didn't suit me, and only an ape could think of it. It seemed that the only difference between me and the tamed ape Peter was this. Like a red scar.Incidentally, Peter the Ape was still somewhat famous far and near, and he died not so long ago.

The second shot was just below the buttocks, and it was such a serious injury that I still walk with a slight limp to this day.Not long ago I read an article in the papers written by someone, numbering in the thousands, who was flippant about me.The article says I haven't quite gotten over my ape nature yet, evidenced by the fact that when I have guests, I always like to take off my trousers for people to see how the bullets go in. The guy who writes this kind of article should break his fingers.As for me, I can certainly take off my pants in front of anyone if I want to.All that one sees is the well-groomed fur—here we choose a word that will not be misunderstood for a certain purpose—the scar left by that wicked bullet.Everything is open and aboveboard, and there is no need to hide anything.When truth is the all-powerful all-powerful, any sensible man will forsake all refinement.Conversely, if the author dared to take off his pants in front of the guests, it would be a big loss of style.I thought it would be wise for him not to.That being the case, I beg this gentleman not to interfere in my own affairs "in the slightest"!

I woke up after being shot and found myself in a cage in the middle of the Hagenbeck ship.It was only then that I gradually began to have my own memories.The cage was fixed on a box, with iron bars on three sides and the box on the fourth side.The cage was low and narrow, and it was difficult for me to stand or sit. I could only squat there with my knees bent and trembling.Probably because I didn't want to see anyone at the time and just wanted to stay in the dark, I always faced the box, so that the bars of the cage pierced into the flesh of my back.It is considered advisable to imprison wild animals in this way in the early stages of their capture.Nor can I deny through experience that this method of captivity is indeed effective in human terms.

But I didn't think so at the time.For the first time in my life, I had no way out, at least not forward.Directly facing me is the box, the wooden sticks are connected together, although there is a gap between the wooden sticks, I even let out a cry of ecstasy when I found it, but the gap is so thin that even the tail cannot be inserted. Even with all the strength of the ape, the gap cannot be widened. I was said to have been so quiet that it was concluded that either I would die immediately, or that the training would be easy afterwards, and the question was whether I would succeed in getting through the first period of danger.I came back to life, weeping in a low voice, catching fleas in agony, licking a coconut feebly, banging my head on a wooden box, sticking out my tongue at someone approaching me, this is All about the beginning of my new life.Yet with it comes only one feeling: There is no way out.Of course, today I can only use the language of a normal person to describe my feelings as an ape at that time, so mistakes are inevitable, but even if I can no longer reach the "state" of the ape in the past, at least the things I just recounted are not made up Random fabrication, please believe in this point.

Before this, I was so supernatural, but now I am at the end of the road, unable to move an inch.If I were to be crucified somewhere, I might have greater freedom of action than I do now.Why is this so?You can't find the answer by tearing the flesh between the toes, even if the iron grille on the back is almost strangled in two, you still can't find the reason.I have nowhere to go, but I must carve out a way out for myself, otherwise I will have no hope of living, and I will die if I keep sticking to the cage wall.But the Hagenbeck company believes that the walls of the cage are originally the place where the apes stayed.So, I have to say goodbye to my ape life.A clear and beautiful thought just rose in my stomach, because apes think with their stomachs.

I worry that people don't understand what I mean by way out, but I'm using it in its most basic and complete sense.I deliberately don't use the word "freedom," and I don't mean the feeling of unbridled freedom, which I have experienced as an ape.I also met a group of people who craved that feeling.But as far as I am concerned, neither then nor do I ever have any extravagant hopes for freedom.As a side note: Humans seem to be a little too much with their free swagger.Just as freedom is regarded as one of the noblest emotions, so has its corresponding disappointment.Before I performed in the circus troupe, I often saw two performers performing trapeze on the swing under the roof. Biting the other's hair, I wondered: "How can such a sport of showing off oneself and disregarding others be called a human freedom?" What a mockery of the sacred nature!If the apes saw this kind of performance, they would definitely roar with laughter. It would be no wonder that the theater was not collapsed by laughter.

No, what I need is not freedom, but a way out, left or right, in any direction.I have nothing else to ask for, even if this way out is just self-deception, my requirements are extremely low, and the deception will not be too miserable.Go forward, keep going!You must never raise your arms and stick to a wooden box board without moving! Today I figured it out, if it weren't for the extreme calm in my heart, I would not be able to escape anyway.I owe it to the composure of my first few days on board that I am today, and the credit for my composure belongs to the people on board. In any case, they were good people.To this day I like to recall the sound of their heavy footsteps that once haunted my semi-dreamy state.They are used to doing things slowly. When someone wants to rub his eyes, he raises his hand very slowly, as if it is a heavy burden.Their jokes are rude but fun, their laughter mixed with coughs that sound scary but are actually harmless.They are used to spitting, and it doesn't matter where they spit.They always complained that I passed the fleas on to them, but never got really mad at me for it, because they knew my fur was prone to fleas and fleas always jumped, and they leniently tolerated me "No".In my free time some people sat in a semicircle in front of me, talking very little, grunting to each other, lying sprawled on the big chest, smoking their pipes.Whenever I moved a little, they slapped my knees.Sometimes someone would take a stick to tickle me.Had I been invited to take another cruise on this ship today, I would have declined, but I can also say with certainty that my memories of that ship's middle cabin are not entirely odious.

The peace I found among these people dissuaded me from running away.Looking back now, I also seemed to have a premonition at that time that if I want to survive, I must find a way out, but the way out is definitely not obtained by running away.Whether escape was really possible at that time, I cannot say now, but I think it was possible, and escape is always possible for an ape.Today I have to be careful when biting hard nuts with my teeth, but at that time I could bite open the door lock with a little time.But I didn't do that, even if I succeeded, what would the result be?Maybe I will be caught again before I poke my head out, and put in a cage with a worse condition; I may be able to run quietly to other animals, such as the python opposite me, and then be in its "hug" "and die; or I shall succeed in slipping on deck, over the side, and in the water, and then I shall be but a moment's swaying in the open sea, and then I shall perish at the bottom of the sea.This is pure hopeless stupidity.At the time, I was not as calculating as a human being, but under the influence of the environment, my every move seemed to be driven by deliberation.

Although I did not calculate carefully, I observed everything clearly.I saw these people walking around, always with the same faces and the same movements, and I often felt that they were not a group, but the same person.The person, or group of people, walks back and forth unchecked and undisturbed.A grand goal loomed dimly in my mind, and no one had promised me that if I became like them, the bars of the cage would be removed.Obviously, this kind of far-fetched wishing will not happen.If the dream does come true, then people will find afterwards that the dreamed result coincides with the earlier wish.Now that these men themselves have lost their attraction to me, and if I am really a believer in the aforementioned freedom, my way out is to follow the suggestion of their dark eyes and plunge into the vast ocean.At any rate, I observed these things carefully before I thought of them, and it was the result of a great deal of observation that led me on a certain path. I had no trouble imitating these people to perfection, within a few days I learned to spit, and then we spit in each other's faces, the difference is that I licked my own face clean afterward, And they don't.Soon I became a seasoned pipe smoker, and every time I pressed the pipe with my thumb, the whole middle cabin burst into cheers.However, I have been unable to figure out the difference between an empty pipe pot and a pipe pot full of shredded tobacco. The most irritating thing was learning to drink soju. The smell of that stuff made me sick. I forced myself to do my best, and it took me several weeks to finally pass this level.Oddly enough, people paid more attention to my inner struggle than anything else.It is difficult for me to distinguish them from my memory, but there was one who came to me day and night, sometimes alone and sometimes with companions.He always poses in front of me with a bottle of schnapps to enlighten me, he is very puzzled by me, and wants to solve the mystery of me.He uncorked the bottle slowly, then looked at me to see if I understood what he meant.I was always watching him with feverish concentration, and I dare say that no teacher on earth has ever had a student like me.After uncorking, he lifted the bottle to his mouth, and I stared at him down to my throat, and he nodded in satisfaction and brought the spout to his lips.I was ecstatic that I was gradually enlightened, screaming wildly, and scratching all over my body.He was happy, raised the bottle and took a sip.I couldn't wait, almost madly, to try my best to follow suit. In my haste, I made myself piss-stained in the cage, which made him laugh happily again.Then he stretched out the arm holding the bottle, jerked it up again, and, leaning back in an exaggerated lecturing gesture, drank the wine in one gulp.I was so exhausted by the irrepressible passion that I leaned feebly against the iron bars and could not learn any more.As for him, he touched his belly and smiled, thus ending the full set of theoretical courses. Then, the practice began.Haven't I been exhausted by the theory?Yes, it is indeed too tiring, and this is also destined.Nevertheless, I grabbed the bottle that was offered to me as best I could, and uncorked it tremblingly, the joy of success reinvigorating me.I lifted the bottle, almost in the same way as the teacher did, put it to my mouth, and dropped it on the floor with disgust, utter disgust, even though the bottle was empty, with only a whiff of alcohol going up .This made my teacher sad, and made myself extremely sad. Although I did not forget to touch my belly with a smile in the most graceful posture after throwing away the wine bottle, this did not bring a good mood to both master and apprentice. This is how my training sessions often end.I respect the teacher, he is not mad at me, but sometimes he stuffs a lighted pipe into somewhere in my fur where I can't reach, so that there are fireworks there, and then he suppresses the fire with his big loving hands .He was really not angry, because he knew that we were all in a relentless struggle to eradicate my ape nature, especially for me, and it was a long way to go. One night, probably on a festival day, bursts of singing came from the gramophone, and an official was pacing back and forth among the crowd. While no one was paying attention, I picked up a bottle of shochu that people accidentally put in front of the iron cage. bottle.At this moment, people's eyes were already focused on me with interest. Under the eyes of everyone, I uncorked the bottle deftly, raised the bottle to my lips without frowning, and opened my mouth wide. Eyeballs, let go of your throat, like a veteran drinker, who drank a bottle of wine to the bottom in one go.What a triumph this move was for the teacher and me!Immediately afterwards, I felt more like an artist than a desperado throwing the bottle away.This time, although I forgot to touch my stomach, I did something more beautiful. Driven by my strength and the roar of my will, I actually yelled "Hello!" in a clear and precise human voice. I leaped into the ranks of humans, and the humans responded, "Listen, he spoke!" I suddenly felt that the echo spread like a kiss across my sweaty body. I repeat, imitating humans does not appeal to me, I imitate them only to find a way out.Even the victory I had just won didn't make much progress, and then my voice failed again, and it took several months to recover.Since then, my distaste for soju has grown stronger, but my direction has been determined since then. When I was delivered to the first animal trainer in Hamburg, I quickly realized that there were two possibilities before me: either the zoo or the circus.Without hesitation, I told myself to go all out and get into the circus, and this was the way out.A zoo is nothing more than a new iron cage, once inside, everything is lost. Gentlemen, I am learning like hell!People study desperately only when they are forced to, when they want to find a way out.Learning must be at any cost, and you must use the whip to urge yourself, even if there are some small deficiencies, you will be heartbroken.The ape nature rolled away from me, disappeared without a trace, and my first teacher nearly became an ape himself, he had to put down the whip and was sent to a mental hospital, but he was released soon up. But I exhausted many teachers, and several were even knocked down at the same time.My confidence in my abilities grew, the public watched my progress, and my future looked bright.At this time, I hired teachers myself and arranged them in five interconnected rooms. I shuttled between each room and listened to their lectures at the same time. My progress is out of control!The light of knowledge shone into my civilized brain from all directions.I don't deny that I feel happy, and I dare say that I don't think too highly of myself, I didn't then, and I don't have it now, and I have made efforts that no one in the world has ever done before, so that I have acquired the Europeans. General level of education.It seemed trivial in itself, but it was also a little bit unusual, because it was what helped me out of the cage and opened up my life path.There's a German saying called "sneak away," and it's so brilliant that I did exactly that.I have no other way to go without freedom of choice. I look back on the path I have traveled and the goals I have reached so far with neither complaint nor pride.With my hands in my trouser pockets and wine on the table, I half-lyed and half-sat in the rocking chair and looked out the window.When visitors come, I receive them according to the regulations.My agent was in the antechamber of the outhouse, and came in to answer orders when I rang the bell.Almost every night was a show, and my accomplishments were literally the culmination of it all.When I come home late at night from a banquet, an academic group, or a happy gathering, there is always a semi-domesticated female orangutan waiting for me, and I get comfortable happiness by her side like an ape.I hated to see her during the day, because there was in her eyes that bewildered look of half-tamed beasts, which only I could see, and which I could not stand. Overall, I achieved what I wanted to achieve.The effort I put in cannot be said to be unworthy.Besides, I don't want to invite some kind of judgment, I just want to spread knowledge, I just gave a report, and I can only reply to you, honorable gentlemen of the Academy of Sciences.