Page:Diary of a Pilgrimage (1891).pdf/228

 And then it suddenly occurred to me that it was because of this very cow I had been warned not to go near this very field. The poor animal had lately suffered a severe mental strain, owing to having been deprived of her offspring, and had evidently determined to relieve her overburdened feelings on the very first living thing that came fooling around.

Well, there I was, and what was I to do? I paused for a moment, wondering. At first I thought I would lie down and pretend to be dead. I had read somewhere that if you lie down and pretend to be dead, the most savage animal will never touch you. I forget the reason why it will not; I rather think it is supposed to be because it is disappointed at not having had the fun of killing you itself. That makes it sulky, and it will have nothing to do with you. Or else its conscience is touched in some way, and the result of the deed it has been contemplating brought home to it; so that it goes away full of thankfulness at having been kept from a great crime, and determines to be a better beast for the future.

But, as I was preparing to drop down, the thought struck me: Was it all beasts that felt this way when they saw a man shamming dead, or was it only lions and tigers? I could not call to mind any instance of a traveller having escaped from a Jersey cow by this device; and to lie down in front of the animal, if it were merely