Page:Indira and Other Stories.pdf/192

 literature. All phrases that have not been carefully chewed and digested by classical authors are extremely faulty. We are monkey folk, and during long ages have spent our time in chewing. That the tiger people have not followed our example must be attributed as sin to them."

At this point a lovely young lady monkey observed, "I could make a list of a thousand faults in the discussion. Hundreds of times I could not understand what they were talking about. What greater fault can there be than to fail to make yourself intelligible to the ladies in the audience?"

Another monkey said, "I am not sure that I can point out any specific errors in all this speechifying. But I can do what no tiger ever did. I can grimace hideously and display my breeding and wit by the use of the foulest and most disgusting abuse."

In such fashion the monkey folk poured scorn on their hereditary foes. A stout elderly monkey closed the discussion by remarking,