Someone (and I'm sorry, I really don't remember who) pointed out the ways in which we learn from animals, especially about taboo subjects (cf the common excuse for a litter of puppies or kittens, which is that the parents want their children to witness "the miracle of birth").
That was me, and the concept I was struggling with as I brought that up was the tradition of "learning about the deep and troubling facts of the world from household animals" thing might be the source of the use of "animals as sources of wisdom" in fiction. The animal is the one who comes from the dark outside the firelight, bringing the secrets of birth and death. This isn't just a kittens-and-puppies thing, either; I'm sure that children have been learning the basics of sex, birth, and death from domestic animals (rather than from their embarrassed parents) as long as there's been both domestication and embarrassment.
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2006-05-31 12:00 am (UTC)That was me, and the concept I was struggling with as I brought that up was the tradition of "learning about the deep and troubling facts of the world from household animals" thing might be the source of the use of "animals as sources of wisdom" in fiction. The animal is the one who comes from the dark outside the firelight, bringing the secrets of birth and death. This isn't just a kittens-and-puppies thing, either; I'm sure that children have been learning the basics of sex, birth, and death from domestic animals (rather than from their embarrassed parents) as long as there's been both domestication and embarrassment.