Wisdom » Reflections

Friday Observation. Godmanis's Penguins

Emperor penguins (let us assume these are the same Godmanis penguins) tend to make a solemn entrance. They approach a stranger with a slightly nonchalant air. They stop at a respectable distance, regardless of whether it is a person or a dog.

"Emperor penguins (let us assume these are the same Godmanis penguins) tend to make a solemn entrance. They approach a stranger with a slightly nonchalant air. They stop at a respectable distance, regardless of whether it is a person or a dog. The leader steps forward and bows with dignity, so that the black beak almost touches the breast feathers. In this position he mutters his long speech to his listeners in a halting, incomprehensible language, which is just as incomprehensible as the speeches that many a good professor tends to deliver into his beard. After this deep-thinking monologue, the penguin tilts his head out of sheer politeness and holds it in this position for a few seconds, then raises his beak and, having swept it in a great arc as far as the neck allows, looks the stranger firmly in the eye to ascertain whether he has been understood. If the substance of the words has not reached its mark, the penguin begins all over again from the start, and if the onlooker for his own amusement permits it, another loudmouth immediately takes the place of the first, pushes the first speaker aside and repeats the solemn greeting in the same order as the first."

"The Ice Book", Juhan Smuul (Estonian Antarctic researcher), 1961

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