He neglected their
officiousness, repulsed their invitations, and spent day after day
on the banks of rivulets sheltered with trees, where he sometimes
listened to the birds in the branches, sometimes observed the fish
playing in the streams, and anon cast his eyes upon the pastures
and mountains filled with animals, of which some were biting the
herbage, and some sleeping among the bushes. The singularity of
his humour made him much observed. One of the sages, in whose
conversation he had formerly delighted, followed him secretly, in
hope of discovering the cause of his disquiet. Rasselas, who knew
not that any one was near him, having for some time fixed his eyes
upon the goats that were browsing among the rocks, began to compare
their condition with his own.
"What," said he, "makes the difference between man and all the rest
of the animal creation? Every beast that strays beside me has the
same corporal necessities with myself: he is hungry, and crops the
grass; he is thirsty, and drinks the stream; his thirst and hunger
are appeased; he is satisfied, and sleeps; he rises again, and is
hungry; he is again fed, and is at rest.
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