For us, senor, every day is fast-day--only without the
fish. We have maize, pumpkin, cassava, potatoes, and these
suffice. And even of these cultivated fruits of the earth she
eats but little in the house, preferring certain wild berries and
gums, which are more to her taste, and which she picks here and
there in her rambles in the wood. And I, sir, loving her as I
do, whatever my inclination may be, shed no blood and eat no
flesh."
I looked at him with an incredulous smile.
"And your dogs, old man?"
"My dogs? Sir, they would not pause or turn aside if a
coatimundi crossed their path--an animal with a strong odour. As
a man is, so is his dog. Have you not seen dogs eating grass,
sir, even in Venezuela, where these sentiments do not prevail?
And when there is no meat--when meat is forbidden--these
sagacious animals accustom themselves to a vegetable diet."
I could not very well tell the old man that he was lying to
me--that would have been bad policy--and so I passed it off. "I
have no doubt that you are right," I said. "I have heard that
there are dogs in China that eat no meat, but are themselves
eaten by their owners after being fattened on rice.
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