I was sitting in the hot tub in the hotel in Orlando last week, recovering from hours of schlepping kids and luggage around airports, listening to a conversation between two other individuals. I sat there, shaking my head. I’m not up to speed on my C.S. Lewis, their primary discussion, but I do have a lot of experience with animals these days – apparently more than the guy who was talking did.
“Animals don’t carry a grudge,” he said. “They don’t go and get revenge for things like humans do.”
I’ve heard this before, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought it’s totally, completely, 100% wrong. People just think they are superior mentally.
I can think of dozens of stories of animals exacting revenge – and not just human animals either. Elephants, dolphins, dogs, and horses all remember and exact revenge for the misdeeds done to them.
Here’s an elephant story: This took place in India a while back. A mother elephant, her calf, and her people were going to market, and had to wait for a train. The calf was hit, and (I don’t remember exactly) either seriously injured or killed. The next time they went out with the elephant, she shoved the train off the track.
There are countless stories of elephants attacking villages, killing the villagers, and destroying their fields. It’s not as random as one might think – animals are just like humans: they do things for a reason. These are animals who’ve “had it up to here” and who pushed back.
I remember reading a story about a dolphin that guided ships through the rocks into a specific harbor. One day, one of the ships accidentally stuck him. He went off for a while to recover, and the crews were thrilled to see him return. When the ship which had struck him returned, he refused to guide it through the rocks, and it did not make it through in one piece...
I think it comes down to understanding psychology a little better. Revenge is simply “a reaction to an individual, caused by the pain inflicted by another individual.” It doesn’t have to be premeditated, as it often isn’t with humans, and it doesn’t have to be specifically directed at the individual who initially injured the victim.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on this… please post your comments!
Patricia Reszetylo, http://EquineTeleseminar.net
