Evening star., 1932-12-08

dislikes the fixed stare Of another;
commonly. nothing will move him to
fight quicker than q prolonged look
from stranger.
Sometimes young girls are so foolish
as to glory In the power of attracting
such stares, but they should realize,
even in sophisticated age, that such
persistent glares bode them little good.
| We have said that curiosity is the be-
ginning of wisdom, and some may WON
der. since stare seems TO be mo-
tivated by curiosity why 1t is not an
indication of wisdom, too.
Here we run afoul again of the diff
ference between the animals we call
animals, and nothing more, and the
animals we call man.
There Is something noble about the
curiosity Of the creatures. 1t is about
all they can do, to display that interest
which so peculiarly distinguishes man
above the beasts of the field and the
several creatures.
Consider the "angel fish," especially
the diminutive specimens which beau-
| tify the home aquarium.
| These are among the very few fishes
which have any brains at all, but that
they have at least the beginnings of
wisdom no one can deny who has fed
them for any little length of time.
| Their little eyes are always staring
through the glass sides of the tank to
see what is going on, especially with
the hopes of dinner sor1ewhow glim-
mering in their tiny brains.
They are able to distinguish who Is
sitting in the chair beside them; they
know one person from another; and
particularly they know the one who Or
dinarily feeds them.
If he sits at one end of the tank they
will swim hurriedly down to that cor
ner: if he sits at the other. they swim
in that direction, folding their wings"
and feelers in close to their bodies, mar
rowing their tails, and putting on as
much speed as possible.
If 1t Is near their usual feeding time,
which they know in common with most
fishes, they put on sort of dance, "
If their waverings to and fro may be
called such.
There can be no doubt that those
small eyes, peering out, actually see
what they seem to be looking at. In
deed, if anything unusual presents it
SELF they will flutter over to the side
! of the aquarium to take look"
In this curiosity they seem to be en-
tirely different from most fishes, which,
once they have become accustomed to
their miniature world, swim around en-
tirely oblivious to the conlings and
goings of the human members of the
household.
This curiosity on the part of the
angels is a very high manifestation
of intelligence, on their part, but the
point is that 1t would be entirely rudi-
mentary on the part of a human
being.
If fish stares at you, as this va
riety does, it might move philosopher
| to tears, as he muses. over the divine
| Justice which saw fit to deny the crea-
| ture chance to learn and progress,
while att the same time gave it to this
human being, who makes no good use
of it in the end.
If human being stares at another
human being, however, he is not mani
| Testing any kinship with divinity, in
the least, but only species of lack of
breeding which may get him a punch
in the jaw if he isn't careful.
Open and covert staring tends to
take away the self-possession of the
average victim, and heaven knows that
most men and women cannot afford to
part with even the slightest part OF
that precious possession.
From a practical standpoint, there
are two ways of meeting a stare. One
Is to ignore it. The other is to stare
back, especially at the shoes of the
offender. Somehow this seems to floor
the average specimen, since most people
are more tender in the feet than in the
head.