Тарзан, приёмыш обезьян
The Light of Knowledge
Andsoheprogressedvery,veryslowly,foritwasahardandlaborioustaskwhichhehadsethimselfwithoutknowingit—ataskwhichmightseemtoyouormeimpossible—learningtoreadwithouthavingtheslightestknowledgeoflettersorwrittenlanguage,orthefaintestideathatsuchthingsexisted.
Hedidnotaccomplishitinaday,orinaweek,orinamonth,orinayear;butslowly,veryslowly,helearnedafterhehadgraspedthepossibilitieswhichlayinthoselittlebugs,sothatbythetimehewasfifteenheknewthevariouscombinationsofletterswhichstoodforeverypicturedfigureinthelittleprimerandinoneortwoofthepicturebooks.
Ofthemeaninganduseofthearticlesandconjunctions,verbsandadverbsandpronounshehadbutthefaintestconception.
Onedaywhenhewasabouttwelvehefoundanumberofleadpencilsinahithertoundiscovereddrawerbeneaththetable,andinscratchinguponthetabletopwithoneofthemhewasdelightedtodiscovertheblacklineitleftbehindit.
Heworkedsoassiduouslywiththisnewtoythatthetabletopwassoonamassofscrawlyloopsandirregularlinesandhispencil-pointworndowntothewood.Thenhetookanotherpencil,butthistimehehadadefiniteobjectinview.
Hewouldattempttoreproducesomeofthelittlebugsthatscrambledoverthepagesofhisbooks.
