_The Leopard's One Amiable Quality--He Loves Perfumes_
The leopard is said to have at least one amiable quality. It is said that he is so fond of beautiful perfumes that he can be tamed with them! That is, if you use some beautiful perfume which the leopard likes, you can tame him with it for a time. But I cannot tell you whether that is _always_ true.
There are many things said about animals that are not always true, for instance, that every animal can be charmed with music--if only we use the particular kind of music which that particular animal likes. No doubt, particular kinds of animal _have_ been charmed in that way for thousands of years; and even the most terrible kind of snake, called the cobra, is regularly charmed in India with a flute.
You must have read of these serpent-charmers in storybooks, as they charm even _wild_ cobras in that way. So it is quite true that several kinds of animals can be charmed with particular kinds of _soft_ music, such as the music of the flute and the violin. I shall tell you all about that in my next book.
But about taming leopards with perfumes--we are not sure that _all_ wild leopards can be tamed with beautiful perfumes. It is at least true that _some_ wild leopards have been tamed in that way. I shall now tell you a true story, to show you how that once happened.
Once a wild leopard had been caught in a trap in the jungle. He was put into a cage and carried overland to a seaport. There the leopard in his cage was put on a ship to be taken to England. The cage was placed on the deck of the ship.
The leopard was very wild and ferocious. If any of the passengers or crew came anywhere near the cage, he snarled with rage and leaped at the bars of the cage. He shook and bit the iron bars, as if he wanted to get out and attack the people. He was well fed all the time, but still nothing seemed to lessen his ferocity.
Then, one day, a lady happened to take out her handkerchief. She was standing about three or four yards from the cage, and a fresh breeze was blowing from her direction toward the cage. Immediately a change came over the leopard. A minute before he had been snarling with rage at sight of her, and trying to get out to attack her.