Life, 1896-02-13 · page 3 of 20
Life — February 13, 1896 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Monkey and the Ass" - Analysis This is a satirical fable mocking human folly through animal characters. An ass, envious of a monkey's acrobatic tricks, attempts to imitate him but lacks the ability. The monkey breaks the roof under excessive weight when the ass tries copying its performance, and the ass falls through, crushing his master. The moral: attempting to emulate others without possessing their natural talents leads to disaster. The satire targets human vanity and foolish imitation. The page also includes unrelated social commentary on women's sleeve fashion aiding female domestics, and criticism of the *Herald* newspaper's omission of evidence in reporting on the Dunraven Committee yacht club matter. This represents *Life* magazine's typical blend of political satire, social criticism, and humorous fables.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VOLUME XXVIL. ° L | k H- NUMBER 685 FABLES FOR THE TIMES. will, while the monkey was captured by an organ-grinder and works eighteen hours a day. Immoral: People are not always such asses as they seem to us, H.W. Phillips. MERELY AN OVERSIGHT. WE call the attention of the Herald to the fact that in its published report of the finding of the Dunraven Com- mittee this important concluding paragraph was omitted: The committee cannot take leave of the case without expressing their regret that a part of the evidence now annexed should have been surreptitiously ob- tained by a New York newspaper, owned by one of the oldest members of the club, and published with comments very adverse to one of the parties, * * # Itwas * # ® in spite of the commit- tee's efforts, in opposition to their well- understood wishes and in disregard of the best interests of the Yacht Club that this premature and imperfect publica- tion was made. Mr. Bennett is away, or this probably wouldn't have hap- pened, DAM never knew what a cold world it was until after the fall. THE present fashion of wom- en's sleeves is the most ef- fectual ever devised to promote mutual helpfulness between fel- low-creatures. No woman can put her jacket on satisfactorily without some friendly hand to THE MONKEY AND THE ASS. stow her sleeves. Polite con- temporary gentlemen, who affect ass having seen a monkey doing tricks on a roof to the edification of the _ ladies’ society and lend a hand villagers, became envious, and essayed to emulate his more agile rival. where it is needed, are making The roof broke under his greater weight, and he fell through on his master, extraordinary progress toward squashing him flatter than a pan-cake. Thenceforward, having no one to say qualifying at the close of Lent him nay, he lived a life of peace and plenty, coming and going at his own sweet _ for situations as ladies’ maids. comicbooks.com