troop and announced: Goke gake, we can go now, it’s not danger-
ous. There’s no need to be afraid. So the whole troop moved for-
ward until it reached the spot where Ãcariya Mun was seated, all
of them cautiously peering at him in a way that signaled their con-
tinuing mistrust. As monkeys tend to do when their curiosity is
aroused, the troop was jumping about through the trees. The goke
gake sounds of their queries echoed through the forest: What is it?
What’s it doing here? The sounds of their replies reverberated in
the agitated tone of animals needing to find out what’s going on.
This narration has a repetitive quality, for this is the narra-
tive style that Ãcariya Mun himself used when telling this story.
He wanted to emphasize the points of interest for his audience,
and thus clearly indicate their significance. He said that wild
monkeys tend to panic when sensing danger because, for ages,
human beings have used various brutal methods to kill these ani-
mals in countless numbers. So monkeys are instinctively very dis-
trustful of people.
The flow of an animal’s consciousness infuses the different
sounds it makes with the appropriate meaning – just as human
verbal expressions are determined by the flow of human con-
sciousness. So, it is just as easy for monkeys to understand the
meaning of their common sounds, as it is for people to understand
the same language. Each sound that issues from an animal’s flow
of consciousness is attuned to a specific meaning and purpose.
These sounds communicate a clear message, and those who are
listening invariably comprehend their precise meaning. So, even
though it has no discernible meaning for human beings, when
monkeys emit a sound like goke, they all understand its intended
meaning, since this is the language monkeys use to communi-
jacob rumans
(Jacob Rumans)
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