Animals Love Toys Too　动物也爱玩具

The“Daily News”says:“Our readers have often doubtless observed appeals in the papers for toys for sick children.We hear that a naturalist who feels much for animals is struck with the cruelty of leaving the creatures at the'Zoo'without anything to play with.This gentleman had in his possession a young otter,for whom he made a wooden ball,to the extreme delight of his pet,who used to divert his simple instinct with it for whole hours at a stretch.Following up the idea,the same gentleman presented the elephants and rhinoceroses in the Zoological Gardens with globes for diversion suited to their sizes,but it seems the elephants took to playing ball so furiously,that'there was danger of their houses being swept down altogether;so they were forbidden to use them indoors.'The polar bear was given a toy which,we are told,'amuses him immensely.'”

《每日新闻》报道说：“毫无疑问，我们的读者朋友们经常在报纸上看到一些文章，呼吁给生病的孩子捐赠玩具。听说有一个热爱动物的博物学家觉得把动物关在‘动物园’里却不给它们玩具玩简直太不人道了。这位先生有一只小水獭，于是他给小水獭做了一个木球，这可把小水獭给乐坏了，一玩就是好几个小时。由此这位先生受到启发，又给动物园里的大象和犀牛带去了大小合适的球形玩具。可是大象玩球玩疯了，‘都快把房子掀起来了，所以，后来就不许它们在室内玩球了。’北极熊也得到了一个玩具，据说‘这个玩具让它兴奋不已。’”