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THE TRAINING OF A WILD ASS 169 |
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with two long ropes to two roots near us, and let the animal recover itself.
In a few moments the onagra got up and kicked wildly ; but the pain of its nose, which was grasped and violently squeezed in the bamboo, forced it to lie down again. Meantime we caught and tied up Grizzle, fastening him near the wild ass, and put before both plenty of good food.
For days, however, the onagra remained savage and shy. I let the nippers remain on its nose, for without them no one could have approached it. I took them off, however, at times when I gave it food, and I began, as with the buffalo, by placing a bundle of sailcloth on its back. The children came by turns to play with it and scratch its ears gently. But for a long time we despaired of success; the onagra made furious starts and leaps when any of us went near it, kicked with its hind feet, and even attempted to bite those who touched it. This obliged me to have recourse to a muzzle, which I managed to fix on. To avoid being kicked I tied the fore feet and hind feet together. At length it grew tamer, and was no longer in a rage when we approached, but bore being handled and stroked.
At last we ventured to free it by degrees from |
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