“Talk to the Animals” ?

Despite the peculiar style of drawings in the Doctor Dolittle books, and oddities in their plots, there is one thread throughout the series of books that remains appealing:  Namely, the notion of talking to the animals. The 1967 movie version starring Rex Harrison also left us with the catchy song-version of the idea, simply titled "Talk to the Animals."  Most people who have sung that song probably do not realize that the concept has ancient roots.

For example, based on statements in the Old Testament that King Solomon knew much about Nature (I Kings 4:33), a legend developed that Solomon could also talk to animals.  As retold poetically by Rudyard Kipling a century ago:  "There was never a King like Solomon, / Not since the world began; / But Solomon talked to a butterfly / As a man would talk to a man."

Christian art contains countless depictions of St. Francis of Assisi preaching to the birds.  St. Francis's gentleness, however, is also portrayed through the other side of the coin:  Namely, that he was also adept at listening to animals.  In one story, Francis is asked by the people in the town of Gubbio to help them deal with a wolf that has been harassing them.  After going into the woods to converse with the wolf, Francis returns with a message:  The wolf has agreed to leave you alone -- but only if you feed it!

Those two St. Francis stories -- his preaching to the birds and his listening to the Gubbio wolf -- raise a question:  Which do we value more, talking or listening?  Within our human societies, we often elevate people who we remember as being great leaders by quoting things they have said.  In contrast, in conversation between friends, we appreciate someone who is a good listener. Speaking and listening can be complementary within human societies.  However, it strikes me that our relationship with the non-human realm we call "Nature" is different.  Animals cannot understand our talk the way a human can.  We have better chances of accomplishing something if we listen to Nature.

Since the rise of the modern technology, there have been new means of listening to things in Nature.  The recorded calls of humpback whales are now recognizable to people who have never seen a whale.  There are numerous relaxation CD's available with bird songs interwoven with gentle music.  Usually, though, such CD's are used as background music.  I know myself how relaxing they can be.  But a more challenging task than relaxing is stopping what I am doing and listening to Nature itself for awhile.

Beneath all this matter of talking and listening lies an unspoken desire for communion with the non-human realm.  The native American Luther Standing Bear said that "so close did some of the Lakotas come to their feathered and furred friends that in true brotherhood they spoke a common tongue.”  A "common" tongue -- similar to the verb "to commune"!  Not an easy thing. And yet, not impossible.

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Does the idea of "listening" to Nature suggest something to you?  If so, what?

(The Kipling  quote is from the Just So Stories, 
by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1902.)
(The Doctor Dolittle movie poster is by Tom Chantrell, and is used through Fair Use.)