As a substitute for a narrow cage the new enclosures are
excellent, but I should think they are a poor imitation of a life of
liberty."
"It's rather depressing to think that," said Mrs. Gurtleberry; "they look
so spacious and so natural, but I suppose a good deal of what seems
natural to us would be meaningless to a wild animal."
"That is where our superior powers of self-deception come in," said the
niece; "we are able to live our unreal, stupid little lives on our
particular Mappin terrace, and persuade ourselves that we really are
untrammelled men and women leading a reasonable existence in a reasonable
sphere."
"But good gracious," exclaimed the aunt, bouncing into an attitude of
scandalised defence, "we are leading reasonable existences! What on
earth do you mean by trammels? We are merely trammelled by the ordinary
decent conventions of civilised society."
"We are trammelled," said the niece, calmly and pitilessly, "by
restrictions of income and opportunity, and above all by lack of
initiative. To some people a restricted income doesn't matter a bit, in
fact it often seems to help as a means for getting a lot of reality out
of life; I am sure there are men and women who do their shopping in
little back streets of Paris, buying four carrots and a shred of beef for
their daily sustenance, who lead a perfectly real and eventful existence.
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