A stary[1] cat led a man away from his house before it was bombed. Thousands of animals escaped before an earthquake[2]. Now science is probing[3] their secret.

Time and again an animal's instinct has saved a man's life. There stinct has saved a man's life. There is evidence[4] to suggest many pets can sniff out[5] danger in a way that's beyond understanding[6] of man the master. If we could learn to crack the communication code[7], man and beast could once more learn to "talk" to each other. Researchers all over the word are now trying to rediscover and recreate it so man can unlock the mysteries of the animal mind.

DISASTERS

What phenomenon[8] saved the lives of so many animals while so many men died in earthquakes all over the world? In 1960 at Agadir, Morocco thousands of birds and stray animals fled[9] the port hours before devastation that killed 15,000 people. In 1963 1000 people lost their lives when Skopje was reduced to rubble[10]. Every animal seemed to have left before the quake. Every living creature - expect the 120,000 human population - seemed to know what was coming. Even animals in the zoo set up a concert of terror half an hour before the disaster. Then they fell silent as if resigned[11] to their fate and man's inability to understand.

A vet at London Zoo says: "Animals seem to have developed a super sensitivity to danger,perhaps from centuries of experience." Scientists all over the world have been trying to find the secret of animal kingdom's sixth sense.

Many people have benefited[12] from this sense, like the man who was shaving in Magdeburg, Germany in 1944 when a cat's mewing[13] made him open the front door.

EXPLOSION

Outside was a stray he had often seen when he was walking on the other side of the city. It tugged[14] so hard at his trousers, that the man decided to see what the cat was up to.

The cat ran ahead turning to see if the man was following.

When they were half a mile away the cat stopped just a RAF bombers rumbled[15] overhead. There was an explosion from the direction they had just left.

Later the man returned home to find his house flattened[16] by bombs.

Even today he has no explanation of how the cat could have known - as it seemed to - what was about to happen. He just has a deep love of cats and regard[17] for their intelligence.

LANGUAGE

The idea that animals know what man is going to de even before man knows himself is nothing new.

Lino Penati, a researcher with a special interest in animal communication, tells of the day he visited Mahdem, a minig district in central Turkey.

He recalls" One night there was a chorus from the mountains which I was told came from a pack of wolves. I was with a group of local people who were wondering[18] what the wolves were saying."

"To my amazement[19] they sent for two men from the village to find out. There men listened for some time and said wolves were announcing that three lorries would arrive the following day. The next day three lorries arrived from France."

An explanation from a Turhish government official was simply this: "The people of the area understand the language of the wolves."

Can animals transmit messges? The Eskimos believe so.

They claim that when the polar bear goes hunting for seals it sends out telepathic messages saying: "Let yourselves be caught."

Fishermen tell similar stories about sharks which catch fish after emitting the same eerie[20] call.

Missionaries report that in Amazonia the Xingu Indians shut their children away at night. They believe snakes are able to call children into the jungle at night.

Why do rats leave a sinking ship or a vessel about to be blown by a torpedo? Animals seem to have something beyond our understanding. Call it sixth sense, psychic powers or telepathy. But don't write it off[21]. Man could learn a lot if he could talk to animals.

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[1] a stray - bezpański pies lub kot

[2] earthquake - trzęsienie ziemi

[3] to probe - badać

[4] evidence - oznaka, świadectwo

[5] to sniff out - wywąchać, wyuczyć

[6] beyond understanding - niezrozumiały

[7] to crack the code - złamać szyfr

[8] phenomenon - zjawisko

[9] to flee, fled, fled - uciekać

[10] to reduce to rubble - obrócić w gruzy

[11] resigned - zrezygnowany, zdany na los

[12] to benefit - korzystać

[13] mewing - miauczeć

[14] to tug - ciągnąć

[15] to rumble - dudnić

[16] to flatten - spłaszczyć

[17] regard - szacunek

[18] to wonder - zastanawiać się

[19] amazement - zdziwienie

[20] eerie - złowieszczy, dziwaczny

[21] to write off - lekceważyć

Artykuł zaczerpnięty z "Poradnika naprawdę praktycznego -

Angielski na skróty" - integralnej części Przekroju nr 37/3090