"Page0098" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bloom Howard - The Lucifer Principle (htm))

19

into 

wild tantrums, lashed about violently on the ground, and ran off

screaming.  Finally, a worried Flo was forced to calm her son by

offering him her breast.  Later, Flint developed even more aggressive

techniques for ensuring his supply of mother's milk.  If Flo tried to

shrug him off, Flint struck her with his fists, and punctuated the

pummeling with sharp bites.

At an age when other chimps have freed themselves from

parental apron strings, Flint was still acting like a baby. Though he was

a strapping young lad, and his mother was increasingly feeble, Flint

insisted that his mama carry him everywhere.  If Flo stopped to rest

and Flint was anxious to taste the fruit of the trees at their next

destination, the hulking child would push, prod and whimper to get

his mom moving again.  Then he'd climb on her back and enjoy the

ride.  When shoves and whines didn't motivate his mother to pick him

up and cart him where he wanted to go, Flint would occasionally give

the exhausted lady a strong kick.  At night, Flint was old enough to

build a sleeping nest of his own.  Instead, he insisted on climbing into

bed with his mommy.

Flint should have turned his attention from Flo to the other

chimps his age, forging ties to the superorganism--the chimpanzee

tribe--of which he was a part.  But he did not.  The consequence would

be devastating.46

Flint's mother died.  Theoretically, Flint's instincts should have

urged him to survive.  But three weeks later, he went back to the spot

where his mother had breathed her last and  curled up in a fetal ball.

Within a few days, he too was dead.

An autopsy revealed that there was nothing physically wrong

with Flint: no infection, no disease, no handicap.47 In all probability, the

youngster's death had been caused by the simian equivalent of that

voice which tells humans going through a similar loss that there's

nothing left to live for.  Flint had been cut loose from his single bond to

the superorganism.  That separation had killed him.

19

into 

wild tantrums, lashed about violently on the ground, and ran off

screaming.  Finally, a worried Flo was forced to calm her son by

offering him her breast.  Later, Flint developed even more aggressive

techniques for ensuring his supply of mother's milk.  If Flo tried to

shrug him off, Flint struck her with his fists, and punctuated the

pummeling with sharp bites.

At an age when other chimps have freed themselves from

parental apron strings, Flint was still acting like a baby. Though he was

a strapping young lad, and his mother was increasingly feeble, Flint

insisted that his mama carry him everywhere.  If Flo stopped to rest

and Flint was anxious to taste the fruit of the trees at their next

destination, the hulking child would push, prod and whimper to get

his mom moving again.  Then he'd climb on her back and enjoy the

ride.  When shoves and whines didn't motivate his mother to pick him

up and cart him where he wanted to go, Flint would occasionally give

the exhausted lady a strong kick.  At night, Flint was old enough to

build a sleeping nest of his own.  Instead, he insisted on climbing into

bed with his mommy.

Flint should have turned his attention from Flo to the other

chimps his age, forging ties to the superorganism--the chimpanzee

tribe--of which he was a part.  But he did not.  The consequence would

be devastating.46

Flint's mother died.  Theoretically, Flint's instincts should have

urged him to survive.  But three weeks later, he went back to the spot

where his mother had breathed her last and  curled up in a fetal ball.

Within a few days, he too was dead.

An autopsy revealed that there was nothing physically wrong

with Flint: no infection, no disease, no handicap.47 In all probability, the

youngster's death had been caused by the simian equivalent of that

voice which tells humans going through a similar loss that there's

nothing left to live for.  Flint had been cut loose from his single bond to

the superorganism.  That separation had killed him.