Knowing that these stories are wrong does not diminish the wonder of them as stories, but it changes the character of this wonder. And if these wonders seem somewhat diminished by their relegation to the status of stories, then you only have to have the patience to sit in a field and look at weasels, and in time you will get to know them and understand what extraordinary little critters they are, not just in terms of our projected stories, but in terms of what they actually do get up to.

In bestiaries, that is, you get a lot of enchantment, but you get precious little natural history. Instead you have an example of the human tendency to project stories of insults, opportunities, saints, sinners etc. into the world beyond.

@ thinkBuddha