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t
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paSSage
This passage, like the rest of Darwin’s treatise, is far from being a dry one-sided scientific
exposition of some theory.
Darwin was a deeply religious man
: he didn’t believe in a world
only made of matter without spirit and regulated only by scientific laws. His emotional side
shows well in the first paragraph: there is real feeling in his description of the naked Fuegian
natives that he saw during his voyage to the South Seas, when he realised in a flash that they
were like our ancestors. The central phrase (ll. 4-6) in particular is a perfect combination of
scientific report and fiction: we see in quick succession Darwin’s “astonishment”, the “wild
and broken shore”,
the idea of evolution
suddenly rushing into Darwin’s mind, and finally
the last sentence, which strikes us as extraordinarily simple and effective: “such were our
ancestors”. In the second part of the passage there is real pathos when Darwin’s proudly
claims his (our)
descent from the monkey or baboon
, noble animals when compared to
some men. He ends on a note of humility: for all his glories and achievements, man still
bears the stamp of his lowly (animal) origin.
possessed hardly any arts, and like wild animals lived on what they could catch;
they had no government, and were merciless to everyone not of their own small
tribe. […]
For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who
braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper;
4
or from that
old baboon, who, descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his
young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs – as from a savage who delights
to torture his enemies, offers up bloody
5
sacrifices, practices infanticide without
remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the
grossest superstitions.
Man may be excused for feeling some pride at having risen, though not through
his own exertions, to the very summit of the organic scale; and the fact of his
having thus risen, instead of having been aboriginally
6
placed there, may give him
hopes for a still higher destiny in the distant future. But we are not here concerned
with hopes or fears, only with the truth as far as our reason allows us to discover
it. I have given the evidence to the best of my ability; and we must acknowledge, as
it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for
the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to
the humblest living creature, with his godlike intellect which has penetrated into
the movements and constitution of the solar system – with all these exalted powers
– Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.
10
15
20
25
skills
with no pity
(tribù)
i.e. prefer to
defied / (temuto)
(babbuino)
mate / group / than
(pratica)
full of
(più grossolane)
justified / gone up
efforts / top
so, this way
i.e. as much as
(le prove)
low, humble
i.e. understood
very high
has impressed
R
eading
and
Speaking
1
What aspects of the Fuegians does Darwin stress?
2
How does this relate to the theory of evolution?
3
Whom would Darwin rather be descended from?
Why?
4
Whom would Darwin rather not be descended from?
Why?
5
In what terms does he speak of man’s superiority?
6
Is Darwin concluding sentence pessimistic?
4.
keeper
: guardiano.
5.
bloody
: i.e. human.
6.
aboriginally
: in his origin.
001-027_The Victorians.indd 15
16/01/12