ABSTRACT
Most children love animals, and those who don’t are often frightened of them. This gap between love and fear suggests an obsession, or at least an intensity, a fascination. Adam in the garden had as a first task (before, apparently, Eve was made) to name the animals: ‘…the Lord formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them…’ Naming was obviously a primary act. Children name their pets: Twinkle, perhaps, or Scottie, or Eric, after a favourite singer or footballer. At a school I saw a little balsa wood cross under a tree, and fresh flowers beside it, and the word MOPSA in capitals written along the crosspiece.
