10 
Kaspar Hauser. 
He could not comprehend that dumb animals have lower 
capacities than human beings ; he tried to teach the cat to ey 
with her paws, instead of putting her mouth into the food ; he 
wondered why a grey cat did not wash herself white ; he was is. 
gusted with horses and oxen because they dropped filth in the 
streets, and when told that such animals knew no better, his reply 
was, that they must learn—he also was obliged to learn many things, 
He supposed trees and plants to have been stuck into the 
ground, and leaves and flowers to have been hung upon them, 
He could not understand the growth of vegetables until he had 
olanted some beans in a pot and watched their development. 
He had no eye for the beauties of Nature; all his interest lay 
in the question “Who made?” each new object that attracted 
his attention. 
It was in August, 1828, that he saw for the first time the starry 
heavens, his habit of going to bed at sundown having been 
continued till this time. On a particularly brilliant evening, 
Professor Daumer took him into the garden where the view was 
axtensive. His astonishment and pleasure knew no bounds, and 
he seemed deeply impressed with the beauty and grandeur of the 
scene. After gazing and exclaiming a long time, he fell into one 
of those absorbed reveries which, at first, accompanied the 
reception of every new idea. 
On coming to himself he was sorrowiul, and wept bitterly as he 
asked why that bad man had kept him shut up so long and never 
allowed him to know about the many beautiful things that the 
world has to show. It was the first time he had ever expressed 
dislike of his former jailer, or had seemed to realise what he had 
lost through that cruel captivity. His grief was overwhelming ; 
he would not be comforted, and it was nearly midnight before he 
forgot his troubles in sleep. 
His constant intercourse with the Daumer family gave him 
his earliest ideas concerning relationship and friendship among 
human beings. He observed the affection existing between 
mother and son, sister and brother, and wept because for him 
such ties could never exist.