UST-AB: How familiar are you with these fruits?

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio 
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

1. This fruit is popular in Mindanao, it has a thick rind with deep red dye, but the inside which is the edible part is white, divided into segments, each containing a seed.  Its taste is slightly sweet, fibrous and has a mild flavor.  

2. It is the most popular food dye used in coloring cheese and other dairy products, dishes such as kaldereta and kare-kare. The red dye comes from the fruit of a medium size tree that pops open (dehiscent) when mature and dry, as shown in the photo. 

3. It is a highly seasonal fruit in summer sold on sidewalks and along highways. It comes in two varieties - green and purple - but the taste is more or less the same.  When cut in cross-section, the arrangement of the seeds is like a star which gives its name.  A milky and sticky substance makes eating rather inconvenient, especially if the fruit is not fully ripe. 

4. When fully mature, the green nuts turn brilliant red as shown in the photo which for which the tree is planted as an ornamental tree on the backyard and in parks. It is a source of astringent and hallucinogenic substances but such properties have not been commercially developed. The life span of the palm may reach fifty years.

5. This is the main ingredient in making of nganga or chewing nut.  The palm reaches some 20 to 30 feet and lives up to 50 years of continuous fruiting. The mature nut is harvested and cut into pieces and covered skillfully with betel leaf lined with lime.  Natives of the Cordillera are the country's top nganga consumers.  

6. A signature fruit of Batanes, the ripe fruits as shown in the photo, are made into candies and other confectioneries. The plant is a relative of the pine, a gymnosperm. While it grows on the lowland, it fails to produce fruits, and therefore it is planted only for its ornamental value.

7. In summer the whole tree loses its leaves in favor of numerous fruits borne directly on the branches and stems.  The fruits come in green and purple, but some fruits are first green then turn purple as they mature and ripen.    

Answers: 
1. Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana)
2. Anatto or achuete (Bixa orellana)
3. Caimito or star apple (Chrysophyllum cainito)
4. Bunga de Jolo (Veitchia merrillii)
5. Betel nut (Areca catechu)
6. Arius (Podocarpus costalis)
7. Sineguelas (Spondias purpurea)

Story of the Life of Lam-ang (Biag ni Lam-ang) with English Translation

Stanzas 1 to 27 of 305 stanzas) - The Birth of Lam-ang
Leopoldo Y Yabes Version 
Philippine Social Science and Humanities Review Volume XXXVIII Numbers 3-4
Published by the University of the Philippines 

Living with Nature School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio 

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

This composite version of Lam-ang, with translation in English prose is the third printing. The composite version without the English translation was also published in The Ilocos Times in 1935, in the INA magazine in 1947, and in Bannawag in 1971. 

(1)
O naslag a Dios Espiritu Santo
silawam Apo toy panunotco 
tapno mapudnuac ti panangipalawagco
ti pacasitaan ti maysa a tao.

O God, the Holy Spirit, 
illumine Lord, my thought, so I 
can relate faithfully the account 
of the life of a man.

(2)
Idi pannawen nga unana 
adda dua nga agasawa
a nabiit pay ti panangawatda
ti matrimono a nagina.

In the old, old days there were 
a couple who had just been
united in holy wedlock. 

(3) 
Iti pannagna ti aldaw
di nabayag daytoy babain naginaw,
ta nadanunen ti panagbungan
daydi sacramentto nga inawatdan. 

As the days rolled by, 
the wife conceived the child which
was the fruit of the sacrament 
they had received.

(4)
Nadumaduma a bungbungan
ti inna dita masarsaramsam:
salamagi a marabanban,
pias ken daligan.

She ate a variety of fruits
like green tamarind,
pias  and daligan 

(5) 
Niog pay a lolocoten,
bayabas a pariggalsem,
sua ken lolokisen
ket dagitoy met ti inna sidaen:

Young coconut fruits, guavas
about to ripen, oranges, and 
lolokisen and for meals 
she ate these.

(6) 
Panapana ken maratangtang,
ar-arosip ken aragan,
tirem a tinoctocan,
pasayam a kinalapan;

Panapana and maritangtang 
ar-arosip and aragan, tirem 
and shrimps.

(7)
Pingpinggan ken im-immoco,
loslosi ken pocpoclo,
leddangan pay ken soso
ta isu dagitoy ti inna cagusto.

Pingpinggan and im-immoco,
loslosi and pocpoclo , 
leddangan and soso - these
she liked much to eat.

(8)
Idinto ta magtengna
ti pito a bulan daydi sicogna,
napalalo ti ay-ayatda
ta adanin (dandanin)
ti panagpasngayna.

When she reached the seventh 
month of her pregnancy, she
and her husband were filled
with joy at the proximity of
her confinement. 

(9)
Ket idinto as castan,
daytoy babain Namongan 
inna dita napanunotan 
ti aramidenda a balitang.

Namongan thought of 
preparing a balitang for her
confinement.

(10)
Kinonana dita nga insawang,
"Ay asawac a Don Juan,
itay aramiden a balitang.

She told her husband, "Ay, 
my husband Don Juan, kindly 
go and cut bamboos for my 
balitang.

(11)
"Inca cuma imatangan ti 
immulata a cawayan
idiay bantay capareian
ket inca cuma pucanan. 

"Go and see the bamboos 
we planted on Mount Caparian 
and cut down some.

(12)
"Rebbengna unayen ita 
ti inta panagsagana
cadagiti maicanada
nga aruaten no sumngay 
toy bunga,

"It is necessary that we now 
prepare all things needed for 
the coming of our child.

(13)
"Tapno ditanto mabiglaan
no madanon ti iruruarnan,
adda met saganan a balitang 
a rumbeng a paggiddaan.

"So that we shall not be 
found unprepared when the 
day comes.  The balitang then 
will be ready for me to lie on."

(14)
Nagrubbuat met a napan
ti asawana a Don Juan;
ket idinto a nagtengannan
linicmotna di cawayan.

Her husband Don Juan therefore
started out; and when he 
reached the clump of bamboos
he went around it once.

(15) 
Sana met pinayapayan
di angin nga inna ragutan,
tudo pay a bumayangbang 
ulep arig a teppang.

He then commanded the 
wind to blow.  The rain fell in ]
torrents.  The clouds were like 
unto a deep abyss - so black
were they. 

(16) 
Kimat ken sal-it agcacamacam 
sinirocda di cawayan;
casla narabaraban
a buoc di cawayan.

Lightning and thunder in 
quick succession attacked the 
clump of bamboos and trimmed
it like hair. 

(17) 
"Ay, naalas, kababainman
no awitenca a cawayan -
immuna daytoy cawayan
ket simmaruno ni Don Juan.

"Ay," Don Juan said, "it 
would be shameful on my part 
should I carry you, bamboos."
The bamboos therefore went 
before and Don Juan followed 
after, 

(18)
Idinto nga inna magtengan
di balay nga inulogan,
nagguornos dagitaoy cawayan
iti arpad di arubayan. 

When he reached home, the 
bamboos arranged themselves 
in the houseyard. 

(19)
Ket kinona ni babain Namongan, 
"Ay, asawac a Don Juan,
dayta man tongo ti agdalagan 
a sagat ken gasatan.

And Namogan said, "My
husband Don Juan, I need
firewood such as molave and 
gasatan for my lying-in,

(20) 
"Dangla ken bayabas nga inukisan,
ket inca met cuma gumatang
itay dongdong ken dalican
ta isu ti pagdalangan.

"And also dangla and guava 
stripped of its bark.  Also 
you go and buy a jar and a 
stove on which to warm myself.

(21)
"Ti digusco nga agdalagan
ken banga to maymaysan
tapno adda pangiccan
ti cacadua ti anactan" 

"Also prepare water for my
bath and a one-man pot so that 
we shall have something to keep 
the cadcaddua of our child in."

( 22)
Ket idi napaaddana amin dagitan
isu met to ipapanawnan ni Don Juan
a simmuroing ti cawayan
napan idiay bantay cangisitan;

When he had all these things
prepared, Don Juan set out for 
the blackest mountain by way 
of the river.

(23) 
Ta mapan makidangadang
cadagiti Igorot a burican.
Isu metten a pasngayan ni Namongan
daydi nabukelda a daran.

To engage the checkered 
Igorots in a fight.  
In the meantime Namongan 
lay in confinement 

(24) 
Awan ti dida maayaban
a mangilut a parteran,
ni lacay Marcos a batucan,
ni Alisot ken Pasho a mayaman. 

All available midwives were
called to assist in the delivery
including Old Marcos, the diver, 
Alisot, and Pasho, the rich man.

(25)
Ket awan lat' nacapaltot gayam.
Addaman nalagipdan
daydi baket nga ar-arucutan
nga awan pigsat' ramramaynan.

But all their effort to a successful
delivery availed not.
And they thought of an old woman, 
shorn of almost all her strength.

(26)
Ket idinto ta mapaltotnan
ni inan babai Namongan,
maysa a lalaki ti rimmuar;
ket agsao met daytoy ubiung itan.

And she succeeded in helping
Namongan to a successful
issue.  The new-born was a boy
who had already the gift of speech.

(27)
"Ay ina ngamin Namongan,
no innacto pabuniagan
tinto Lam-ang caniac maipanagan
ket ti manganac ni lakay Gibuan."

"Ay, mother Namongan, 
when you have me baptized,
baptize me with the name
Lam-ang and my god-father.
shall be the old man Gibuan."

(Continued)

Sampaguita - Pride of Filipinos

National Flower of the Philippines. 
Sampaguita is ever present on special occasions such as wedding and graduation.  Even in ordinary times sampaguita is used in many ways, such as pendant on the rear mirror of a car or jeep, lei for Santo Niño, brooch, necklace, headdress, and the like.  

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio 

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

It was a long walk and the hikers knew they were getting near their destination, a flower farm in San Luis, Pampanga in Central Luzon, Philippines. The air was filled with the singular fragrance of an immaculate white flower, the sampaguita. This flower is the pride of the Filipinos, it being their national flower. Its scientific name is Jasminium sambac.

The source of the fragrance sprawled before the hikers – a track garden very much like a hillside tea farm in China or in Sri Lanka. Sampaguita and tea have a common growth pattern. They are bushy shrubs, trimmed waist high to form a continuous hedge that makes harvesting easier. It also reminds one of vineyards in Europe and California where grapes are grown along the shape and contour of the land.

Sampaguita Farming

Each garden is the size of a typical rice paddy, a tenth of a hectare (or one mu in China). This is equivalent to 1,000 square meters or one-tenth of a hectare. Small as it may when compared with other farms, sampaguita is a high value crop. It requires initial high investment and takes around two years to become commercially productive. Production technology is rather new and the industry - from farming to garland making - is labor intensive. But the profit derived may be several times over that of an ordinary field crop. For a size of one to two mus, a family can comfortably live on the farm’s produce, and this is appropriate for small landholdings of fairly large families. The farm which the group of hikers visited (one of whom is the author) is just ideal for one family to manage. 

“Sampaguita must be a profitable business,” we remarked.  The lady gardener smiled and looked down in a gesture of humility while doing some mental computation. The lady is an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW)-turned-entrepreneur. She is Brigida S. Batac, a former school teacher who went to Saudi, then returned some years later. Today she heads the family farm. 

Brigida S. Batac and sister, Cristina (2nd and 3rd, respectively) demonstrate to their guests the making of sampaguita leis and garlands 

Sampaguita Garlands

The garland making area is the family porch. Brigida’s sister, Cristina, 27, demonstrated the technique of garland making. As the farming business includes "manufacturing", the value of the product is increased, hence the term, value added.

The lesson to be learned is that production, processing and marketing must be integrated under one roof, with the entrepreneur and members of his or her family having control over these aspects of business. Subsequently, the business becomes more self-reliant and viable.

Marketing Scheme

The main markets of sampaguita garlands are  in Manila - Quiapo, Divisoria, Balintawak Caloocan, and Malolos in Bulacan. These centers serve as bagsakan (unloading and wholesale zone). From here, the sampaguita garlands are retailed in sidewalks, around churches and restaurants where parties are usually held. It is the sampaguita a little girl offers, gently tapping your car’s window after stepping on the brake at some busy intersection in the city. It is the sampaguita we wear on graduation day, when we are greeted at the airport, when we pray to Santo Niño. It is the sampaguita we simply hang in our sala (living room) or bedroom. Its sight and fragrance exudes a feeling of freshness and peace. 

Sampaguita has made lasting impressions in the lives of Filipinos. It draws out romantic feelings like in this verse.

“A trophy, that I would rather miss;

for a sampaguita from a Miss

who gives it to me with a kiss.”

The sampaguita flowers are shy under the noonday sun but the scenario is a respite as if we were among the blooming hedges of some Italian- or French-type garden. 


We tried out hands stringing sampaguita buds, forming the familiar leis and garlands. It is not an easy job. It takes a lot of skill, and speed to catch up with the freshness and aroma of the flowers, thus meeting the market schedules. Both sisters, Brigida and Cristina, were patient teachers, and soon enough the group began to form a production line of sorts, a prototype of the assembly line for mass production.

Selling sampaguita leis on the sidewalk. 

Tapping the Potentials of an Enterprise

With the bright prospects of expanding the industry, we sat down with the family and talked about some aspects of the business. This is what we found out which may be useful to those who would like to put up a sampaguita business. 

• There is an economic farm size for every crop in a farm. A feasibility study is needed. Consult those who have larger farms.

• Production technology must be improved to attain higher, and more uniform production volumes, while cutting down on costs. Work towards sustainable productivity. 

• Integrate the flower planting business with pendant flower production such as champaca (Michella alba), ilang-ilang (Cananga odorata), and camia, some of the pendant flowers in demand.

• Introduce cut flower production for roses, gladiolus, daisies and even orchids for diversification. Planners call this horizontal integration. Blossoms of Heliconia (lobster’s claw or bird of paradise) have recently become popular in flower arrangement. From the results of pilot testing, select those flowers which are adaptable and profitable.

• Eliminate the use of dangerous chemical pesticides. Replace them with botanical pest exterminators such as pyrethrum and rotenone which are biodegradable. Greenhouse cultivation is too sophisticated and expensive for the average farm. But there are makeshift plastic greenhouses using Japanese and Chinese models. Chlorinated hydrocarbon and phosphatic compounds, chemical pesticides which act as systemic poisons, are hazardous to the gardener and the seller alike, through poison inhalation and skin contact.

• There is need to expand research into the many uses of sampaguita. There are a number of medicinal uses of sampaguita. In Malaysia, women soak the flowers in water for washing their faces. In China the flowers are used to give added aroma to tea. The flowers are applied as poultice, or medicated mass, covering to the breasts of women to reduce their secretion of milk. A paste compounded with the roots of Acacia is applied to relieve headache. The leaves are used as poultice and spread over sores or other lesions.

• The production of sampaguita for perfumes, car fresheners or room deodorizers is another challenge for cottage industrialists. 

Enterprise and Cooperative

The profitability of an enterprise for a family is one thing, but the collective success of a community of families is another.

While it is true that there are individually successful entrepreneurs, it is essential that this success be duplicated. Hence, there is need to organize small enterprises such as a cooperative to enable them to compete in the bigger market. Economies of scale dictates that big and organized enterprises survive where unorganized and small businesses may not. And this is the reason why multinational businesses dominate the markets, forcing small ones to fold up.

Small is Beautiful

We have no biases against big business. But we have learned from experience how difficult it is to manage a big one. As gleamed from EC Schumacher’s book, Small is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered, he pointed out that progress has a limit, and that bigness alone is not a guarantee of dominance and stability. Small enterprises are more resilient in weathering socio-economic storms, which explains the book’s title. This award-winning book won the author the title, “Hero for the Planet Earth,” given by Time Magazine. Small farm businesses tend to be more environment friendly, if they are conscious of sustainable productivity concept.

The last thought that came was to hope that the success of these model enterprises could be translated into better health and nutrition of the people. After all, what justifications can a state give for having a good GNP (Gross National Product) but poor HDI (Human Development Index)?

GNP, HDI and GNH

The Gross National Product can be raised to as much 10 percent, a very high estimate for the Philippines. (Our projection is five percent this year, compared to Vietnam’s seven percent.) But what equally matters is that increasing or having a desirable GNP should be accompanied by just as desirable Human Development Index, and lately Gross National Happiness (GNH) which is being pioneered by Nepal as a measure of national progress.

HDI is measured in terms of education, health, employment, and literacy of the people, including rates of mortality, morbidity and malnutrition of infants and children. Therefore, if the aggregate rates of return for services and manufacturing and agriculture are high, then there would be less poor people, and the standard of living improved.

Having said goodbye to the Brigida family, we wished them that their efforts continue to serve as a catalyst in the development of their community and make their barangay a microcosm of a progressive and happy nation. ~

UST-AB Photography: Life must go on - and on.

Exhibited photographs by students in Communication Art, University of Santo Tomas 

Prepared the caption of each of three photos of your choice.

Life must go on.

Ad Infinitum to Doom

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School on Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
Kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra). Heavy fruiting indicates coming drought and poor crop yield. 

When a tree dies, a rivulet dies;
When a rivulet dies, a stream dies;
When a stream dies, a river dies;
When a river dies, a lake dies;
When a lake dies, a valley dies;
When a valley dies, a town dies
Ad infinitum to final doom.

x x x

UST-AB Photography: Application of the Eight Realms of Multiple Intelligence

Dr. Abe V. Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School on Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

The Concept of Multiple Intelligence
1. Man’s intelligence is vast and varied, permeating into five divisions, namely, logic, mathematics, science, philosophy, history and humanities.

2. Knowledge becomes self-conscious, that is, knowledge is reflective of its diverse disciplines, modes of inquiry, fields of scholarship and systematic study. The thrust is what and how far do we know of the knowable universe.

3. Knowledge builds upon knowledge with the divisions of knowledge closely interconnected. It is not a matter of summing up knowledge, because knowledge is synergistic, which means that the whole is far greater than the sum of all its parts.

4. The growth of knowledge is enhanced through encyclopedic growth and development as it bridges history, cultures and generations – indeed mankind’s greatest heritage to its members and society.

5. Like the Maslow’s ladder organization, the usefulness of intelligence follows a four-tier structure - first, the accumulation and organization of knowledge and information (which involves the head); second, expression through skills (hands); third, valuing (heart); and fourth, concern and involvement (humanity). These 4 Hs are the pillars of education.

The 8 Realms of Intelligence

1. Interpersonal (human relations) - Sometimes this is referred to as social intelligence. Leaders, advertising experts, politicians, teachers excel in this field. “They exude natural warmth, they wear disarming smile,” to quote an expert on human relations. Name your favorite characters. My models are Nelson Mandela, Condolezza Rice, Henry Kissinger and our own, the late Carlos P. Romulo.

2. Intrapersonal (inner vision self-reflection and meditation) – Masters in this realm are priests, nuns, poets, yogi practitioners. St. Francis of Assisi is a genius in this domain. Pope John Paul II, Maximilian Kolby, Mother Teresa of Calcutta are unparalleled. Didn’t Beethoven compose music with his inner ear and Helen Keller “see” from an inner vision?

3. Kinesthetics (athletics, sports, body language, dance, gymnastics)- Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg excel in their respective sports. Now think of your idol in the sports world, or in the art of dance. Lisa Macuja Elizalde is still the country’s top ballet dancer. Paeng Nepomoceno, Efren Bata Reyes and Manny Pacquiao top the local list.

4. Languages or linguistics - There are people who are regarded walking encyclopedia and dictionary. The gift of tongue in the true sense is in being multilingual like our very own Dr. Jose Rizal. Authors like Ernest Hewmingway, John Steinbeck, Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, Boris Pasternak, Miguel Cervantes, to name a few, represent this realm. How fast can you learn the dialect or language of a place?

5. Logic (dialectics, Mathematics) - Marxism is based on dialectics which is a tool in studying and learning philosophy. Likewise, this realm includes the intelligence of numbers – mathematics, geometry, accounting, actuarial science, etc. This is the key to many IQ tests. Einstein, Mendel, Newton, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle are popular figures who represent this realm. I saw "A Beautiful Mind," the story of Noble Prize winner John Nash who excelled in a new field of economics.

6. Music (auditory art) – Frederick Chopin, Nicanor Abelardo, Lucio San Pedro, Ryan Cayabyab, Lea Salonga – name your favorite. Amadeus Mozart produced therapeutic musical compositions. Beethoven is perhaps the most celebrated composer of classical music. Surprisingly he could hardly keep pace with his steps when dancing. I like to listen to Pangkat Kawayan play Philippine music. Mabuhay Singers, Madrigal singers, the Las Piñas Boys, and the UST Choral Ensemble, have won international fame.

7. Spatial intelligence (drawing, and painting, sculpture, architecture, photography) - The greatest contemporary artist, Pablo Picasso, was robbed in his studio. Hog-tied, he carefully studied the robber, the way an artist studies his model. After the incident he sketched the face of the robber and gave it to the police. The police made a hundred arrests without succeeding in pinpointing the culprit. The sculptor Rodin wanted his subject to look as if it were melting, like clay softened by rain. What could be a better expression of poverty for his masterpiece, “The Burghers of Calais?” Juan Luna and Fernando Amorsolo remain unequaled.

8. Naturalism (Green Thumb, Relationship with the Natural World) - There are people who have “green thumb”. Their gardens are beautiful even with little care. There are those who can predict weather, fishermen who know when a fish bites, farmers who pick the reddest watermelon, fullest macapuno nuts, just by feel and sound. Good doctors, I am sure are not only good because of high scholastic records, but have the green thumb as well. Charles Darwin and Carolus Linnaeus are the world's top naturalists.

Here is an exercise on Multiple Intelligence. With a piece or paper, list down the eight realms on the left column. Through self-analysis score each realm using the Likert Scale: 1 is very poor (VP); 2 is poor (P), 3 is fair (F), 4 is good (G), and 5 is very good (VG). This exercise takes around ten-minutes. It requires concentration and objectivity.

What are your top three realms? Can you draw out their interrelationships? Relate them with your personal strength. On the other hand, in what ways can you improve on the other realms? Now relate your score with your present studies or work, and with your relationship with your family and community.

Yes, everyone has a distinct intelligence - and spark of genius, too.

UST-AB Photo Study: Verses before the ruins of 16th century Bacarra belfry (Bacarra, Ilocos Norte)

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School on Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Lesson:  How do you critic literary works and photographs? How would you make a similar photo study, say of our Arch of the Centuries? Intramuros? What are the limitations of a photo study such as the Bacarra Bell Tower?  (HAND WRITTEN ON BOND PAPER, l page only) 

Tower of Babel, biblical but true;
lofty Eiffel will have its time, too.
stairway to heaven is man's dream
he god in him to claim God's realm.

Where have all the faithful gone?
The prayerful old and young;

pilgrims come one by one

to fill the emptiness of time.

The sun peeps behind this huge tower

once proud in its prime;

I can not wait nor my children can

to see it succumb in time. 

History marks the march of time

in events big and small

by the hand that holds the pen 

and the magic crystal ball.

UST-AB Photography: Interpreting a Photograph - Hunting Dog and a Duck (Answer to previous question)

Dr Abe V Rotor 
Living with Nature School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB Am Band 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
Lesson: How do you compare this lesson with that of our previous photo specimen - Vulture and a Child? 

Now and then I receive from Time-Life rare photographs such as this one, which I find very useful in my photography class. This time the lesson is photo interpretation. There is a saying, "You and I may lie, but the camera doesn't lie." Well, with this photo, whoever coined the adage may have missed something, and it could be the essence of the photo itself. Let's see what the photographer and the publisher have to say.   

You know those times when you glimpse a photograph and you think you know what’s happening in the picture, but then something indefinable about the shot plants a seed of doubt, and you look again, and you find that your first impression was absolutely, utterly, totally wrong?

For a lot of people, this 1949 Loomis Dean picture is one of those photographs. At first glance, it looks pretty straightforward: a hunting dog, soaking wet after going into the water to retrieve a duck blasted from the air by its master, sits with the dead — or perhaps mortally wounded, but certainly doomed — waterfowl in its jaws.

But wait a second. That duck doesn’t look injured. In fact, judging by its still (apparently) vibrant eye and, especially, its rapidly fluttering right leg, the duck is most definitely, emphatically alive.

The priceless look on the dog’s face, meanwhile, is hardly that of a ghoul. In fact, if anything, the dog looks downright embarrassed — as if it simply can’t help sitting there with a live duck stuck in its mouth.

What is going on here?

We’ll let the caption that accompanied this picture in the LIFE book, The Classic Collection, clear up any lingering confusion.

“Don’t worry!” wrote the book’s editors. “The duck’s fine!” And that is why this photo is funny, and not tragic. Here’s the story: 

"One day in 1947 the Olson family in Yakima, Wash., brought home a duckling named Donald (of course). Donald instantly became friends with the family dog, to the extent that Donald emulated everything the dog did, including chasing children and other dogs from the yard. Donald actually became quite a nuisance in the neighborhood, so the Olsons gave him to a rancher a dozen miles away. There he became pals with a Chesapeake Bay retriever named Trigger. Now, whenever the rancher tossed Donald into the pond so that he could be with the other ducks — in other words, his own kind — Trigger would immediately dash in and retrieve him. Trigger was as gentle as possible, as we can clearly see here, but ultimately it was decided that Donald would be best back with the Olsons."

Mystery solved. That’s one lucky duck.

Related Topics: 1949, animals, Loomis Dean Read more: http://life.time.com/culture/donald-the-duck-and-trigger-the-dog-unlikely-bffs/#ixzz2epQ0ZznM