OCR Text |
Show 28G ASTONISHMENT. CJTAP. XTT. tho exchunation korki, "an<l to do thiR the mouth iR '' drawn out as if going to whistle." We Europeans often whi tlo as a siO'n of surprise; thus, in a recent novel 10 it is said "he~e the man expressed his aston" ishment and disapprobation by a prolonged whistle." A Kafir girl, as Mr. J. Mansel W cale i1~forms ~e, '' on " hearino- of the hiah price of an article, raised her b 0 ld" " eyebrows and whistled just as a European wo~ . lV[r. W edgwood remarks that such. sou~ds . are wntten down as whew, and they serve as 1nterJect1ons for sur-pnse. . According to three other observers, the Australians often evince astonishment by a clucking noise. Europeans also sometimes express gentl~ surprise by a little clickin()' noise of nearly the same 1nnd. We have seen that wl1en we are startled, the 1nouth is suddenly opened; and if the tongue happens to be then presst:d closely against the palate, its sudden withdrawal w1ll produce a sound of this kind, which might thus come to express surprise. . Turning to gestures of the body. A surpr1sed person often raises his opened hands high above his head, or by bending his arms only to the level of his face. The fl~t palms are directed towatds the person who causes tlus feeling, and the straightened fingers are separated. This gesture is represented by Mr·. Rejlander in Plate VII. fig. 1. In the ' Last Supper,' by Leonardo da Vinci, two of the Apostles have their hands half uplifted, clearly expressive of their astonishment. A trustworthy observer told me that he had lately met his wife under most unexpected circumstances : " She started, "opened her mouth and eyes very widely, and threw "up both her arms above her head.'' Several years to 'Wenderholme,' vol. ii. p. Ul. CHAP. XH. ASTON! llMENT. 287 ag? I was urprise<l by secjng several of 1ny youno· cluldr n earnestly doing something tog th r on thb ground; but the distan e was too great for me to ask what th.ey w r about. Therefore I threw up my op n hands w1th ext n~ed fingers above my head ; an<.l as oon as I La~ done _thi , I became conscious cf the action. I then wa1tcd, w1tho~t saying a word, to sec if my children had understoo.d this gesture ; and as they came running ~,o,Ine t~ey cned out,'' vVe saw that you were astonished c:tt us. ! do not know whether this g sture is common !o t~e. vanous. races of man, as I n glected to make Inq~Ines on this h ad. 'rhat it is innate or natural may Le Inferred from the fact that Laura BridO'nlan wh "aI nazec]' '' sprea d s h er arms and turns herb hand, s witnh . ext. .e nded finoa ers up. ward.s ,· " 11 nor· I·s I.t lI' ke 1 y , con-sideung that the feehng of surprise is generally a bri f oue, that she should have learnt this gesture through her keen sense of tou h. o· Hu~chke ~escribes 12 a. some,; hat different yet allied hestu~e, which he says IS exhibited Ly persons when astonished. They hold themselves erect, with the features as before de cribed, but with the straightened anns extend d backwards-the stretched fingers bein()' se~arated from each other. I have never myself see~ t~Is gesture; but Huschke is probably correct; for a friend. asked another man ho\u'' he woul,u, xpress great ast.onishment, and he at once threw himself into this attitude. These gestures are, I believe, explicable on the prin- 11 L1' 0b or, '0n the Vocal Sounds' &c 'b'd 7 1., H hk , ., 1 1 ' p. · (De~ la uPscb y e,p ' 2M~5im) ic.e s et Phy si·O gnomw· cs, , 1821, p. 18. Gratiolct however sec~s. <.> glv sa .figure of a man in this attitude, which L B . ' 1 to me expressive of fear combined with astonishment' e 1un a so refers (Lav t . . 1 · , · astonhihcd ma.n being opeuc~.cr, ' 0 • IX. P· 2DD) to the hands of nn |