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“Brevity is the soul of wit” comes from a speech by Polonius in Act 2, Scene 2 of Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Importantly, this insight is shared less than halfway through the five-act, twenty-scene play.

So what does Shakespeare have to do with Capybaras?

Well, this dog loves barking at capys and will spend entire afternoons yapping at these gentle grazers, while paying very little attention to their so-called “arch enemy.”

It reminded me of the old Chinese(?) expression: “Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and expecting your enemies to die.” That line has been attributed to everyone from Confucius to Buddha to Nelson Mandela to Carrie Fisher.

The unflappable capys also brought to mind a very real Chinese expression that breaks Shakespeare’s “brevity” rule and is so clunky it becomes beautiful: “one hair from nine cows.”

In other words, something so insignificant it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. A mindset the Capybaras have clearly adopted here.

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Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful weekend!

- CapyTube

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