MONSTERS AND CANNIBALS THAT WE ARE
W. H. Hudson (In Praise of the Cow)

After leaving the cowkeeper I had that feeling of revulsion very strongly which all who know and love cows occasionally experience at the very thought of beef. I was for the moment more than tolerant of vegetarianism, and devoutly hoped that for many days to come I should not be sickened with the sight of a sirloin on some hateful board, cold or smoking hot, bleeding its red juices into the dish when gashed with a knife, as if undergoing a second death. Monkey's flesh is abhorrent to us, merely because we fancy that creature in its ugliness resembles some old men and and some women and children that we know. But the gentle large-brained social cow that caresses our hands and faces with her rough blue tongue, and is more like man's sister than any other non-human being - the majestic beautiful creature with the Juno eyes, sweeter of breath than the rosiest virgin - we slaughter and feed on her flesh - monsters and cannibals that we are !