THE REALM OF THE GREEN BUDDHA
Jungle Adventures in Search of Animal Friends
LUDWIG KOCH-ISENBURG
Translated from The German by
Richard and Clara Winston
A white- hand gibbon named Koko who came from Thailand became so enchanting a member of the author`s household zoo in Frankfurt that it inspired a visit to its homeland; hence the author`s journey that recounted here.
When Ludwig Koch-Insenburg, a “poet among travel-book authors “as he has often been called in Europe, tells of his experiences along the way, he tells it whole: the ship voyage out, and finally back with a load of new inmates for his private zoo; encounters with the gentle Thailanders; his understanding of their Buddhist faith; his appreciation of the fairyland quality of the land of a thousand pagodas. His adventures with animals and birds, his pictorially precise descriptions of scenes in nature, of course, predominate. There is his brush with a king cobra, his acquisition of a gorgeous black panther, his ministrations to a seasick tiger. There are the beauties and dangers of the deep jungle, where he gathers rare mountain orchids and is shown by an old Thai gentleman how to capture giant cobra with bare hands. To many readers, being introduced to the leopard cat, a creature so endearingly small, so attractively disposed, will be a high point of enjoyment of this entertaining and informative book – if they have not already lost their hearts to Kodo.
The Realm of the Green Buddha carries the warmth and charm, the alluring description of a far-off land its exotic flora and fauna, that have strong appeal for readers of nature and literature.
CONTENTS
1. A Pheasant, an Ape, and a Trip to Thailand
2. A Voyage to the Island of Rubies
3. Ceylon, the Lion Island
4. The Black Panther Pays a Call
5. Bangkok between Yesterday and Tomorrow
6. The Story of the Giant Maias
7. A Journey to the Land of the King Cobra
8. My Encounter with Buddhism
9. A Spotted Cat and a White Crow
10. The Secret of the Green Buddha
11. Royal Tiger on Board
12. Maij
13. We Shall Have to Help