A reader on reading - Alberto Manguel 2010

The legend of the dodos
Books as business

“Why,” said the Dodo, “the best way to explain it is to do it.”

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 3

IN LE MONDE OF 23 MARCH 2007, I read that Francis Esmenard, president of the commercial publisher Albin Michel, declared, at the Salon du Livre of Paris, that “there are too many small publishers” and that they “clutter the shelves of our bookstores.” To which Antoine Gallimard, president of the venerable publishing company that bears his name, added that small publishers “are responsible for the surplus production of books.” These interesting comments reminded me of an old Mauritanian legend:

A long time ago, the dodos, flightless birds with enormous appetites, discovered that on a certain island, which was the nesting ground of the local tits, pumpkins grew to a colossal size. Delighted with the prospect of a gargantuan meal, the dodos built a small raft and crossed the narrow strait that separated them from the island. There they feasted for days on the pumpkins (which were indeed huge, and very stodgy and sweet), trampling carelessly on the small berries and grains, too delicate for their large beaks, which they left to the tits, who, with patience and care, planted some in the ground and carried others off to their nests to feed their young. After only a few weeks, there were no more pumpkins left, and the dodos decided to return home. Barely able to walk after all they had eaten, they dragged their fat bellies onto the raft and pushed off to sea. A few moments later, quantities of water began to wash over the deck. “I think we’ve eaten too many pumpkins,” said one of the younger dodos in a quaking voice. “I’m afraid we’re sinking.” The eldest dodo pointed an angry feather at the top of the mast where a tiny tit had settled with a red berry in its beak. “That’s the culprit,” shouted the dodo. “He’s much too heavy for the raft. There’s not enough room for all of us. Get rid of him at once!”

And they all started jumping up and down to frighten it away. Hearing all the noise, the tit flew off towards the land, and the raft sank in the shark-infested waters.

And that is how the dodos became extinct.