Preface: On Sorrow and Love

Chapter 1: The Death and Mourning of Carson the Cat
Chapter 2 A Dog's Best Friend
Chapter 3: Memorial Ceremony at the Farm
Chapter 4: Why the Rabbit Is Depressed
Chapter 5 Elephant Bones
Chapter 6: Do monkeys also mourn death?
Chapter 7: Chimpanzees: It's True They Are Sometimes Cruel
Chapter 8: The Love of Birds
Chapter 9: The Sea of ​​Emotions: Dolphins, Whales, and Turtles
Chapter 10: No Boundaries: A Grief That Transcends Species
Chapter 11 Animal Suicide?
Chapter 12 The Sorrow of the Apes
Chapter 13: Dead Bison and Animal Obituaries in Yellowstone
Chapter 14: Writing about sadness
Chapter 15: The Prehistoric Age of Sorrow

Conclusion
References

There is a picture.
In the center of this photo taken during the funeral, a coffin draped in a national flag is placed.
But what catches our eye is the black dog lying under the coffin.
This dog is now lying under the coffin of a friend who is no longer in this world.
Since it's from behind, we can't see what kind of expression this dog is making.
It is unclear whether it was simply because the coffin looked like a good place to lie down, or because he knew that the coffin contained the body of his friend.
But even if the dog was staring straight into the camera and crying instead of lying under the coffin, the question still remains.

Is this dog sad? If so, is it mourning the loss of a long-time friend? (People often don't mourn goodbyes, no matter how long they've been together.) Do dogs and other animals shed tears according to the same principles as humans? (Isn't the idea that sadness leads to tears a very human-centric schema?) What facial expressions do grieving dogs make, what gait do they walk with, what sounds do they make?

If they don't grieve (in a way humans can clearly discern) before the bodies of their deceased relatives or friends, how can we possibly determine that they are grieving? Just as few people spend long hours at a funeral without sharing a joke or a laugh, animals can and do play around with the bodies of loved ones or show no interest in them.


If we had no understanding of the circumstances that could have caused them grief (i.e., if we had no idea that the black dog in the photo had lost a friend, and that the friend was right there in the coffin), we might have taken the black dog for granted.
You might have thought that he must have been sleepy, that the place under the coffin looked cozy.

Austrian philosopher Wittgenstein once said, “Even if a lion could speak, we would not understand it.” This did not mean that even if a lion could speak a human language, it would never be a complete language, but rather that even if we could overcome the language barrier, we would never reach a complete understanding, because we do not understand the lion’s life just as the lion does not understand ours. However, this reminds us of a simple fact.
Even two people who share the same lifestyle may not understand each other.
Furthermore, in the language of grief, differences between individuals can be greater than differences between species.

Whether it's a dog, a cat, a horse, a cow, a rabbit, a turtle, or a human, each animal experiences grief in different ways.
Some may shed tears, while others may swallow them.
You may not be able to eat anything, or you may binge eat repeatedly.
You can lose yourself in it, or you can live your daily life in silence.
Just as each of us grieves in different ways, animals also grieve in different ways.


But no matter how animals grieve, or how we understand it (if we can understand it at all), one thing is clear:
Where does sadness come from? It comes from love.
“Sadness blossoms when two animals form a strong bond, care for each other, and love each other with the conviction in their hearts that the other’s presence is as indispensable as air.”

For the countless animals featured in this book—those who have lost their offspring, siblings, friends, and companions—grief comes in different ways, but it leaves the same mark.
They lose weight.
Refusing to eat or not seeking out food.
Do things you wouldn't normally do.
You become apathetic and lose interest in the world around you.
In some cases, you get sick.
It's painful.
Following the departed, we cross the rainbow bridge.

Of course, animals do not build huge tombs, build coffins, bury money or precious metals with their dead to wish them a comfortable journey to the afterlife, and do not paint pictures or play instruments to miss their dead, as humans do.
However, animals show certain reactions to the fact that their loved ones are no longer present.
The price we pay for love is sorrow.

It doesn't matter whether the black dog knew that the coffin was his dead friend's, or whether he was lying there because he knew.
As the picture frame on the coffin (containing a photo of the deceased and the dog) shows, the black dog was loved by his friends, gave love, and now he is gone.
The dog is left alone, seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling the world cast by the absence of its friend.