Mad bull disease
Sir: May I make a point to forestall a possi- ble flood of criticism of Simon Courtauld's appreciation of the art of bullfighting (Arts, 4 May)?
Having been enthralled by the spectacle, the grace and the courage of bullfighting for the last 45 years, I used to have a guilty conscience about the suffering which must, I thought, have been inflicted on the bulls. However, in 1976 this changed for me when an intruder entering my house at 2 a.m. put a rope round my nanny's neck and led her to my bedroom with a knife held at her midriff. In the ensuing fight — at the end of which Nanny sliced off the back of his head with his own chopper while I held him down — he gave me a stab in the stom- ach which was within a hair's-breadth of being fatal.
The whole point of this anecdote is to say that after the event I strode about, sword in hand, looking for any other intruders who might be skulking around, without feeling any pain whatsoever. It was only some 40 minutes later in the ambulance on the way to the hospital (where I was given 14 stitch- es) that I began to feel any pain at all.
So, my point is that since the bull — a naturally aggressive animal — is invariably dispatched within 15 minutes or there- abouts, it is more than likely that he feels — like I felt — no pain at all during his brief appearance in the ring.
So go to the bullfight and admire the incredible skill, grace and courage of the matador, with a clear conscience.
P.J. Murray-Jones
25b Wealthy Plaza, 138 Shau Kei Wan Road, Hong Kong
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