Climbing down the stairs, however, I was stopped by an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between a monkey and a dog. The monkey was perched on the handrail while the dog had taken position on the stairs. The monkey knew the dog wouldn’t be able even to touch him, yet he stayed put on the handrail, daring the dog to make the first move. The dog stayed where he was, on high alert, waiting for the monkey to take the initiative. Neither took the risk.
