June 21. “Button, I found this fascinating piece of news in the Afternoon.”

“Why have you used a capital ‘A’ for afternoon? Afternoon means nap-time, and should be written in lower case.”

“You dumb animal. I have spelt Afternoon with a capital ‘A’ because it’s a tabloid-sized newspaper and does not mean nap-time in this case. I got this news from the tabloid and not in the afternoon. Now listen to this.”

“You called me a dumb animal. I don’t want to listen to anything you have to say.”

“Ok, I am sorry, Button. I’ll never call you dumb or an animal. Do you know what orangutans mean when they blow you a raspberry, smack you on the side of your body or give you a nip on the arm?”

“How will I know what they mean?”

“It means that he’s asking you if you want to play with him.”

“Really?”

“Brushing with a hand means they want the other orangutan to stop whatever he is doing while embracing and pulling at the same time means they want the other ape to walk with them. When they want to communicate ‘come here’, one ape puts his arm around another ape and when they want to communicate ‘stop’, they usually tap the hand of an infant. Hitting the ground, swatting, grabbing and dangling upside down are some of the other gestures.”

“Very interesting.”

“British researchers spent nine months observing orangutans in three European zoos and these results have been compiled into the first ape dictionary. It’s a guide on how our cousins chat with each other in the wild. The findings also shed light on the origins of human speech millions of years ago.”