Only in a dim, vague way had Kala explained to him that his father had been a strange white ape, but he did not know that Kala was not his own mother." - Meaning and context.">
Ch. 6 : Jungle Battles
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The story of his own connection with the cabin had never been told him. The language of the apes had so few words that they could talk but little of what they had seen in the cabin, having no words to accurately describe either the strange people or their belongings, and so, long before Tarzan was old enough to understand, the subject had been forgotten by the tribe.
Only in a dim, vague way had Kala explained to him that his father had been a strange white ape, but he did not know that Kala was not his own mother.

— Edgar Rice Burroughs

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The story of his own connection with the cabin had never been told him. The language of the apes had so few words that they could talk but little of what they had seen in the cabin, having no words to accurately describe either the strange people or their belongings, and so, long before Tarzan was old enough to understand, the subject had been forgotten by the tribe.
Only in a dim, vague way had Kala explained to him that his father had been a strange white ape, but he did not know that Kala was not his own mother." in the context of "Ch. 6 : Jungle Battles" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Edgar Rice Burroughs" (Quotes, Tarzan of the Apes (1912)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Edgar Rice Burroughs

About Edgar Rice Burroughs

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1 September 1875 – 19 March 1950) was an American author of science-fiction and adventure stories, most famous for the creation of the jungle-born hero Tarzan.