THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD WE LIVE IN SIR JOHN LUBBOCK The world we live in is a fairyland of exquisite beauty, our very existence is a miracle in itself, and yet few of us enjoy as we might, and none as yet appreciate fully, the beauties and wonders which surround us. The greatest traveler cannot hope even in a long life to visit more than a very small part of our earth; and even of that which is under our very eyes how 10 little we see! What we do see depends mainly on what we look for. When we turn our eyes to the sky, it is in most cases merely to see whether it is likely to rain. In the same field the farmer will notice the crop, geologists the fossils, botanists the flowers, artists the coloring, sportsmen the cover for game. Though we may all look at the 20 same things it does not at all follow that we should see them. It is good, as Keble says, "to have our thoughts lift up to that world where all is beautiful and glorious"but it is well to realize also how much of this world is beautiful. It has, I know, been maintained, as for instance by Victor Hugo, that the general effect of beauty is to sadden. This seems to 30 me, I confess, a morbid view. There are many, no doubt, on whom the effect of natural beauty is to intensify feeling, to deepen melancholy, as well as to raise the spirits. As Mrs. W. R. Greg in her memoir of her husband tells us: "His passionate love for Nature, so amply fed by the beauty of the scenes around him, intensified the emotions, as all keen perception 40 of beauty does, but it did not add to their joyousness. We speak of the 23. Keble, John Keble, an English clergyman and religious poet (1792-1866). 29. Victor Hugo, a famous French poet and prose writer (1802-1885). 38. Greg. William R. Greg (1809-1881), an English essayist. Kingsley speaks with enthusiasm of the heaths and moors round his home, "where I have so long enjoyed the wonders of Nature; never, I can honestly say, alone; because when man was not with me, I had companions in every bee and flower and 40 pebble; and never idle, because I could not pass a swamp, or a tuft of heather, without finding in it a fairy tale of which I could but decipher 20. From Wordsworth's poem, "Tintern Abbey." 33. Kingsley, Charles Kingsley, an English author (1819-1875). here and there a line or two, and yet found them more interesting than all the books, save one, which were ever written upon earth." Those who love Nature can never be dull. They may have other temptations; but at least they will run no 50 risk of being beguiled, by ennui, idleness, or want of occupation, "to buy the merry madness of an hour with the long penitence of after time." The love of Nature, again, helps us greatly to keep ourselves free from those mean and petty cares which interfere so much with calm and peace of mind. It turns "every ordinary walk into a morning or evening 60 sacrifice," and brightens life until it becomes almost like a fairy tale. peace of mind. In the romances of the Middle Ages we read of knights who loved, and were loved by, Nature spirits-of Sir Launfal and the Fairy Tryamour, who furnished him with many good things, including a magic purse, in which 20 As oft as thou puttest thy hand therein 70 A mark of gold thou shalt i-win, as well as protection from the main dangers of life. Such times have passed away, but better ones have come. It is not now merely the few who are so favored. All those who love Nature she loves in return, and will richly reward, not perhaps with the good things, as they are commonly called, but with the best things, of this so world; not with money and titles, horses and carriages, but with bright and happy thoughts, contentment, and peace of mind. Happy indeed is the naturalist. To him the seasons come round like old friends; to him the birds sing; as he walks along, the flowers stretch out from the hedges, or look up from the ground; and as each year fades 90 71. i-win, obtain. away, he looks back on a fresh store of happy memories. Though we can never "remount the river of our years," he who loves Nature is always young. But what is the love of Nature? Some seem to think they show a love of flowers by gathering them. How often one finds a bunch of withered blossoms on the 10 roadside, plucked only to be thrown away! Is this love of Nature? It is, on the contrary, a wicked waste, for a waste of beauty is almost the worst waste of all. If we could imagine a day prolonged for a lifetime, or nearly so, and that sunrise and sunset were rare events which happened but a few times to each of us, we should cer20 tainly be entranced by the beauty of the morning and evening tints. The golden rays of the morning are a fortune in themselves, but we too often overlook the loveliness of Nature, because it is constantly before us. For "the senseless folk," says King Alfred, is far more struck At things it seldom sees. "Well," says Cicero, "did Aristotle 30 observe, 'If there were men whose habitations had been always underground, in great and commodious houses, adorned with statues and pictures, furnished with everything which they who are reputed happy abound with; and if, without stirring from thence, they should be informed of a certain divine power and majesty, and, after some time, the earth should 40 open, and they should quit their dark abode to come to us; where they should immediately behold the earth, the seas, the heavens; should consider the vast extent of the clouds and force of the winds; should see the sun, 26. King Alfred, Alfred the Great, a wise king of one of the divisions of old Britain (849-901). 29. Cicero, a celebrated Roman orator, philosopher, and statesman (B. c. 106-43). Aristotle, a famous Greek philosopher (881-322 B. C.) and observe his grandeur and beauty, and also his creative power, inasmuch as day is occasioned by the diffusion of his light through the sky; and when night has obscured the earth, 50 they should contemplate the heavens bespangled and adorned with stars; the surprising variety of the moon, in her increase and wane; the rising and setting of all the stars, and the inviolable regularity of their courses; when,' says he, 'they should see these things, they would undoubtedly conclude that there are gods, and that these are their mighty works." " Is my life vulgar, my fate mean, Which on such golden memories can lean? 60 At the same time the change which has taken place in the character of our religion has in one respect weakened the hold which Nature has upon our feelings. To the Greeks-to our own ancestors every river or mountain or forest had not only its own special deity, but in some sense was itself 70 instinct with life. They were not only peopled by nymphs and fauns, elves and kelpies, were not only the favorite abodes of water, forest, or mountain spirits, but they had a conscious existence of their own. In the Middle Ages indeed, these spirits were regarded as often mischievous, and apt to take offense; sometimes as essentially malevolent- 80 even the most beautiful, like the Venus of Tannhäuser, being often on that very account all the more dangerous; while the mountains and forests, the lakes and seas, were the abodes of hideous ghosts and horrible monsters, of giants and ogres, sorcerers and demons. These fears, though vague, were none the less extreme, and the judicial records of the Middle Ages 90 61-62. From a poem by Thoreau. 82. Tannhäuser, an opera by Richard Wagner. furnish only too conclusive evidence that they were a terrible reality. The light of science has now happily dispelled these fearful nightmares. Unfortunately, however, as men have multiplied, their energies have hitherto tended, not to beautify, but to mar. Forests have been cut down, and replaced by flat fields in geometri10 cal squares, or on the continent by narrow strips. Here and there indeed we meet with oases, in which beauty has not been sacrificed to profit, and it is then happily found that not only is there no loss, but the earth seems to reward even more richly those who treat her with love and respect. Spring seems to revive us all. In the Song of Solomon 20 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone; The time of the singing of birds is come, "But indeed there are days," says 30 Emerson, "which occur in this climate, at almost any season of the year, wherein the world reaches its perfection, when the air, the heavenly bodies, and the earth make a harmony, as if Nature would indulge her offspring. . . . . These halcyon days may be looked for with a little more assurance in that pure October weather which we distinguish by the 40 name of the Indian summer. The day, immeasurably long, sleeps over the broad hills and warm wide fields. To have lived through all its sunny hours seems longevity enough." For our greater power of perceiving, and therefore of enjoying Nature, we are greatly indebted to science. Over and above what is visible to the unaided eye, the two magic tubes, the telescope and microscope, have re- 50 vealed to us, at least partially, the infinitely great and the infinitely little. Science, our fairy godmother, will, unless we perversely reject her help, and refuse her gifts, so richly endow us, that fewer hours of labor will serve to supply us with the material necessaries of life, leaving us more time to ourselves, more leisure to enjoy all that makes life best worth 60 living. NOTES AND QUESTIONS 1. This selection is taken from The Beauties of Nature by Sir John Lubbock, the great naturalist-author. He calls the world we live in "a fairyland of exquisite beauty"; how does he account for our failure to enjoy and appreciate fully "the wonders which surround us"? 2. What is the author's view as to the effect beauty has on the individual? What is Wordsworth's view of the effect of beauty on our lives? 3. The author points out ways in which the love of Nature helps us; mention some of the ways. 4. The author says "a waste of beauty is almost the worst waste of all"; how did the Greeks regard Nature? What change of view has science brought about? How has science increased our power to see and enjoy Nature? How has it extended our leisure hours? Library Reading. Animal Life in Field and Garden, Fabre. THE BATTLE OF THE ANTS HENRY D. THOREAU One day when I went out to my woodpile, or rather my pile of stumps, I observed two large ants, the one red, the other much larger, nearly half an inch long, and black, fiercely contending with one another. Having once got hold they never let go, but struggled and wrestled and rolled on the chips incessantly. Looking far ther, I was surprised to find that the chips were covered with such combatants, that it was not a duellum, but a bellum, a war between two races of ants, the red always pitted against the black, and frequently two red ones to one black. The legions of these Myrmidons covered all the hills and vales in my wood-yard, and the 10 ground was already strewn with the dead and dying, both red and black. It was the only battle which I have ever witnessed, the only battlefield I ever trod while the battle was raging; internecine war; the red republicans on the one hand, and the black imperialists on the other. On every side they were engaged in deadly combat, yet without any noise that I 20 could hear, and human soldiers never fought so resolutely. I watched a couple that were fast locked in each other's embraces, in a little sunny valley amid the chips, now at noonday prepared to fight till the sun went down, or life went out. The smaller red champion had fastened himself like a vise to his adversary's front, and through all the tumblings on 30 that field never for an instant ceased to gnaw at one of his feelers near the root, having already caused the other to go by the board; while the stronger black one dashed him from side to side, and, as I saw on looking nearer, had already divested him of several of his members. They fought with more pertinacity than bulldogs. Neither manifested the least disposi40 tion to retreat. It was evident that their battle-cry was Conquer or Die. In the meanwhile there came along a single red ant on the hill side of this valley, evidently full of excitement, who either had dispatched his foe, or had not yet taken part in the battle; probably the latter, for he had lost 8. duellum, duel; the difference between duellum and bellum is made clear by Thoreau. 8. Myrmidons, a fierce tribe of Greeks who fought in the Trojan War. none of his limbs; whose mother had charged him to return with his shield or upon it. Or perchance he was 50 some Achilles, who had nourished his wrath apart, and had now come to avenge or rescue his Patroclus. He saw this unequal combat from afarfor the blacks were nearly twice the size of the red-he drew near with rapid pace till he stood on his guard within half an inch of the combatants; then, watching his opportunity, he sprang upon the black warrior, and 60 commenced his operations near the root of his right fore-leg, leaving the foe to select among his own members; and so there were three united for life, as if a new kind of attraction had been invented which put all other locks and cements to shame. I should not have wondered by this time to find that they had their respective musical bands stationed on some eminent 70 chip, and playing their national airs the while, to excite the slow and cheer the dying combatants. I was myself excited somewhat even as if they had been men. The more you think of it, the less the difference. And certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment's comparison with this, so whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed. For numbers and for carnage it was an Austerlitz or Dresden. Concord Fight! Two killed on the patriots' side, and Luther Blanchard wounded! Why, here every ant was a Buttrick-"Fire! for God's sake, fire!"-and thousands shared the fate of Davis and Hosmer. There 90 was not one hireling there. I have 51. Achilles, a famous Greek hero of the Trojan War, who, because of a grievance, sulked in his tent until his friend Patroclus was killed. 81. Austerlitz, Dresden, victories of Napoleon in his Eastern campaigns; both sides lost heavily injthe battles. 88, 90. Buttrick, Davis and Hosmer, heroes whose connection with the Battle of Concord is indicated by the context. |