Kate, Chapters I-III [pp. 415-428]

[DEcEMBER
glorious place, that "forest primeval,
w ee re p eople walke d slowly and spoke
low." thigh ov er hea d, the great trees
arched their branches, thick with dark
foliage, l ik e the dome-top of some vast
cavern, and as the wind moved the leaves
backw a rd and forward o n those highest
branches, the sun-light came dropping
down and down, from twig to branch,
a nd on the grass and leaves and fle owers
on the ground, as in those caves, the
water trickles down t he rocky walls. I
walked in an avenue, where the great
trees, o e h seach side, locke d their branches
above me, a nd t heir r oots toge ther und er
the ground, keeping inviolate f orever,
t hat path fo r thos e who loved their solitudes. H ere and there were openings in
the r oof, and through tm hem thes sun shone
unobstructed, making radiant patches on
the gr ound, whe re the flow ers grew more
luxuriantly, and where th e b ees and
butt erflies flutt ered about in greater numbers. I think it mut have been some
Saint's day in the woods, for I never saw
its inhabitants out in greater numbers or
gayer appar el. Th ey were thronging
a bove, aru around, and below me. Sober,
w hit e miller-flies proceeded here and
there in an orderly, quiet way, as if they
had been going to church. Blue flies,
g ree n flies, yellow and purple flie s, were
hurrying backward and forward in every
direction. On on e side was a crowd of
laz y u rch ins of young wood-bugs, watching two great black beetles, who were
having, wi th their nippers l ocked together, what appeared to be a half-drunken
fight. At a litt le distance tt merry grasshopper was amusing a collection of his
compeers, by springing ba ckward over
a pine log without ever touching it.
Ther e e iwerte little green lizards in the
trees, and black ants on the leaves, and
long-legged daddy-bugs striding over the
ground.
In their webs, on the low branches,
sat grim spiders, looking like hard-fisted
shopkeepers-each sitting there until
some gay young creature, allured by the
beauty of his out-door arrangements,
should step in and give him an opportunity of exhibiting the strength and
flexibility of his fabrics.
Overhead an occasional priestly crow,
flapped his solitary way, while in the
trees were orchestras innumerable of
big birds and little birds, soprano and
tenor birds, basso and baritone.
Fluttering before me, with her wings a
glorious purple in the shadows and crimson in the sun-light, and her golden bands
sparkling in the sun or in the s ha de, wa s
a dragon fly w h, who, as I walked, still
seemed to keep in advance of me.
And when I came to the end of the
avenue, and wasin doubt between theright
path and the left, I took this gorgeous insect for a guide and as it flew I followed it.
Stopping at some flowering bush, it
would throw its wings into a mist around
it, and drop and rise from blossom to
blossom, until I came up, and then away
to other flowers, and wait for me there.
When she was hovering round a shrub or
bush, I noticed that the bees and other insects kept aside at a little distance leaving
her to examine the blossoms unmolested.
So I thought to myself, " She is some
small goddess of the insects. They re.
tire before her and do her homage."
And I felt more faith in her, and nothing
doubting, followed her.
On she went, through the thick woodsdown in the deep dell, where the grass
was long and rank, and where the last
year's leaves and the leaves of the year
before that, lay thick and soft beneath
the feet. Then up the hill-side, where
the points and corners of the rocks peeped
out instead of flowers, and where the
roots of the trees, like great veins, were
interlaced across the path; and so, on
and on until she led me out of the dark
shadows and from under the trees, out
to the great grey rock that jutted over
the water. As the stream passed around
the point to the left of this rock, it spread
out into a wide and beautiful lake, which
stretched for half a mile and then resumed its narrower limits. On each side
the trees looked over into the water dropping their shadows down to the very
bottom; and out in the middle, you could
see, fathoms and tens of fathoms down,
the white clouds floating along as they
floated in the sky above.
As I came out on the rock, the goddess
416
Kate.