THE COUNTRY. X93

 Such green dusk and intense silence, threaded
by the sparkling flight of a darting dragon-fly,
is a fit setting for that picture of man and Nature
which was drawn by a poet who felt the appalling
difference between the great and little. He
sees, he tells us, the majestic form of a woman
clothed in a loose green dress. With her head
supported in her hand, she seems sunk in pro-
found thought." He realizes that this woman
is Nature, and he says: "A reverential fear,
like a sudden shiver, penetrated my soul. I
approached her, and greeting her respect-
fully, I cried, 'O Mother of us all, on what
are you meditating? Are you perhaps think-
ing of the future fate of mankind, or of the
long road man must travel in order to reach
the greatest possible perfection, the highest
happiness ?'
 "The woman slowly turned her dark, terrible
eyes, her lips moved, and with a thundering,
metallic voice she spoke: 'I am considering
how to give greater strength to the muscles in a
flea's leg. The equilibrium between attack and
defence has been lost, and must be restored.'
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