IX.
_AFTER THE RAIN._
"The very earth, the steamy air, Are all with fragrance rife;And grace and beauty everywhere Are bursting into life.Down, down they come, those fruitful stores, Those earth-rejoicing drops;A momentary deluge pours, Then thins, decreases, stops."
ANON.
"There seems likely to be a change in the weather," said grandpapa onemorning at breakfast. "The wind has got round to the west, and there areclouds about."
"I am so glad," said Mary.
"So am I," added Annie. "It has been too hot for the last two or threeweeks."
"We shall all be glad to see a little rain," said grandpapa; "the gardenwants it badly enough, and so do the newly-mown fields."
Grandpapa was right, for sure enough during the day there were manycooling showers, which made everything out of doors look bright andfresh.
In the evening grandmamma sat at work in the drawing-room by the opendoors which led straight into the garden, and the children were withher.
Jack was lying on the floor with his face to the garden, and supposed tobe reading a book; while the little girls were busy with some easyfancy-work, making something to take home to their mother when they leftWoodside.
Jack seemed to be more interested in something out of doors than he wasin his book. At last he exclaimed, "Grandmamma, do look; isn't that abeautiful white fleecy cloud?"
"Yes, it is indeed, Jack. Clouds _are_ beautiful and well worth lookingat."
The girls put down their work and went to the doors to look out, orrather up, at the deep blue sky, covered with patches of downy white.
"That cloud looks as if it were made of snow mountains and caves," saidMary. "See how it changes its shape: now there is another cloud comingto it: now they have melted into one."
"The sky is one beautiful thing that you can watch anywhere, in town orcountry, in summer or winter," said grandmamma. "It is like apicture-book that is always open; and the pictures are always changing."
The children stood and watched the clouds as they sailed about likemajestic swans. Some moved faster than others, and came in front ofthem. They mingled and they parted, and took all sorts of shapes. Thecolour changed from pure white to delicate gray; and again a stormycloud appeared, dark with rain that would fall somewhere before long.
"O grandmamma, look!" they all exclaimed, as the evening sun shone frombehind a cloud, gilding its edges with gold.
At last, when they had been for some time feasting their eyes with thebeauty of cloudland, something else struck Jack, and he said, "Howsweet everything smells after the rain!"
"Yes, it does, Jack. The very gravel paths and garden mould smell fresh;and as to the flowers, they are sweeter than ever."
"I can smell mignonnette," said Mary.
"I can smell the stocks," said Jack.
"And I can smell the honeysuckle," said Annie.
"Do, grandmamma, let us walk round the garden, to smell the flowers,"said all the children; "the gravel is almost dry."
"Very well, you may go; but don't go on the grass--keep to the path."
Jack was off at a bound, and his sisters were not much behind; and theyvisited flower after flower, sniffing their sweet perfumes. The tallwhite lilies gave out so strong a scent that, sweet as it was, they didnot care to bend them down to their faces; but the roses, after therain, were so delicious that they did not want to let them go. Theyfound, however, that it was not the large showy roses which had thesweetest smell.
They went to the arch along which the honeysuckle was growing, and thenthey smelled the rich carnations and the fragrant mignonnette.
Grandmamma called to them not to stay out too long; but they said, "Maywe pick you a little nosegay first? the flowers are just lovely."
"Very well," grandmamma said; "but don't let it be too large."
It really was difficult to know what to leave out when all was so sweet;but they thought mignonnette, a half-blown moss rose, some sweet-peas, apiece of honeysuckle and of white jasmine, some pinks, and a littlestock, could not fail to be agreeable. They thought more of what wouldsmell sweet than of bright colour; and grandmamma was well pleased withher nosegay.
"Grandmamma," said Jack, "there is a poor-looking flower like a smallstock in the garden; it smells so sweet."
"It is a stock--the night-flowering stock. The flower is dull-colouredand insignificant; but it has a powerful odour. You must not supposethat the sweet scent of flowers is for our pleasure alone. The perfumesare of great use to the plants themselves, and to the insects that liveon honey."
"Of what use can they be to the plants?" asked Mary.
"The perfume is chiefly due to a kind of oil found in the blossoms ofplants, and sometimes in the leaves as well. Lavender, rosemary, thyme,and herbs used in cooking, are examples of plants whose leaves as wellas flowers possess this ethereal oil, as it is called. Caterpillars donot like the taste of these oils, and leave these highly-scented plantsalone. It is, however, generally the flowers only that smell; and nowyou can guess why they are protected by their fragrance. What is themost important part of the flower?"
"Its seed," replied Mary.
"Yes; and as the cattle will not eat the flowers, the seed is safe fromthem."
"But they eat flowers in hay," said Jack.
"True; but by the time the grass is cut many seeds have ripened and havedropped out of their husks; and when flowers are dry, as they are inhay, they lose their particular scent and the oil with it. But the veryperfume which keeps away the enemies of the flower attracts its friendsthe insects, whose sense of smell is very keen."
"Why do flowers want insects?" asked Annie.
"Because they want their yellow dust taken from one flower to another,to ripen their seeds, or to fertilize them, as it is called. The seedsare far better if they are ripened by the pollen or dust of anotherblossom than by the pollen of their own flower. The bees, as you know,get covered with this dust as they visit one flower after another; someof it sticks to the bees, but a great deal of it drops off as they rubagainst the flowers."
"It's give and take," said Jack. "The flowers give the honey for theinsects to eat, and the insects carry their pollen away for them."
"Yes, that's something like it," said grandmamma. "And now you can seewhy flowers which bloom at night need to have a strong odour. There aresome plants which
'Keep their odours to themselves all day'
but towards evening they
'Let the delicious secret out;'
and it is that moths and insects that fly about at night may knowwhereabouts the flowers are. The bees are busy in the day-time; butthere are a great many kinds of moths, in fact there are more moths thanthere are butterflies, and they only fly about at night, and the honeyof flowers is their sole food. So you see the scent of flowers has agreat use."
"I never thought of that before," said Mary.
"If the flowers which keep open late in the evening have not a verystrong perfume, they are generally white or pale yellow, so as to beseen easily. There is one of these plants called the eveningprimrose--not that it is like a primrose except in colour--at the bottomof the garden walk."
"Do let us go and see if there is a moth on it, grandmamma."
Grandmamma smiled and said, "Jack might go and look, and then he couldtell his sisters what he saw."
Jack scampered away, and after a minute or two he was back with thereport that he had counted seven winged flies and moths all busy feedingupon the honey of the different blossoms of the plant!
"Insects can smell things at a far greater distance than we can," saidgrandmamma. "The sense of smell seems to be their strongest sense."
"Do you think it is a good thing to be able to smell so very much,grandmamma?"
"Certainly I do. I know a keen sense of smell is sometimes disagreeablefor its owner; but as a rule, when a smell is unpleasant it isunwholesome, and the nose is like a sentinel that gives warning ofdanger, so that we may either get out
of the way or remove the cause.Some people really seem to have no noses, considering what they willendure in the way of bad smells, and how careless they are about keepingwindows shut that ought to be opened to let in the fresh air andsunshine.
"You must remember, children, that your five senses are but doors whichthe mind must keep open. It is the mind that perceives. We say, 'Iperceive this apple is sour;' 'I perceive this cloth is rough;' 'Iperceive a smell of roses;' 'I perceive this flower is white;' 'Iperceive the birds are singing.' So the word 'perceive' will do fortasting, feeling, smelling, seeing, and hearing."
X.
_THE SIX CLOSED DOORS._
"Say what is it, Eyes, ye see?Shade and sunshine, flower and tree;Running waters swift and clear,And the harvests of the year.--Tell me, Ears, what ye have heard?Many and many a singing bird;Winds within the tree-tops going,Rapid rivers strongly flowing;Awful thunder, ocean strong,And the kindly human tongue.--These and more an entrance findTo the chambers of the mind."
ANON.
The end of the visit had come at last. Tom and Katey were at Woodsidespending the last day with their cousins. It was evening: the longshadows were falling over the lawn, and the summer air was still.
Grandmamma was sitting under a tree on the lawn knitting, when thechildren clustered around with the old request, "Please, grandmamma,tell us a story."
Grandmamma looked a little gravely upon the dear, eager faces, andbegan:--
"A little boy found himself one day, he could not tell how, in a cell,or rather a small room, which was very comfortable. He could notremember anything that had happened before he came there, nor did hefeel frightened although he was quite alone.
"For some time he was content to pass the time without taking anyparticular notice of anything. At last he saw that there were severaldoors--five--in the walls of his room. He noticed that two were high andwide, the rest seemed smaller; and he thought, 'I will open one of thesefirst. Doors must be meant to lead somewhere, and I am rather tired ofthis little room, although it is comfortable.'
"He opened the door very easily, and he found himself in a large room.In the middle of it was a table covered with things that seemed good toeat.
"He did not see any one, but he heard a voice say, 'Come in and_taste_.'
"So he took up one nice thing after another, according to his will; andafter awhile he heard the voice say, 'This is enough for once; you maycome again.'
"He turned to go back to his room, but the door was gone. The way to hiscell was open, and this beautiful room was added to his smaller one.
"Now he had plenty of amusement. He learned how different were thetastes of the objects before him;--some sweet, some sour; others werebitter, or salt, or spicy; some with flavours that cannot be put intowords, they were so delicate and varied. As soon as he had had enough hecould taste no longer; so he always knew when to leave off.
"He was satisfied for a long time with this room, for fresh objects weredaily added. At last he looked longingly at the door by the side of theopening where the late door was.
"He opened it and walked out, not into a room, but into a lovelygarden. The walls were high, but the garden was very broad and long.
"There were the fruits whose delicious flavour he knew: now he foundthat some of them at least had a fragrant _smell_. However, he scarcelynoticed them; for a strange, sweet odour of flowers greeted hisnewly-found sense. After awhile he felt almost overpowered by this freshpleasure, and turned to go back for awhile into his little room, when hefound that this door had also vanished. He was glad of this, for thedelicate perfume of the garden freely came into his cell.
"What a growing pleasure was this garden! Every flower had its ownspecial odour--the rich rose, the tall, queenly lily, and the lowlyviolet--each in its way the sweetest.
"At first he thought that only the flowers had perfume, but he soonfound this was a mistake. By taking more careful notice he perceivedthat leaves as well as flowers were sometimes scented, as in the muskplant, the geranium, and even those of black-currant bushes.
"As he walked down an avenue of lime trees, he noticed a most deliciousscent, which he found came from the small blossoms of the trees highabove his head. He turned into a shrubbery, and was greeted by the freshfragrance of the pine trees, and found that even the resinous buds ofother trees had a pleasant scent. The very earth too, after a shower ofrain, had a refreshing smell.
"By-and-by he looked at the high walls of the garden, for there seemedto float over them a blended sweetness of something, he knew not what;but in after days he knew it as that of new-mown hay.
"Again, the wind would bring him a smell of something that certainly didnot belong to flowers or fruit. It seemed to make him strong, and longto know what was over the wall. It was the sea-breeze that came to himfrom the vast ocean, and made him feel that his lovely garden was, afterall, too bounded.
"He turned the handle of another door. It was that of _touch_, and hefound himself in a passage. He walked along a little way, and saw anopen archway on his right, through which he went, and there he was inthe room of taste. He took up a cherry, and it felt smooth; a peach, andit felt soft and downy; a pine-apple, and it was rough. He looked towardthe archway through which he had come, when, behold! the whole passagewall had vanished, making the old room larger.
"He went into his garden: the gravel path felt hard and firm, the lawnfelt soft and springy under his tread. He touched a rose-stalk and hefelt its prickles, while the leaves of the flowers were soft. Someflower-stalks felt sticky, others smooth, and the bark of the oak treewas rough.
"The bright sunshine felt warm to his cheek, and the marble of thefountain felt cold.
"There were now two large doors left, and he resolved to open that of_hearing_.
"All was dark as he stepped into a room or passage, he knew not which.He walked on a little way, then he stopped, for he faintly heard thesound of music. The sweet strains grew longer and louder, drawing himalong till he came to a large hall where an organ was being played by amaster. Here he stayed to listen and to wonder, spell-bound by thestrange high music;--now swelling to a triumph, now sinking to a softecho; now it told of gladness, and again of sorrow. Then it changed to asolemn, stately march; then there was a sound of rippling sweetness,ending in a lullaby so soothing that he fell fast asleep.
"When he awoke he was in his cell; the door was gone and the mystic hallhad vanished. He went into his garden, and heard for the first time thesweet song of birds, the hum of insects, and the soft sound of flowingwater from the marble fountain. He heard the swaying of the wind amongthe leaves and branches of the trees, and the sound of his own footstepson the path.
"'Now for the last door,' he said, as he opened it, and was dazzled by aflood of light which nearly blinded him. _Sight_, which had been beforebut faint and dim, now became clear and open. He found himself in hisold room of taste; but instead of the walls were crystal windows, andhis table of fruits and food looked small in the midst of the vastspace. He turned into his garden: what a change was there! He saw thatthe roses were a deep, deep red, and pink, and yellow, and white; thatthe flowers were of every hue and shade of colour, and the trees ofvarying green.
"Now he saw the birds whose sweet songs he had often heard, some inbright plumage, and others of graver colours.
"He saw the insects flying about with whose soft hum he was familiar;some too of whose existence he knew nothing before--the noiselessbutterflies of brown and gold, of deep orange or pale yellow, of azureblue or cream and brown and crimson.
"He saw the darting dragon-fly, shining in black and blue, with gauzywings of pearly tints; and other insects brilliant with many colours,shining or dusky, flitting by or crawling along the ground.
"Tired out at last with all these wonders, he went back to his cell andslept.
"He awoke thinking, 'There are now no new doors to open;' but when heturned to the wall on the opposite side, he saw a door that he had notnoticed before.
"He went up t
o it, but it was bolted and barred from without, and thekey was in the lock on the outside. 'That door is not meant for me toopen,' he said; and he went once more into his garden. The high wallswere gone, the room with the crystal windows had vanished, but thesenses of taste, of smell, of touch, of hearing, and of sight remained.
"He could now go where he liked. He saw the meadows whose sweet smell ofnewly-mown grass had delighted him in his garden; and he wandered downto the shore, where he felt again the strength of the sea-breeze. Heheard with awe the sound of many waters as myriad waves dashed againstthe rocky coast--those same waves which farther along, as the shorebecame sandy, rippled out in the lowest murmurs. In the caves, too, hesaw new forms of life--the many-coloured sea-anemones, sea-weeds,shells; and in the sea itself fishes shining like mother-of pearl.
"There were some mountains in the distance, and he went towards them.While climbing up their sides, the sky, which had been bright blue, nowbecame overcast. Black, thick clouds quickly gathered, till day seemedturned into night. Then there shot through the darkness a swift, brightflash, lighting everything up for a moment, then leaving all darker thanbefore. He had not recovered from his astonishment when he heard asudden crash, as if the mountain were splitting into pieces, followed bya long deep roll of boundless sound. Again and again he saw thelightning's flash and heard the thunder's roar. Then the raging ceased,the blue sky began to re-appear, the sun shone through the rain-drops,and on the departing clouds he saw an arch of many colours, beautiful inform and brilliancy--the lovely rainbow. He gazed at it with strange newfeelings till it all melted away.
"At night he always returned to his cell. This night, however, he was sofull of the wondrous scene he had witnessed on the mountain that hestayed out of doors, walking up and down his familiar garden path withdowncast eyes. He was deep in thought, when at last he raised his eyes,and instead of a clear sky he saw tiny points of light shining throughthe gray twilight. As the darkness deepened he saw myriads and myriadsof these bright points--the stars. He wondered at the mystery.
"He now began to meet with beings like himself, at first one or two,then many more. He found the difference in human beings was very greatindeed. Some of them kindly came to him, and told him many things aboutthe world in which he now daily lived. They taught him how to read booksin which was written the wisdom of men who had lived long ago. Here wasa new, wide opening, as he looked back into the past, into the times sovery far away. But the books were not all old; some were written byliving men, into which they had put their choicest thoughts, and theygave him an insight into the best part of a man--his soul and mind.Others told him of the wonderful discoveries made by clever men. Theybrought him a telescope, to look through to the stars at night; whichstars, they told him, were other worlds, and that this little worldwhere he lived was but a speck compared with the rest of creation. Inlooking through the telescope he saw into great depths--stars beyondstars, in number far exceeding his powers of thought. They showed him amicroscope; and in looking through it he saw undreamt-of beauty infamiliar flowers and insects, and in all natural objects. They told himof the useful and beautiful things that men had found under theground--coal, metals, and precious stones. Some of these they showed himwhen polished;--the diamond, which seemed to have taken the rainbow toitself and given it back in a flash, now of pure, now of many-colouredlight; the delicate opal, which looked like a rainbow vanishing; the redruby, the green emerald, the violet amethyst, the clear crystal, andmany more besides. They showed him lovely forms, that men had sculpturedin white marble; and paintings representing many things--now a stormysea with waves lashed into fury against the rocks--again a summerevening landscape whose calm soothed his spirit. Scenes from the oldbooks were made to live again; and then, again, were painted familiarobjects. Wherever he looked, he saw more to see; whenever he listened,he found there was more to hear. What surprised him most of all was,that there were some men who did not care to find out and learn moreabout the wonders in them and around them; and then he noticed thatthose who would not use their eyes, and ears, and other senses, becamedim of sight and hard of hearing, gradually shrinking back into thestate they were before they had opened the doors of their cells.
"He thought of the barred door, and sometimes through its chinks he feltsomething steal as once the sea-breeze stole over his garden wall. Thethought of that something followed him more and more.
"By this time he knew that all sights were not fair to look upon, norall sounds delightful; and whenever he saw and heard the sad and wrong,he seemed to be most conscious of the something beyond his cell. He feltthat he was in the world not alone to learn its wonders, but also toteach the ignorant, to help the weak, to be kind, and true, and brave,and patient to all.
"Knowledge was a good thing, but goodness was better. The longer helived, he felt the less he knew; and the reason was, that he saw moreand more clearly the vast extent of creation.
"Then some one came to him and spoke of an old Book which told of thegreat Creator of the world, and that all its wonderful beauty was thework of His hand; that the sorrow and the wrong which he had seen aroundhim were but for a time, for the Creator was also the Father of theuniverse, and had sent His Son into the world as its Saviour, and to diefor its deliverance.
"Afterwards he read in this Book the story of the life and death of thisSon of God, who was also the Son of man; and he learned that a fullerand truer life lay beyond the things that are now seen. So with reverentfeeling he waited, thinking much of the closed door.
"At last, the bars were undone, the key was turned in the lock, the doorwas opened, the walls of his cell fell down, and he stood young andstrong on the outside! Then he saw and heard things I cannot tell youabout, so like the old, and yet so different. But he felt no fear; forhe knew he was under the same wise, kind, righteous laws, under theRuler of the universe, and that the kingdoms of the seen and the unseenare but one."
THE END.
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