"Oh, dear!" said the Poppy. "What's the matter' ?" said the Daisy. "Oh, I'm afraid they'll cut me down," said the Poppy; "they've just cut down a whole company of us." "Ah! you're so tall,” said the Daisy. "Alas! alas!" sighed the Poppy. "And so handsome," said the Daisy. "Ah!" said the Poppy. "They'll be sure to see you," said the Daisy. "Oh, don't!" groaned the Poppy; "I wish I were short, like you." "I am very short," said the Daisy. 'They won't see you," said the Poppy. "No, nobody looks at me," said the Daisy. "Good-by, Daisy, they are close; I shall soon be cut down," said the Poppy. "I've been very rude to you; will you forgive me?" said the Poppy. "Oh, don't mention it," said the Daisy. "Are you sorry for me?' said the Poppy. "Yes, with all my heart," said the Daisy. "You're a dear, kind little thing," said the Poppy. “Thank you kindly," said the Daisy. "You never made much of yourself," said the Poppy. 66 I never had the chance," said the Daisy. Poor Poppy! he never spoke more. The scythe reached him just as the Daisy was closing for the night; and when she opened in the bright, fresh morning, he lay prostrate beside her. While she was thinking over his fate, a heavy heel pressed on her and drove her almost into the earth, and she thought she should never get up again. But she did, and soon looked as cheery as ever, and was more convinced than ever that it was better to grow low' than high`, and to be plain' than to be gaudy'; and felt that she would rather be a poor little Daisy', than the handsomest Poppy that ever graced the fields'. LESSON LXVIII. THE INSECTS OF AN HOUR. An Allegorical Picture of the Human Race, under the form of a Fable. 1. ARISTOTLE says that upon the River Hy pa'nis, in Asia, there exist little insects who live only an hour, and that many generations of them pass away in a day. 2. Suppose one of these Hypanians, as old, according to these nations, as Time itself, to have been still living at the close of one of our summer days. He had begun to exist with the morning sun, and, through the strength of his constitution, had been enabled to support an active life during the infinite number of seconds contained in ten or twelve hours. 3. During so long a succession of instants, by his own experience, and by his reflections on all he had seen, he has acquired great wisdom, and he can relate to his grandsons an astonishing tradition of facts anterior to all the memories of the nation. 4. The young swarm, composed of beings who have lived but portions of an hour, approach the venerable patriarch with respect, and listen with admiration to his instructive discourse. Every thing he relates to them appears a prodigy to this generation, whose life has been so short; for the dawn of day, of which they have some vague traditions, is, in their chronology, the great era of the creation of their race. 5. This venerable insect, the Nestor of the Hypanis, a short time before his death, about the hour of sunset, assembles all his descendants, his friends, and acquaintances, to give them, with his dying breath, his last advice. They gather from all parts under the vast shelter of a mushroom, and the dying sage addresses them in the following manner: 6. "Friends and compatriots, I feel that the longest life must have an end. The term of mine has arrived, and I do not regret my fate, since my great age has become a burden to me, and there is nothing new under the sun for me. The revolutions and calamities that have desolated my country, the great number of particular accidents to which we are all subject, the infirmities that afflict our species, and the misfortunes that have happened in my own family,—all that I have seen in the course of a long life, has only too well taught me this great truth, that happiness placed in things that do not depend upon ourselves can never be certain and lasting. An entire generation has perished by a violent wind; a multitude of our imprudent youth have been swept into the water by a brisk and unexpected breeze. What terrible floods a sudden rain has caused! Our firmest shelters even are not proof against a hail-storm. A dark cloud causes even the most courageous hearts to tremble. 7. "I lived in the early ages, and conversed with insects of larger growth, of stronger constitutions, and, I may say, of greater wisdom, than any of the present generation. I conjure you to give credit to my last words, when I assure you that the sun which now appears beyond the water, and which seems not far from the earth, I have seen in times past fixed in the middle of the heavens, its rays darting directly upon us. The earth was much brighter in past ages; the air was much warmer; and our ancestors were more sober and more virtuous. 8. "Although my senses are enfeebled, my memory is not; I can assure you that this glorious luminary moves. I have seen it rising over the summit of yonder mountain, and I began my life about the time that it commenced its immense career. It has, during several centuries, advanced in the heavens with an astonishing heat and brilliancy, of which you can have no idea, and which assuredly you could not have supported; but now, by its decline, and the sensible diminution of its vigor, I perceive that all nature must shortly terminate, and that this world will be buried in darkness in less than a hundred minutes. 9. "Alas! my friends, how I flattered myself at one time with the deceitful hope of always living on this earth'! How magnificent were the cells I had hollowed out for myself'! What confidence did I put in the firmness of my limbs, and in the elasticity of their joints, and in the strength of my wings! But I have lived long enough for nature and for glory, and none of those I leave behind me will have the same satisfaction in the century of darkness and decay that I see about to begin." THE MORAL. 10. And now, what moral are we to gather from this picture, which Fancy has drawn? We may look with pity, not unmingled with contempt, upon these insects of an hour; but may not our lives appear as transient, our boasted wisdom just as vain, and human glory quite as fleeting, to beings from some other sphere, whose lives are perhaps measured by thousands of years, and whose experience began long before the period which we assign as creation's dawn'? LESSON LXIX. ENIGMAS, OR RIDDLES. [That kind of allegory which takes the form of an obscure question, or statement, that is to be conjectured or guessed, is commonly called an Enigma, or Riddle. Among the ancients it was customary, at banquets or festivals, to propose enigmas, of which the oldest example known is the riddle proposed by Samson at his wedding feast.] I. WORDS. 1. FROM rosy lips we issue forth, MRS. BARBAULD. From east to west, from north to south, Abroad we take our airy way. We fasten love, we kindle strife, Piercing and sharp, we wound like steel, 2. Not strings of pearl are valued more, Nor art of man can us compel. II. THE LETTER A. 1. In the middle of day I always appear, Yet am ever in darkness, in sadness, and fear. Though ne'er out of England, I'm always in France, 2. I'm found in the foam and the waves of the ocean, And without me you can't name a son or a daughter. III. THE WORD CARES. The following enigma has been attributed to the English statesman Canning. The answer is by an American. 1. There is a noun of plural number, Foe to sleep and quiet slumber; Answer to the above. 2. Cares is a noun of plural number, And sweet what bitter was before. |