第 6 节
作者:扑火      更新:2021-02-19 21:35      字数:9322
  intelligence      is  outwardfrankly       directed     upon    external    things;    it  is
  observant;  and   therefore  mobile   without   inner  restlessness。           For   restless
  eyes   are   the   least   observant   of   all   they   move   by  a   kind   of   distraction。
  The looks of observant eyes; moving with the living things they keep in
  sight;    have    many     pauses    as  well    as  flights。    This    is  the   action   of
  intelligence; whereas the eyes of intellect are detained or darkened。
  Rational perception; with all its phases of humour; are best expressed
  by   a   child;  who    has   few   second     thoughts    to   divide  the   image    of  his
  momentary feeling。          His simplicity adds much to the manifestation of his
  intelligence。      The child is the last and lowest of rational creatures; for in
  him   the   〃rational   soul〃   closes   its   long   downward   flight   with   the   bright
  final revelation。
  He has also the chief beauty of the irrational soul of the mind; that is;
  of   the   lower   animalwhich   is   singleness。      The   simplicity;   the   integrity;
  the one thing at a time; of a good animal's eyes is a great beauty; and is apt
  to cause us to exaggerate our sense of their expressiveness。                   An animal's
  eyes;  at   their best;   are very  slightly  expressive;   languor  or  alertness;   the
  quick expectation; even the aloofness of doubt they are able to show; but
  the showing is mechanical; the human sentiment of the spectator adds the
  rest。
  All   this   simplicity  the   child   has;   at   moments;   with   the   divisions   and
  delicacies of the rational soul; also。           His looks express the first; the last;
  and the clearest humanity。          He is the first by his youth and the last by his
  lowliness。      He is the beginning and the result of the creation of man。
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  THE CHILDREN
  UNDER THE EARLY STARS
  Play is not for every hour of the day; or for any hour taken at random。
  There is a tide in the affairs of children。          Civilization is cruel in sending
  them     to  bed   at  the   most   stimulating     time   of  dusk。    Summer       dusk;
  especially;   is   the   frolic   moment   for   children;   baffle   them   how   you   may。
  They may have been in a pottering mood all day; intent upon all kinds of
  close    industries;   breathing     hard   over   choppings     and   poundings。      But
  when late twilight comes; there comes also the punctual wildness。                     The
  children will run and pursue; and laugh for the mere movementit does so
  jog their spirits。
  What remembrances does this imply of the hunt; what of the predatory
  dark?     The kitten grows alert at the same hour; and hunts for moths and
  crickets in the grass。       It   comes   like an   imp; leaping on   all fours。      The
  children     lie  in  ambush    and   fall  upon    one   another   in  the   mimicry    of
  hunting。
  The  sudden   outbreak   of   action   is   complained of   as   a   defiance  and   a
  rebellion。     Their entertainers are tired; and the children are to go home。
  But; with more or less of life and fire; they strike some blow for liberty。
  It may be the impotent revolt of the ineffectual child; or the stroke of the
  conqueror; but something; something is done for freedom under the early
  stars。    This is not the only time when the energy of children is in conflict
  with the weariness of men。          But it is less tolerable that the energy of men
  should be at odds with the weariness of children; which happens at some
  time of their jaunts together; especially; alas! in the jaunts of the poor。
  Of games for the summer dusk when it rains; cards are most beloved
  by children。      Three tiny girls were to be taught 〃old maid〃 to beguile the
  time。    One of them; a nut…brown child of five; was persuading another to
  play。    〃Oh come;〃 she said; 〃and play with me at new maid。〃
  The   time   of   falling   asleep   is   a   child's   immemorial   and   incalculable
  hour。    It is full of traditions; and beset by antique habits。            The habit of
  prehistoric   races   has   been   cited   as   the   only   explanation   of   the   fixity   of
  some     customs     in  mankind。     But    if  the  enquirers    who    appeal   to  that
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  THE CHILDREN
  beginning      remembered        better  their   own    infancy;    they   would    seek    no
  further。    See   the   habits   in   falling   to   sleep   which   have   children   in   their
  thralldom。      Try to overcome them in any child; and his own conviction of
  their high antiquity weakens your hand。
  Childhood   is   antiquity;   and   with   the   sense   of   time   and   the   sense   of
  mystery is connected for ever the hearing of a lullaby。                The French sleep…
  song is the most romantic。           There is in it such a sound of history as must
  inspire     any   imaginative      child;   falling   to  sleep;   with    a  sense    of  the
  incalculable; and the songs themselves are old。 Le Bon Roi Dagobert has
  been   sung   over   French   cradles   since   the   legend   was   fresh。      The   nurse
  knows   nothing   more   sleepy   than   the   tune   and   the  verse   that   she   herself
  slept to when a child。         The gaiety of the thirteenth century; in Le Pont a'
  Avignon; is put mysteriously to sleep; away in the tete a tete of child and
  nurse; in a thousand little sequestered rooms at night。                  Malbrook would
  be comparatively modern; were not all things that are sung to a drowsing
  child as distant as the day of Abraham。
  If English children are not rocked to many such aged lullabies; some
  of them are put to sleep to strange cradle…songs。                 The affectionate races
  that   are   brought   into   subjection   sing   the   primitive   lullaby   to   the   white
  child。     Asiatic   voices and African   persuade   him  to   sleep   in   the   tropical
  night。    His closing eyes are filled with alien images。
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  THE CHILDREN
  THE MAN WITH TWO HEADS
  It is generally understood in the family that the nurse who menaces a
  child;    whether    with    the  supernatural     or  with   simple    sweeps;     lions;  or
  tigersgoes。      The rule is a right one; for the appeal to fear may possibly
  hurt a child; nevertheless; it oftener fails   to hurt him。             If he is prone to
  fears;   he   will   be   helpless   under   their   grasp;   without   the   help   of   human
  tales。    The   night   will   threaten   him;   the   shadow   will   pursue;   the   dream
  will   catch   him;   terror   itself   have   him   by   the   heart。 And   terror;   having
  made   his   pulses   leap;   knows   how   to   use   any   thought;   any   shape;   any
  image;   to   account   to   the   child's   mind   for   the   flight   and   tempest   of   his
  blood。     〃The child shall not be frightened;〃 decrees ineffectual love; but
  though no man make him afraid; he is frightened。                   Fear knows him well
  and finds him alone。
  Such     a  child   is  hardly   at  the   mercy    of   any   human     rashness    and
  impatience; nor is the child whose pulses go steadily; and whose brows are
  fresh   and   cool;  at   their   mercy。   This is one  of   the  points upon   which   a
  healthy   child   resembles   the   Japanese。        Whatever   that   extreme   Oriental
  may be in war and diplomacy; whatever he may be at London University;
  or whatever his plans of Empire; in relation to the unseen world he is   a
  child at play。     He hides himself; he hides his eyes and pretends to believe
  that he is hiding; he runs from the supernatural and laughs for the fun of
  running。
  So did a child; threatened for his unruliness with the revelation of the
  man   with   two   heads。      The   nurse   must   have   had   recourse   to   this   man
  under acute provocation。          The boy; who had profited well by every one of
  his four long   years; and   was   radiant with the light and   colour   of health;
  refused   to   be   left   to   compose   himself   to   sleep。   That   act   is   an   adult   act;
  learnt   in   the   self…conscious   and   deliberate   years   of   later   life;   when   man
  goes on a mental journey in search of rest; aware of setting forth。                  But the
  child is pursued and overtaken by sleep; caught; surprised; and overcome。
  He goes no more to sleep; than he takes a 〃constitutional〃 with hi