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作者:
嘟嘟 更新:2021-02-20 05:57 字数:9321
MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
MADAM HOW AND
LADY WHY
By Charles Kingsley
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MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
CHAPTER I
—THE GLEN
You find it dull walking up here upon Hartford Bridge Flat this sad
November day? Well; I do not deny that the moor looks somewhat
dreary; though dull it need never be。 Though the fog is clinging to the
fir…trees; and creeping among the heather; till you cannot see as far as
Minley Corner; hardly as far as Bramshill woodsand all the Berkshire
hills are as invisible as if it was a dark midnightyet there is plenty to be
seen here at our very feet。 Though there is nothing left for you to pick;
and all the flowers are dead and brown; except here and there a poor half…
withered scrap of bottle…heath; and nothing left for you to catch either; for
the butterflies and insects are all dead too; except one poor old Daddy…
long…legs; who sits upon that piece of turf; boring a hole with her tail to
lay her eggs in; before the frost catches her and ends her like the rest:
though all things; I say; seem dead; yet there is plenty of life around you;
at your feet; I may almost say in the very stones on which you tread。 And
though the place itself be dreary enough; a sheet of flat heather and a little
glen in it; with banks of dead fern; and a brown bog between them; and a
few fir…trees struggling upyet; if you only have eyes to see it; that little
bit of glen is beautiful and wonderful;so beautiful and so wonderful and
so cunningly devised; that it took thousands of years to make it; and it is
not; I believe; half finished yet。
How do I know all that? Because a fairy told it me; a fairy who lives
up here upon the moor; and indeed in most places else; if people have but
eyes to see her。 What is her name? I cannot tell。 The best name that I
can give her (and I think it must be something like her real name; because
she will always answer if you call her by it patiently and reverently) is
Madam How。 She will come in good time; if she is called; even by a
little child。 And she will let us see her at her work; and; what is more;
teach us to copy her。 But there is another fairy here likewise; whom we
can hardly hope to see。 Very thankful should we be if she lifted even the
smallest corner of her veil; and showed us but for a moment if it were but
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her finger tipso beautiful is she; and yet so awful too。 But that sight; I
believe; would not make us proud; as if we had had some great privilege。
No; my dear child: it would make us feel smaller; and meaner; and more
stupid and more ignorant than we had ever felt in our lives before; at the
same time it would make us wiser than ever we were in our lives before… …
that one glimpse of the great glory of her whom we call Lady Why。
But I will say more of her presently。 We must talk first with Madam
How; and perhaps she may help us hereafter to see Lady Why。 For she is
the servant; and Lady Why is the mistress; though she has a Master over
her againwhose name I leave for you to guess。 You have heard it often
already; and you will hear it again; for ever and ever。
But of one thing I must warn you; that you must not confound Madam
How and Lady Why。 Many people do it; and fall into great mistakes
thereby;mistakes that even a little child; if it would think; need not
commit。 But really great philosophers sometimes make this mistake
about Why and How; and therefore it is no wonder if other people make it
too; when they write children's books about the wonders of nature; and
call them 〃Why and Because;〃 or 〃The Reason Why。〃 The books are
very good books; and you should read and study them: but they do not
tell you really 〃Why and Because;〃 but only 〃How and So。〃 They do not
tell you the 〃Reason Why〃 things happen; but only 〃The Way in which
they happen。〃 However; I must not blame these good folks; for I have
made the same mistake myself often; and may do it again: but all the
more shame to me。 For seeyou know perfectly the difference between
How and Why; when you are talking about yourself。 If I ask you; 〃Why
did we go out to…day?〃 You would not answer; 〃Because we opened the
door。〃 That is the answer to 〃How did we go out?〃 The answer to Why
did we go out is; 〃Because we chose to take a walk。〃 Now when we talk
about other things beside ourselves; we must remember this same
difference between How and Why。 If I ask you; 〃Why does fire burn
you?〃 you would answer; I suppose; being a little boy; 〃Because it is hot;〃
which is all you know about it。 But if you were a great chemist; instead of
a little boy; you would be apt to answer me; I am afraid; 〃Fire burns
because the vibratory motion of the molecules of the heated substance
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communicates itself to the molecules of my skin; and so destroys their
tissue;〃 which is; I dare say; quite true: but it only tells us how fire burns;
the way or means by which it burns; it does not tell us the reason why it
burns。
But you will ask; 〃If that is not the reason why fire burns; what is?〃
My dear child; I do not know。 That is Lady Why's business; who is
mistress of Mrs。 How; and of you and of me; and; as I think; of all things
that you ever saw; or can see; or even dream。 And what her reason for
making fire burn may be I cannot tell。 But I believe on excellent grounds
that her reason is a very good one。 If I dare to guess; I should say that
one reason; at least; why fire burns; is that you may take care not to play
with it; and so not only scorch your finger; but set your whole bed on fire;
and perhaps the house into the bargain; as you might be tempted to do if
putting your finger in the fire were as pleasant as putting sugar in your
mouth。
My dear child; if I could once get clearly into your head this difference
between Why and How; so that you should remember them steadily in
after life; I should have done you more good than if I had given you a
thousand pounds。
But now that we know that How and Why are two very different
matters; and must not be confounded with each other; let us look for
Madam How; and see her at work making this little glen; for; as I told you;
it is not half made yet。 One thing we shall see at once; and see it more
and more clearly the older we grow; I mean her wonderful patience and
diligence。 Madam How is never idle for an instant。 Nothing is too
great or too small for her; and she keeps her work before her eye in the
same moment; and makes every separate bit of it help every other bit。
She will keep the sun and stars in order; while she looks after poor old Mrs。
Daddy… long…legs there and her eggs。 She will spend thousands of years
in building up a mountain; and thousands of years in grinding it down
again; and then carefully polish every grain of sand which falls from that
mountain; and put it in its right place; where it will be wanted thousands of
years hence; and she will take just as much trouble about that one grain of
sand as she did about the whole mountain。 She will settle the exact place
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where Mrs。 Daddy… long…legs shall lay her eggs; at the very same time that
she is settling what shall happen hundreds of years hence in a stair
millions of miles away。 And I really believe t