第 23 节
作者:嘟嘟      更新:2021-02-20 05:57      字数:9322
  cannibals; and cruel and brutal persons (if there were any among them);
  deserved punishmentand punishment; I do not doubt; they got。                   But; of
  course;   again;   none   of   them   knew   things   which   you   know;   but   for   that
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  very reason they were not bound to do many things which you are bound
  to do。    For those to whom little is given; of them shall little be required。
  What their religion was like; or whether they had any religion at all; we
  cannot tell。     But this we can tell; that known unto God are all His works
  from the creation of the world; and that His mercy is over all His works;
  and    He    hateth   nothing    that  He   has   made。     These     men    and   women;
  whatever   they   were;   were   God's   work;   and   therefore   we   may   comfort
  ourselves   with   the   certainty   that;   whether   or   not   they   knew   God;   God
  knew them。
  And so ends my fairy tale。
  But is it not a wonderful tale?        More wonderful; if you will think over
  it;   than   any   story   invented   by   man。  But   so   it   always   is。   〃Truth;〃   wise
  men tell us; 〃is stranger than fiction。〃         Even a child like you will see that
  it must be so; if you will but recollect who makes fiction; and who makes
  facts。
  Man     makes    fiction:    he   invents    stories;  pretty   enough;    fantastical
  enough。      But out of what does he make them up?               Out of a few things in
  this great world which he has seen; and heard; and felt; just as he makes up
  his dreams。      But who makes truth?          Who makes facts?         Who; but God?
  Then truth is as much larger than fiction; as God is greater than man;
  as much larger as the whole universe is larger than the little corner of it
  that any man; even the greatest poet or philosopher; can see; and as much
  grander; and as much more beautiful; and as much more strange。                    For one
  is the whole; and the other is one; a few tiny scraps of the whole。                    The
  one is the work of God; the other is the work of man。                   Be sure that no
  man   can   ever   fancy   anything   strange;   unexpected;   and   curious;   without
  finding   if   he   had   eyes   to   see;   a   hundred   things   around   his   feet   more
  strange; more unexpected; more curious; actually ready…made already by
  God。     You are fond of fairy tales; because they are fanciful; and like your
  dreams。      My   dear   child;   as   your   eyes   open   to   the   true   fairy   tale   which
  Madam How can   tell you   all day  long; nursery  stories will seem to   you
  poor   and   dull。   All   those   feelings   in   you   which   your   nursery   tales   call
  out;imagination; wonder; awe; pity; and I trust too; hope and lovewill
  be called out; I believe; by the Tale of all Tales; the true 〃Marchen allen
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  Marchen;〃 so much more fully and strongly and purely; that you will feel
  that   novels   and   story…books   are   scarcely   worth   your   reading;   as   long   as
  you   can   read   the   great   green   book;   of   which   every   bud   is   a   letter;   and
  every tree a page。
  Wonder if you will。        You cannot wonder too much。              That you might
  wonder all your life long; God put you into this wondrous world; and gave
  you that faculty of wonder which he has not given to the brutes; which is
  at   once   the   mother   of   sound   science;   and   a   pledge   of   immortality   in   a
  world more wondrous even than this。               But wonder at the right thing; not
  at the wrong; at the real miracles and prodigies; not at the sham。                Wonder
  not at the world of man。 Waste not your admiration; interest; hope on it; its
  pretty toys; gay fashions; fine clothes; tawdry luxuries; silly amusements。
  Wonder at the works of God。            You will not; perhaps; take my advice yet。
  The world of man looks so pretty; that you will needs have your peep at it;
  and stare into its shop windows; and if you can; go to a few of its stage
  plays; and dance at a few of its balls。 AhwellAfter a wild dream comes
  an    uneasy    wakening;     and   after  too   many    sweet    things;   comes    a  sick
  headache。      And one morning you will awake; I trust and pray; from the
  world of man to the world of God; and wonder where wonder is due; and
  worship where worship is due。            You will awake like a child who has been
  at a pantomime over night; staring at the 〃fairy halls;〃 which are all paint
  and canvas; and the 〃dazzling splendours;〃 which are gas and oil; and the
  〃magic transformations;〃 which are done with ropes and pulleys; and the
  〃brilliant elves;〃 who are poor little children out of the next foul alley; and
  the   harlequin   and   clown;   who   through   all   their   fun   are   thinking   wearily
  over the old debts which they must pay; and the hungry mouths at home
  which they must feed:         and so; having thought it all wondrously glorious;
  and   quite   a   fairy   land;   slips   tired   and   stupid   into   bed;   and   wakes   next
  morning to see the pure light shining in through the delicate frost…lace on
  the window…pane; and looks out over fields of virgin snow; and watches
  the rosy dawn and cloudless blue; and the great sun rising to the music of
  cawing rooks and piping stares; and says; 〃This is the true wonder。                   This
  is the true glory。     The theatre last night was the fairy land of man; but this
  is the fairy land of God。〃
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  CHAPTER VII
  …THE CHALK…CARTS
  What   do   you   want   to   know   about   next?    More   about   the   caves   in
  which the old savages lived;how they were made; and how the curious
  things inside them got there; and so forth。
  Well;   we   will   talk   about   that   in   good   time: but   nowWhat   is   that
  coming down the hill?
  Oh; only some chalk…carts。
  Only some chalk…carts?          It seems to me that these chalk…carts are the
  very  things   we   want;   that   if   we   follow   them  far   enoughI   do   not   mean
  with   our   feet   along   the   public   road;   but   with   our   thoughts   along   a   road
  which; I am sorry to say; the public do not yet know much aboutwe shall
  come to a cave; and understand how a cave is made。                  Meanwhile; do not
  be in a hurry to say; 〃Only a chalk…cart;〃 or only a mouse; or only a dead
  leaf。   Chalk…carts; like mice; and dead leaves; and most other matters in
  the   universe   are   very   curious   and   odd   things   in   the   eyes   of   wise   and
  reasonable people。        Whenever I hear young men saying 〃only〃 this and
  〃only〃 that; I begin to suspect them of belonging; not to the noble army of
  sagesmuch less to the  most noble army  of   martyrs;but to the ignoble
  army of noodles; who think nothing interesting or important but dinners;
  and   balls;   and   races;   and   back…biting   their   neighbours;   and   I   should   be
  sorry to see you enlisting in that regiment when you grow up。                  But think…
  …are not chalk…carts very odd and curious things?               I think they are。       To
  my   mind;   it   is   a   curious   question   how   men   ever   thought   of   inventing
  wheels; and; again; when they first thought of it。            It is a curious question;
  too; how men ever found out that they could make horses work for them;
  and so began to tame them; instead of eating them; and a curious question
  (which   I   think   we   shall   never   get   answered)   when   the   first   horse…tamer
  lived; and in what country。          And a very curious; and; to me; a beautiful
  sight it is; to see those two noble horses obeying that little boy; whom they
  could kill with a single kick。
  But; beside all this; there is a question; which ought to be a curious one
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  to you (for I suspect you cannot answer it)Why does the farmer take the
  trouble to send his cart and horses eight miles and more; to draw in chalk
  from Odiham chalk…pit?
  Oh; he is going to put it on the land; of course。          They are chalking the
  bit at the top of the next field; where the copse was grubbed。
  But what good will he do by put