| Show AN IDEAL IDLENESS A SUMMER DAY IN MOSS GROWN WOODS BY A BABBLING BROOK thought suggested by an afternoon in spent in lie shade of grow inc tree on conch of natures down tireless TIr elees lature kever ret it is a warm day in midsummer and a fisherman is following along a trout brook tho stream runs through the forest through hardwood groves which owing to their scant underbrush look almost like english parks through mossy evergreen glades where every sound and color is subdued through rocky ravines down which tho water hurries with fret ful plaints against the boulders bowl ders in itic path till at last it finds an outlet in a mountain lake today it la evident that oil the wood life is prepared to lazy oven the trout that are wont to rush so eagerly at worm or fly now tho fisherman bogins to feel the influence of this 11 pervading inertia and finally he lays down bis pole and himself out on the brooks bank celoso to his ride is a sound of rippling water cool and soothing while the spreading top of a maple off tho eun the bank hero 1 covered with thick moss a pleasant couch waiting for bome ono to como and use it in tho economy of the woods nothing is permitted to exist for itself only the saplings have their own life but must also furnish leaves and twigs to the deer and bark to the nibbling hares no plant nr animal is entirely selfish and so this humble moss sinco it can do little else is ready to serve as a resting for the weary there is an old saying that goes best case is free case or tho ease bought with too much labor of preparation is hardly worth having and this thought though it may not bo very profound suggests ests one great delight of the woods everything is free is natural one but tireless nature has labored no eyes have ached no back baa become bent in the making of this couch of moss no bands have toiled to rear tho grateful shade of the maple abo refreshing splash and ripple of tho brook is freely unconsciously given the voluptuaries of the cast were close students of tho art of idleness lounging on their cushions they listened to soft music and watched tho movements of dancing slaves other slaves waved cooling fans and if their masters were exposed to tho sun held silken canopies above them the eastern prince thought that the pleasures of idleness could ba no further perfected bat the dancers must often bavo grown weary the slaves holding tho canopies fainted in abo sun the tan bearers and the musicians doubtless wondered at the unjust fato which condemned them to labor in order that others might enjoy no indian rajah or persian lord ever reclined upon an easier couch than this one on which the fisherman stretches himself abo brook makes tho most delightful of music sunbeams dancing on leaf and mosa and ripples are pleasant to watch as abo movement of weary slave nor do the sights and sounds of the wooda lack variety tho music of tho water is mingled with tho twitter of forest birds thrushes and wood sparrows the enthusiasm of their annual youth is past but the midsummer notes are full of happiness and tell of nests well little ones squirrels chirp and chatter tho dead leaves strewing the ground are of every shade of brown and red and yellow and the slender shafts of sunlight which dart down through the breeze stirred foil overhead fall twice upon col that are exactly similar the trout fisherman half dreamy half observant and wholly happy has lain there till abo long warm bummer afternoon ia drawing to a close the shy lattio wood creatures that lovo tho dusk come out of their hiding places and run near him quite fearless of his motionless figure delicate creatures are here the flying squirrels in soft gray draperies mink trots over tho wet boulders bowl ders in tho brooks bed and conscious of its own importance ayos abo man suspiciously darkness is coming on and it is time for the trout fisherman to go home ho leaves the mossy bank regretfully liala persuaded that idleness and not work is mans chief blessing francis S palmer in christian union |
