第 1 节
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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  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  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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  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  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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  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  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