第 17 节
作者:嘟嘟      更新:2021-02-20 05:57      字数:9322
  through tiny veins; and hardened the next year into a piece of solid wood。
  And then how that tree was cut down; and its logs; it may be; burnt upon
  the hearth; till the little atom of mineral lay among the wood…ashes; and
  was   shovelled   out   and   thrown   upon   the   field   and   washed   into   the   soil
  again; and taken up by the roots of a clover plant; and became an atom of
  vegetable matter once more。            And then how; perhaps; a rabbit came by;
  and ate the clover; and the grain of mineral became part of the rabbit; and
  then how a hawk killed that rabbit; and ate it; and so the grain became part
  of the hawk; and how the farmer shot the hawk; and it fell perchance into a
  stream; and was carried down into the sea; and when its body decayed; the
  little grain sank through the water; and was mingled with the mud at the
  bottom of the sea。       But do its wanderings stop there?            Not so; my child。
  Nothing upon this earth; as I told you once before; continues in one stay。
  That grain of mineral might stay at the bottom of the sea a thousand or ten
  thousand years; and yet the time would come when Madam How would
  set   to   work   on   it   again。 Slowly;   perhaps;   she   would   sink   that   mud   so
  deep; and cover it up with so many fresh beds of mud; or sand; or lime;
  that under the heavy weight; and perhaps; too; under the heat of the inside
  of the earth; that Mud would slowly change to hard Slate Rock; and ages
  after; it may be; Madam How might melt that Slate Rock once more; and
  blast   it   out;   and   then   through   the   mouth   of   a   volcano   the   little   grain   of
  mineral might rise into the open air again to make fresh soil; as it had done
  thousands      of  years   before。    For    Madam      How    can   manufacture      many
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  different   things   out   of   the   same   materials。     She   may   have   so   wrought
  with   that   grain   of   mineral;   that   she   may   have   formed   it   into   part   of   a
  precious stone;  and   men   may  dig   it   out   of the  rock;  or  pick it up   in the
  river…bed; and polish it; and set it; and wear it。              Think of thatthat in the
  jewels which your mother or your sisters wear; or in your father's signet
  ring; there may be atoms which were part of a live plant; or a live animal;
  millions of   years   ago;   and   may  be   parts   of   a   live plant   or a   live   animal
  millions of years hence。
  Think over again; and learn by heart; the links of this endless chain of
  change:      Fire   turned   into   StoneStone   into   SoilSoil   into   PlantPlant
  into AnimalAnimal   into   SoilSoil   into   Stone   Stone   into   Fire   again
  and then Fire into Stone again; and the old thing run round once more。
  So it is; and so it must be。        For all things which are born in Time must
  change in Time; and die in Time; till that Last Day of this our little earth;
  in which;
  〃Like to the baseless fabric of a vision; The cloud…capped towers; the
  gorgeous   palaces;   The   solemn   temples;   the   great   globe   itself;   Yea;   all
  things   which   inherit;   shall   dissolve;   And;   like   an   unsubstantial   pageant
  faded; Leave not a rack behind。〃
  So all things change and die; and so your body too must change and
  diebut     not   yourself。     Madam       How     made     your   body;    and    she   must
  unmake it again; as she unmakes all her works in Time and Space; but you;
  child; your Soul; and Life; and Self; she did not make; and over you she
  has   no   power。     For   you   were   not;   like   your   body;   created   in   Time   and
  Space; and   you will   endure though Time and   Space should be no   more:
  because you are the child of the Living God; who gives to each thing its
  own body; and can give you another body; even as seems good to Him。
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  MADAM HOW AND LADY WHY
  CHAPTER V
  THE ICE…PLOUGH
  You want to know why I am so fond of that little bit of limestone; no
  bigger than my hand; which lies upon the shelf; why I ponder over it so
  often; and show it to all sensible people who come to see me?
  I   do   so;   not   only   for   the   sake   of   the   person   who   gave   it   to   me;   but
  because there is written on it a letter out of Madam How's alphabet; which
  has taken wise men many a   year to decipher。               I could not decipher that
  letter when first I saw the stone。          More shame for me; for I had seen it
  often   before;   and   understood   it   well   enough;   in   many   another   page   of
  Madam How's great book。             Take the stone; and see if you can find out
  anything strange about it。
  Well; it is only a bit of marble as big as my hand; that looks as if it had
  been; and really has been; broken off by a hammer。                 But when you look
  again; you see there is a smooth scraped part on one edge; that seems to
  have been rubbed against a stone。
  Now look at that rubbed part; and tell me how it was done。
  You have seen men often polish one stone on another; or scour floors
  with   a   Bath   brick;   and   you   will   guess   at   first   that   this   was   polished   so:
  but if it had been; then the rubbed place would have been flat:                but if you
  put your fingers over it; you will find that it is not flat。         It is rolled; fluted;
  channelled;   so   that   the   thing   or   things   which   rubbed   it   must   have   been
  somewhat   round。        And   it   is   covered;   too;   with   very   fine   and   smooth
  scratches   or   grooves;   all   running   over   the   whole   in   the   same   line。   Now
  what could have done that?
  Of course a man could have done it; if he had taken a large round stone
  in   his   hand;   and   worked   the   large   channellings   with   that;   and   then   had
  taken fine sand and gravel upon the points of his fingers; and worked the
  small scratches with that。         But this stone came from a place where man
  had; perhaps; never stood before;ay; which; perhaps; had never seen the
  light of day  before since the   world was made;   and as I   happen to   know
  that   no   man   made   the   marks   upon   that   stone;   we   must   set   to   work   and
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  think again for some tool of Madam How's which may have made them。
  And now I think you must give up guessing; and I must tell you the
  answer to the riddle。        Those marks were made by a hand which is strong
  and   yet   gentle;   tough   and   yet   yielding;   like   the   hand   of   a   man;   a   hand
  which handles and uses in a grip stronger than a giant's its own carving
  tools; from the great boulder stone as large as this whole room to the finest
  grain of sand。      And that is ICE。
  That   piece   of   stone   came   from   the   side   of   the   Rosenlaui   glacier   in
  Switzerland; and it was polished by the glacier ice。                  The glacier melted
  and   shrank this   last   hot   summer   farther   back than it   had   done   for   many
  years; and left bare sheets of rock; which it had been scraping at for ages;
  with   all   the   marks   fresh   upon   them。   And   that   bit   was   broken   off   and
  brought to me; who never saw a glacier myself; to show me how the marks
  which the ice makes in Switzerland are exactly the same as those which
  the   ice   has   made   in   Snowdon   and   in   the   Highlands;   and   many   another
  place   where   I   have   traced   them;   and   written   a   little;   too;   about   them   in
  years gone by。       And so I treasure this; as a sign that Madam How's ways
  do not change nor her laws become broken; that; as that great philosopher
  Sir Charles Lyell will tell you; when you read his books; Madam How is
  making and unmaking the surface of the earth now; by exactly the same
  means   as   she   was   making   and   unmaking   ages   and   ages   since;   and   that
  what is going on slowly and surely in the Alps in Switzerland was going
  on once here where we stand。
  It is very difficult; I know; for a little boy like you to understand how
  ice; and much more how soft snow; should have such strength that it can
  grind     this  little  stone;   much     more    such    strength    as  to   grind   whole
  mountains into plains。         You have never seen ice and snow do harm。                 You
  cannot even recollect the Crimean Winter; as it was called then; and well
  for