第 20 节
作者:精灵王      更新:2021-04-30 17:23      字数:9320
  the conquerors of the ocean surge。               All the     world; since the publication
  of    Darwin's      delightful     〃Voyage      of   the    Beagle;〃'      and    of   Williams'
  〃Missionary Enterprises;〃 knows; or                ought to know; enough about them:
  for   those   who   do   not;   there   are    a   few   pages   in   the   beginning   of   Dr。
  Landsborough's 〃British            Zoophytes;〃 well worth perusal。
  There   are   a   few   other   true   cellepore   corals   round   the   coast。        The
  largest of   all;   Cervicornis;   may  be   dredged   a   few   miles   outside   on         the
  Exmouth   bank;   with   a   few   more   Tubulipores:           but   all   tiny   things;   the
  lingering   and;   as   it   were;   expiring   remnants   of   that       great   coral…world
  which; through the abysmal depths of past ages;                     formed here in Britain
  our limestone hills; storing up for              generations yet unborn the materials
  of agriculture and         architecture。      Inexpressibly interesting; even solemn;
  to those who        will think; is the sight of those puny parasites which; as it
  were;     connect   the   ages   and   the   aeons:      yet   not   so   solemn   and   full   of
  meaning       as   that  tiny   relic   of  an   older    world;    the   little  pear…   shaped
  Turbinolia   (cousin   of   the   Madrepores   and   Sea…anemones);               found   fossil
  in   the   Suffolk   Crag;   and   yet   still   lingering   here   and   there   alive   in   the
  deep     water    of   Scilly   and   the   west    coast   of    Ireland;     possessor     of  a
  pedigree which dates; perhaps; from ages                  before the day in which it was
  said; 〃Let us make man in our image;                 after our likeness。〃        To think that
  the whole human race; its joys             and its sorrows; its virtues and its sins; its
  aspirations   and   its     failures;   has   been   rushing   out   of   eternity   and   into
  eternity again;       as Arjoon in the Bhagavad   Gita beheld the race of   men
  issuing   from      Kreeshna's   flaming   mouth;   and   swallowed   up   in   it   again;
  〃as the     crowds of insects swarm into the flame; as the homeless streams
  leap down into the ocean bed;〃 in an everlasting heart…pulse whose                        blood
  is living souls … and all that while; and ages before that                    mystery began;
  that humble coral; unnoticed on the dark sea…floor;                   has been 〃continuing
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  as   it   was   at   the   beginning;〃   and   fulfilling    〃the   law   which   cannot   be
  broken;〃 while races and dynasties and               generations have been
  〃Playing such fantastic tricks before high heaven; As make the angels
  weep。〃
  Yes; it is this vision of the awful permanence and perfection of                     the
  natural world; beside the wild flux and confusion; the mad                     struggles; the
  despairing   cries   of   the   world   of   spirits   which   man     has   defiled   by   sin;
  which would at moments crush the naturalist's                  heart; and make his brain
  swim   with   terror;   were   it   not   that   he   can  see   by   faith;   through   all   the
  abysses and the ages; not merely
  〃 Hands; From out the darkness; shaping man;〃
  but above them a living loving countenance; human and yet Divine;
  and    can    hear   a  voice    which    said   at  first;  〃Let   us   make    man     in  our
  image;〃 and hath said since then; and says for ever and for ever;                       〃Lo; I
  am with you alway; even to the end of the world。〃
  But     now;    friend;   who     listenest;    perhaps     instructed;    and    at  least
  amused … if; as Professor Harvey well says; the simpler animals                     represent;
  as   in   a   glass;   the   scattered   organs   of   the   higher   races; which   of   your
  organs     is  represented      by   that  〃sca'd    man's    head;〃    which      the   Devon
  children more gracefully; yet with less adherence                   to plain likeness; call
  〃mermaid's head;〃 (12) which we picked up                   just now on Paignton Sands?
  Or which; again; by its more beautiful               little congener; (13) five or six of
  which   are   adhering   tightly   to      the   slab   before   us;   a   ball   covered   with
  delicate spines of lilac        and green; and stuck over (cunning fellows!) with
  stripes of dead        sea…weed to serve as improvised parasols?                 One cannot
  say   that   in   him   we   have   the   first   type   of   the   human   skull:     for   the
  resemblance;   quaint   as   it   is;   is   only   sensuous   and   accidental;   (in      the
  logical use of that term;) and not homological; I。E。 a lower                   manifestation
  of the same idea。        Yet how is one tempted to say;             that this was Nature's
  first   and   lowest   attempt   at   that   use   of   hollow   globes   of   mineral       for
  protecting      soft  fleshy   parts;   which     she    afterwards     developed      to  such
  perfection   in   the   skulls   of   vertebrate   animals!       But   even   that   conceit;
  pretty   as   it   sounds;   will   not   hold   good;   for   though   Radiates   similar   to
  these were among           the earliest tenants of the abyss; yet as early as their
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  time;     perhaps even before them; had been conceived and actualized; in
  the    sharks; and   in Mr。  Hugh Miller's   pets the  old red   sandstone  fishes;
  that very true vertebrate skull and brain; of which this is a mere                   mockery。
  (14)     Here   the   whole   animal;  with   his   extraordinary         feeding   mill;   (for
  neither   teeth   nor   jaws   is   a   fit   word   for  it;)  is enclosed   within   an   ever…
  growing limestone castle; to the             architecture of which the Eddystone and
  the Crystal Palace are         bungling heaps; without arms or legs; eyes or ears;
  and   yet     capable;   in    spite   of   his   perpetual   imprisonment;   of       walking;
  feeding; and breeding; doubt it not; merrily enough。                   But this      result has
  been   attained   at   the   expense   of   a   complication   of     structure;   which   has
  baffled   all   human   analysis   and   research   into        final   causes。      As   much
  concerning this most miraculous of families                   as is needful to be known;
  and   ten   times   more   than   you   are   likely    to   understand;   may   be   read   in
  Harvey's   〃Sea…Side   Book;〃   pp。   142…   148;   …   pages   from   which   you   will
  probably   arise   with   a   sense   of   the    infinity   and   complexity   of   Nature;
  even in what we are pleased to              call her 〃lower〃 forms; and the simplest
  and;   as   it   were;   easiest  forms   of   life。   Conceive a   Crystal   Palace;   (for
  mere   difference   in      size;   as   both   the   naturalist   and   the   metaphysician
  know; has       nothing to do with the wonder;) whereof each separate joist;
  girder;   and   pane   grows   continually   without   altering   the   shape   of           the
  whole;   and   you   have   conceived   only   one   of   the   miracles   embodied           in
  that little sea…egg; which the Creator has; as it were; to                justify to man His
  own immutability; furnished with a shell capable                     of enduring fossil for
  countless   ages;   that   we   may   confess   Him   to       have   been   as   great   when
  first His Spirit brooded on the deep; as He               is now and will be through all
  worlds to come。
  But we must make haste; for the tide is rising fast; and our stone                     will
  be   restored   to   its   eleven   hours'   bath;   long   before   we   have    talked   over
  half the wonders which it holds。             Look though; ere you           retreat; at one or
  two more。
  What is that little brown thing whom you have just taken off the                      rock
  to which it adhered so stoutly by his sucking…foot?                    A limpet?         Not at
  all:   he is of quite a different family and structure; but;                 on the whole; a
  limpet…like shell would suit him well enough; so he                    had one given him:
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  nevertheless;   owing   to   certain   anatomical