按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!
And I read; in Dr。 Howard's book; that the actual cost of freeing from
mosquitoes one American town of fifty thousand inhabitants; does not exceed
three hundred dollars!。。。
I wonder what would be said if the city…government of Tokyo which is
aggressively scientific and progressive were suddenly to command that
all water…surfaces in the Buddhist cemeteries should be covered; at regular
intervals; with a film of kerosene oil! How could the religion which
prohibits the taking of any life even of invisible life yield to such
a mandate? Would filial piety even dream of consenting to obey such an
order? And then to think of the cost; in labor and time; of putting
kerosene oil; every seven days; into the millions of mizutame; and the tens
of millions of bamboo flower…cups; in the Tokyo graveyards!。。。 Impossible!
To free the city from mosquitoes it would be necessary to demolish the
ancient graveyards; and that would signify the ruin of the Buddhist
temples attached to them; and that would mean the disparition of so many
charming gardens; with their lotus…ponds and Sanscrit…lettered monuments
and humpy bridges and holy groves and weirdly…smiling Buddhas! So the
extermination of the Culex fasciatus would involve the destruction of the
poetry of the ancestral cult; surely too great a price to pay!。。。
Besides; I should like; when my time comes; to be laid away in some
Buddhist graveyard of the ancient kind; so that my ghostly company should
be ancient; caring nothing for the fashions and the changes and the
disintegrations of Meiji (1)。 That old cemetery behind my garden would be a
suitable place。 Everything there is beautiful with a beauty of exceeding
and startling queerness; each tree and stone has been shaped by some old;
old ideal which no longer exists in any living brain; even the shadows are
not of this time and sun; but of a world forgotten; that never knew steam
or electricity or magnetism or kerosene oil! Also in the boom of the big
bell there is a quaintness of tone which wakens feelings; so strangely
far…away from all the nineteenth…century part of me; that the faint blind
stirrings of them make me afraid; deliciously afraid。 Never do I hear
that billowing peal but I become aware of a striving and a fluttering in
the abyssal part of my ghost; a sensation as of memories struggling to
reach the light beyond the obscurations of a million million deaths and
births。 I hope to remain within hearing of that bell。。。 And; considering
the possibility of being doomed to the state of a Jiki…ketsu…gaki; I want
to have my chance of being reborn in some bamboo flower…cup; or mizutame;
whence I might issue softly; singing my thin and pungent song; to bite some
people that I know。
ANTS
I
This morning sky; after the night's tempest; is a pure and dazzling blue。
The air the delicious air! is full of sweet resinous odors; shed from
the countless pine…boughs broken and strewn by the gale。 In the neighboring
bamboo…grove I hear the flute…call of the bird that praises the Sutra of
the Lotos; and the land is very still by reason of the south wind。 Now the
summer; long delayed; is truly with us: butterflies of queer Japanese
colors are flickering about; semi (1) are wheezing; wasps are humming;
gnats are dancing in the sun; and the ants are busy repairing their damaged
habitations。。。 I bethink me of a Japanese poem:
Yuku e naki:
Ari no sumai ya!
Go…getsu ame。
'Now the poor creature has nowhere to go!。。。 Alas for the dwellings of the
ants in this rain of the fifth month!'
But those big black ants in my garden do not seem to need any sympathy。
They have weathered the storm in some unimaginable way; while great trees
were being uprooted; and houses blown to fragments; and roads washed out of
existence。 Yet; before the typhoon; they took no other visible precaution
than to block up the gates of their subterranean town。 And the spectacle of
their triumphant toil to…day impels me to attempt an essay on Ants。
I should have like to preface my disquisitions with something from the old
Japanese literature; something emotional or metaphysical。 But all that my
Japanese friends were able to find for me on the subject; excepting some
verses of little worth; was Chinese。 This Chinese material consisted
chiefly of strange stories; and one of them seems to me worth quoting;
faute de mieux。
*
In the province of Taishu; in China; there was a pious man who; every day;
during many years; fervently worshiped a certain goddess。 One morning;
while he was engaged in his devotions; a beautiful woman; wearing a yellow
robe; came into his chamber and stood before him。 He; greatly surprised;
asked her what she wanted; and why she had entered unannounced。 She
answered: 〃I am not a woman: I am the goddess whom you have so long and so
faithfully worshiped; and I have now come to prove to you that your
devotion has not been in vain。。。 Are you acquainted with the language of
Ants?〃 The worshiper replied: 〃I am only a low…born and ignorant person;
not a scholar; and even of the language of superior men I know nothing。〃 At
these words the goddess smiled; and drew from her bosom a little box;
shaped like an incense box。 She opened the box; dipped a finger into it;
and took therefrom some kind of ointment with which she anointed the ears
of the man。 〃Now;〃 she said to him; 〃try to find some Ants; and when you
find any; stoop down; and listen carefully to their talk。 You will be able
to understand it; and you will hear of something to your advantage。。。 Only
remember that you must not frighten or vex the Ants。〃 Then the goddess
vanished away。
The man immediately went out to look for some Ants。 He had scarcely
crossed the threshold of his door when he perceived two Ants upon a stone
supporting one of the house…pillars。 He stooped over them; and listened;
and he was astonished to find that he could hear them talking; and could
understand what they said。 〃Let us try to find a warmer place;〃 proposed
one of the Ants。 〃Why a warmer place?〃 asked the other; 〃what is the
matter with this place?〃 〃It is too damp and cold below;〃 said the first
Ant; 〃there is a big treasure buried here; and the sunshine cannot warm the
ground about it。〃 Then the two Ants went away together; and the listener
ran for a spade。
By digging in the neighborhood of the pillar; he soon found a number of
large jars full of gold coin。 The discovery of this treasure made him a
very rich man。
Afterwards he often tried to listen to the conversation of Ants。 But he
was never again able to hear them speak。 The ointment of the goddess had
opened his ears to their mysterious language for only a single day。
*
Now I; like that Chinese devotee; must confess myself a very ignorant
person; and naturally unable to hear the conversation of Ants。 But the
Fairy of Science sometimes touches my ears and eyes with her wand; and
then; for a little time; I am able to hear things inaudible; and to
perceive things imperceptible。
II
For the same reason that it is considered wicked; in sundry circles; to
speak of a non…Christian people having produced a civilization ethically
superior to our own; certain persons will not be pleased by what I am going
to say about ants。 But there are men; incomparably wiser than I can ever
hope to be; who think about insects and civilizations independently of the
blessings of Christianity; and I find encouragement in the new Cambridge
Natural History; which contains the following remarks by Professor David
Sharp; concerning ants:
〃Observation has revealed the most remarkable phenomena in the lives of
these insects。 Indeed we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that they have
acquired; in many respects; the art of living together in societies more
perfectly than our own species has; and that they have anticipated us in
the acquisition of some of the industries and arts that greatly facilitate
social life。〃
I suppose that a few well…informed persons will dispute this plain
statement by a trained specialist。 The contemporary man of science is not
apt to become sentimental about ants or bees; but he will not hesitate to
acknowledge that; in regard to social evolution; these insects appear to
have advanced 〃beyond man。〃 Mr。 Herbert Spencer; whom nobody will charge
with romantic tendencies; goes considerably further than Professor Sharp;
showing us that ants are; in a very real sense; ethically as well as
economically in advance of humanity; their lives being entirely devoted
to altruistic ends。 Indeed; Professor Sharp somewhat needlessly qualifies
his praise of the ant with this cautious observation:
〃The competence of the ant is not like that of man。 It is devoted to the
welfare of the species ra