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A Japanese miscellany - University of Oregon

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116 <strong>Japanese</strong> Miscellany<br />

indeed, describe the magic <strong>of</strong> nature as our great<br />

Western poets have done; but they could feel<br />

the beauty <strong>of</strong> the world without its sorrow, and<br />

rejoice in that beauty, much after the manner <strong>of</strong><br />

inquisitive and happy children.<br />

If they could have seen the dragon-fly as we<br />

can see it, — if they could have looked at that<br />

elfish head with its jewelled ocelli, its marvellous<br />

compound eyes, its astonishing mouth, under the<br />

microscope, — how much more extraordinary<br />

would the creature have seemed to them ! . . .<br />

And yet, though wise enough to have lost that<br />

fresh naive pleasure in natural observation which<br />

colors the work <strong>of</strong> these quaint poets, we are<br />

not so very much wiser than they were in regard<br />

to the real wonder <strong>of</strong> the insect. We are able<br />

only to estimate more accurately the immensity<br />

<strong>of</strong> our ignorance concerning it. Can we ever<br />

hope for a Natural History with colored plates<br />

that will show us how the world appears to the<br />

faceted eyes <strong>of</strong> a dragon-fly ?<br />

Catching dragon-flies has been for hundreds <strong>of</strong><br />

years a favorite amusement <strong>of</strong> <strong>Japanese</strong> children.

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