VIOLET (sighing). There are so many beautiful things we never see!
L. You need not sigh for that, Violet; but I will tell you what we
should all sigh for--that there are so many ugly things we never
see.
VIOLET. But we don't want to see ugly things!
L. You had better say, "We don't want to suffer them." You ought
to be glad in thinking how much more beauty God has made, than
human eyes can ever see; but not glad in thinking how much more
evil man has made, than his own soul can ever conceive, much more
than his hands can ever heal.
VIOLET. I don't understand;--how is that like the leaves?
L. The same law holds in our neglect of multiplied pain, as in our
neglect of multiplied beauty. Florrie jumps for joy at sight of
half an inch of a green leaf in a brown stone, and takes more
notice of it than of all the green in the wood, and you, or I, or
any of us, would be unhappy if any single human creature beside us
were in sharp pain; but we can read, at breakfast, day after day,
of men being killed, and of women and children dying of hunger,
faster than the leaves strew the brooks in Vallombrosa;--and then
go out to play croquet, as if nothing had happened.
MAY. But we do not see the people being killed or dying.
L. You did not see your brother, when you got the telegram the
other day, saying he was ill, May; but you cried for him; and
played no croquet. But we cannot talk of these things now; and
what is more, you must let me talk straight on, for a little
while; and ask no questions till I've done: for we branch
("exfoliate," I should say, mineralogically) always into something
else,--though that's my fault more than yours; but I must go
straight on now. You have got a distinct notion, I hope, of leaf-
crystals; and you see the sort of look they have: you can easily
remember that "folium" is Latin for a leaf, and that the separate
flakes of mica, or any other such stones, are called "folia;" but,
because mica is the most characteristic of these stones, other
things that are like it in structure are called "micas;" thus we
have Uran-mica, which is the green leaf I showed you; and Copper-
mica, which is another like it, made chiefly of copper; and this
foliated iron is called "micaceous iron." You have then these two
great orders, Needle-crystals, made (probably) of grains in rows;
and Leaf-crystals, made (probably) of needles interwoven; now,
lastly, there are crystals of a third order, in heaps, or knots,
or masses, which may be made either of leaves laid one upon
another, or of needles bound like Roman fasces; and mica itself,
when it is well crystallized, puts itself into such masses, as if
to show us how others are made. Here is a brown six-sided crystal,
quite as beautifully chiseled at the sides as any castle tower;
but you see it is entirely built of folia of mica, one laid above
another, which break away the moment I touch the edge with my
knife. Now, here is another hexagonal tower, of just the same size
and color, which I want you to compare with the mica carefully;
but as I cannot wait for you to do it just now, I must tell you
quickly what main differences to look for. First, you will feel it
far heavier than the mica. Then, though its surface looks quite
micaceous in the folia of it when you try them with the knife, you
will find you cannot break them away--
KATHLEEN. May I try?
L. Yes, you mistrusting Katie. Here's my strong knife for you.
(Experimental pause. KATHLEEN doing her best.) You'll have that
knife shutting on your finger presently, Kate; and I don't know a
girl who would like less to have her hand tied up for a week.
KATHLEEN (who also does not like to be beaten--giving up the knife
despondently.). What CAN the nasty hard thing be?
L. It is nothing but indurated clay, Kate: very hard set
certainly, yet not so hard as it might be. If it were thoroughly
well crystallized, you would see none of those micaceous
fractures; and the stone would be quite red and clear, all
through.
KATHLEEN. Oh, cannot you show us one?
L. Egypt can, if you ask her; she has a beautiful one in the clasp
of her favorite bracelet.
KATHLEEN. Why, that's a ruby!