"Yes, indeed, it would be grand to be able to fly. Glorious to mount up
into the sky, without having tediously to climb up a hill as we have
done to-day; or to plunge down beneath the waves, like those wild fowl;
or to skim, as they can, over the crests of the raging seas when storms
blow furiously, or to float in sunshine on the calm bosom of the ocean."
"Ay, of all things I would rather be a bird," cried another. "An eagle,
a hawk, an albatross; any bird which can fly far and swiftly. That is
what I should like,--to fly, to fly, to fly!" Thus one after the other
they all expressed themselves.
Suddenly, as they were speaking, a loud crashing noise was heard, and
as, alarmed, they turned their heads, the rocks behind them opened,
disclosing a vast and glittering cavern, out of which was seen slowly to
advance, a lady, whose garments shone with a dazzling radiance. Her
form was commanding, her face beautiful and benignant. The astonished
and bewildered boys scarcely dared to gaze at her; but trembling and
holding on to each other, they kept their eyes cost on the ground. She
spoke, and her voice reassured them.
"You were all of you just now expressing a wish that you could fly," she
said, in a sweet silvery tone. "Why do you thus with to possess a power
for which your All-wise Creator has not designed you? Even could you by
any means secure wings to your body, of size sufficient to lift you from
the ground, your muscular powers are totally inadequate to work them;
your senses are not adapted to the existence of a fast-flying bird; your
brain would grow dizzy, your eyes dim, you would be unable to draw
breath in the upper regions, through which your ambition would induce
you to wing your flight; you would speedily destroy all your other
senses. Be content with your lot. Still, if you have a good object for
your wishes, perhaps under certain limitations they may be granted. Let
me hear why you wish to enjoy the power of flying?"
The boys looked at each other, and then up at the face of the lady, and
finding nothing in its calm expression to alarm them, one after the
other replied, the eldest speaking first:--
"Because I should like to see what people are doing in the world," said
he; "what nations are fighting with each other, and how the hostile
armies are drawn up. I have read of fine processions, where priests
walk with their sacred images, when kings come to be crowned, and when
their subjects assemble to do them homage."
"You need not say more," observed the lady, and pointed to another boy.
"I should like to follow all those ships I see sailing out there," he
answered; "I should like to visit the strange lands to which they are
going, and to examine the curious things they bring back."
"You can accomplish thus much without flying," answered the lady; and
passed on to another boy.
"I should like to fly, because it would be so curious to hover about
over cities, to look into houses, and to watch what the inmates are
doing," said the boy.
The lady shook her head. "Such an employment is utterly unworthy of an
intelligent being," she answered; "you would make but an ill use of the
power if you possessed it. What have you to urge as a reason for
obtaining the power you wish for?" she inquired of a fourth boy.
"Oh! it would be so delightful to feel oneself floating up and down in
the air; now rising high, high up like a lark, now skimming along over
the smooth sea," he answered, giving expression to his words by the
movement of his body.
"You evidently place the gratification of the senses above the
employment of the higher powers of your nature. Such is but a bad claim
for the possession of a new one."
In this manner the lady questioned several other boys, but she did not
appear satisfied with any of their replies. At last she asked a slight
and thoughtful boy, who had been sitting a little apart from the rest,
why he had wished to possess the power of flying?
"That I may better comprehend the glories of nature, and understand what
now appear the mysteries of the universe," he answered quietly, yet
promptly; "whence the rains, and mists, and winds come, and whither they
go. I would fly far away on the wings of the wind. I would visit
distant lands, to observe their conformation, to discover new
territories fit for the habitation of man. I would bear messages of
comfort and consolation from those in one place to relatives far away.
Oh! if I could fly, I am certain that I should never weary of the work I
had to do."
"Well and wisely answered," replied the lady. "I am the Genius of the
Atmosphere. The power you ask I cannot give you: but follow me; I may
be able to afford you some of the gratification you so laudably desire."
The boy, without hesitation, followed the lady towards the rock from
which she had emerged. It closed round him, and he found himself in a
cavern of vast size, and glittering with gems of every hue, and of the
richest water. The Genius cast on him a smiling look, when she saw that
his attention was but little engrossed by these appearances.
"I cannot enable you to fly," she remarked, "but I can render you
invisible, and bear you with me whither I go, even to the uttermost
parts of the earth. Come, note well what you see. You may never again
have the some opportunity of observing the wonders of nature."
As the Genius spoke, the boy found himself borne buoyantly from off the
earth. He passed close by his companions, who were thoughtlessly
laughing and talking as before, and on he rapidly floated, they neither
observing him nor the Genius of the Atmosphere.
"Child of Earth, follow me," said the Genius; and the boy floated gently
on, till he found himself in a region of perfect calms. Below him, as
he looked towards the earth, he saw mountains of snow, and fields of ice
glittering gloriously in the slanting rays of the sun.
"We are at the north-pole of the earth," said the Genius; "you desire to
know the course of the winds, and how they are created--observe and
learn." As she spoke, she shook from her robes a shower of silvery
particles, which floated buoyantly in the air. "See, at this point the
silvery cloud does not partake of the diurnal motion of the globe, but a
slight current of air, scarcely perceptible, is sending it forward. We
will follow it towards the southern pole. You can scarcely see the
earth, we are so high up. Lower down are currents rushing towards the
pole, which would impede the progress of this silvery cloud."
On, on, on, rapidly the Genius flew. A golden cloud appeared. The two
clouds met, but so softly, that there was no commotion. Attracted by
the globe, probably, they both descended, slowly followed by the Genius
and the boy, till once more the earth appeared in sight, clothed with
the palm-tree, the orange, the pomegranate, the vine, and numberless
tropical fruits and flowers.
"We have reached a calm region, the tropic of Cancer," said the Genius.
"Now watch the earth. It is turning from west to east, while we move on
in the direct line in which we started, so that we appear to be crossing
the globe diagonally, and to the inhabitants of the earth that silvery
cloud appears to be coming from the north-east, and going to the
south-west. That silvery cloud is merely a portion, made visible to
your eye, of a great mass of air, which is continually blowing, and
which the inhabitants of the earth, from the facilities it affords their
commerce, call the north-east trade-wind. Now see a golden cloud
approaching us; that is a mass of air coming from the southern pole. We
are arriving near the Equator. See, the two clouds meet. They have an
equal impetus; neither can give way, but, gently and noiselessly pressed
together, they rise to a higher stratum of the atmosphere."
On floated the boy and his guide, far up above the globe, still on, in
rather a less direct line than before, till again a golden cloud was
met, and gently that, and the cloud they followed, descended till the
earth was seen once more.
"We have reached the tropic of Capricorn, where these two opposing
currents form a calm, almost continuous, except when certain interposing
causes break it, and which I may hereafter explain to you." Passing out
of the calm region, away they floated towards the southern pole.
"Remark," observed the Genius. "The silvery cloud, having been pressed
down by that other current from above, has a south-eastern direction
given to it, and therefore appears to the people on earth to be coming,
not from the north, but from the north-west."
A wide extent of ocean was seen beneath their feet. On they floated.
Then fields of ice and icebergs, and wide extended lands covered with
snow, and vast mountains of ice. Once more they moved on, slowly as
before.
"We are at the antarctic pole," said the Genius. "See, our cloud of
silver meets another of gold, pressing gently." Up, up, they mount.
"Once more we will move towards the tropic of Capricorn, high up above
the globe. Now we descend in that calm region; and now close to the
earth we are moving on. But see, coming from the southern pole, the
globe moves as before, from west to east; and thus this mass of air, of
which our silvery cloud, remember, is but a portion, seems to those on
the earth to be coming from the south-east. As this wind is always
blowing, and as ships by getting within its influence are borne easily
forward, and it thus facilitates commerce, it is called the south-east
trade-wind."
On they went, till again the calms of the equator were reached, or
rather, till the air, exhausted by its long course, met another gentle
current, and the two pressing together rose upwards, the silvery cloud
going on towards the tropic of Cancer, till forced by another current,
known by its golden hue, to descend, it went on close to the earth
towards the northern pole, where a calm, caused by another gentle
current meeting it, was created. Gently pressed up, however, the
silvery cloud finally reached the higher region, whence the Genius and
the boy had started with it on its long journey.
"Had we started with the golden cloud, or rather with the mass of air
which that cloud represents, from the southern pole, we should have seen
precisely the same effects produced," said the Genius. "You now
understand what mortals call the theory of the trade-winds. You read in
the sacred word of God, which in his mercy and goodness he gave to men
to guide them in their passage through life, that, `The wind goeth
toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about
continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits'
(Eccles. i. 6). Now, boy, you have seen how true and beautiful is that
account written by the wise king of Israel." The boy listened
attentively. "We will fly back to the equatorial calms," said the
Genius; "see what effect the direct rays of the sun have on the earth,
or that portion of its surface. They affect the air likewise; heat
expands it, and then makes it rise; and it also changes its specific
gravity. Cold contracts it, and also changes its specific gravity.
These two causes are unceasingly at work to produce the currents of air
whose courses we have been observing. The heat of the sun at the
equator expands the air, and thus it rises and flows north and south;
having arrived once more at the tropics, owing to the counter current it
meets, it descends, as we saw, and flowing along near the earth,
receives from it a rotatory motion, which increases as it approaches the
pole, where, contracted by the cold, it masses into a dense body, and
ultimately is whirled upwards, forming an ascending column, when it once
more commences its never-ceasing journey."
As they flew towards the mountain whence they set out, the boy expressed
his thanks to the Genius; if he did not comprehend all that she had
shown him and told him, he knew more about the matter than he had before
done. She saw by the expression of his countenance the gratification he
had enjoyed. "'Tis well," she continued; "as a drop of water is to the
ocean which lies beneath us, so is the knowledge you may obtain in a
lifetime to the wonders nature has to reveal. You desire to know more;
gladly will I show you more. Whenever you climb up to this rocky height
I will meet you, as I have done to-day, and each time unfold new wonders
to your view. Ah, you think that I might descend to you, without making
you toil up the mountain; but know that knowledge will not come to you;
you must exert yourself, you must labour to attain it. You say that you
will willingly climb the height. That is well. That is the spirit
which ensures success. Return to your companions. They will not have
missed you."
Suddenly the boy found himself as he had been before, sitting a little
apart from his friends. He was silent and thoughtful as he descended
the mountain, resolving to return as soon as possible, to learn from the
Genius more of the wondrous mysteries of nature.
Story 10--CHAPTER ONE.