I watched a couple that were fast locked in each other's embraces, in a little sunny valley amid the chips, now at noonday prepared to fight till the sun went down or life went out. The smaller red champion had fastened himself like a vice to his adversary's front, and through all 5 the tumblings on that field never for an instant ceased to gnaw at one of his feelers near the root, having already caused the other to go by the board; while the stronger black one dashed him from side to side, and, as I saw on looking nearer, had already divested him of several of his 10 members. They fought with more pertinacity than bulldogs. Neither manifested the least disposition to retreat. It was evident that their battle cry was " Conquer or die." In the meanwhile there came along a single red ant on the hillside of this valley, evidently full of excitement, 15 who either had dispatched his foe, or had not yet taken part in the battle, - probably the latter, for he had lost none of his limbs, whose mother had charged him to return with his shield or upon it. Or perchance he was some Achilles, who had nourished his wrath apart, and 20 had now come to avenge or rescue his Patroclus. He saw this unequal combat from afar for the blacks were nearly twice the size of the red- - he drew near with rapid pace till he stood on his guard within half an inch of the combatants; then, watching his opportunity, he 25 sprang upon the black warrior and commenced his operations near the root of his right fore leg, leaving the foe to select among his own members; and so there were three united for life, as if a new kind of attraction had been invented which put all other locks and cements to 30 shame. I should not have wondered by this time to find that they had their respective musical bands stationed on some eminent chip, and playing their national airs the while to excite the slow and cheer the dying combatants. I was 5 myself excited somewhat even as if they had been men. The more you think of it, the less the difference. And certainly there is not the fight recorded, in Concord history at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment's comparison with this, whether for the 10 numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed. I took up the chip on which the three I have particularly described were struggling, carried it into my house, and placed it under a tumbler on my window sill in order 15 to see the issue. Holding a microscope to the firstmentioned red ant, I saw that, though he was assiduously gnawing at the near fore leg of his enemy, having severed his remaining feeler, his own breast was all torn away, exposing what vitals he had there to the jaws of the black 20 warrior, whose breastplate was apparently too thick for him to pierce; and the dark carbuncles of the sufferer's eyes shone with ferocity such as war only could excite. They struggled half an hour longer under the tumbler, and, when I looked again, the black soldier had severed 25 the heads of his foes from their bodies, and the still living heads were hanging on either side of him like ghastly trophies at his saddlebow, still apparently as firmly fastened as ever, and he was endeavoring with feeble struggles, being without feelers and with only the 30 remnant of a leg, and I know not how many other wounds, to divest himself of them; which at length, after half an hour more, he accomplished. I raised the glass, and he went off over the window sill in that crippled state. Whether he finally survived that combat, and spent the remainder of his days in some Hôtel des Invalides, I do not know; but I thought that his indus- 5 try would not be worth much thereafter. I never learned which party was victorious, nor the cause of the war; but I felt for the rest of that day as if I had had my feelings excited and harrowed by witnessing the struggle, the ferocity and carnage, of a human battle before my door. 10 Běl'lum: a Latin word Du ĕl'lum: a Latin word for duel. for war. Myr' (mer) mi dong: warriors following some great chieftain. In ter ne'cine war: a war between two parties of the same people; here, "red republicans" and "black imperialists." With his shield: the reported advice of a mother to her son in Sparta, a warlike nation of ancient Greece. A chil'lēs: the foremost hero of Homer's "Iliad," the great Greek poem. He remained aloof from the war because of a slight put upon him. På trō'clus: a friend whose death Achilles avenged. Cär'bun cle: a dark red semiprecious stone. Hō těl' des In'(ăng) và lïdes: a home for disabled soldiers in Paris. Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which, like a toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head; And this our life, exempt from public haunts, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, 5 10 15 Recessional A VICTORIAN ODE BY RUDYARD KIPLING Rudyard Kipling (1865): An English poet and novelist, one of the most popular authors of the day. He first attracted attention by his stories of army and native life in India. He has published "Plain Tales from the Hills," "The Light that Failed," "Captains Courageous," "The Seven Seas," "The Day's Work," and other volumes of poems and stories. The "Recessional," his best-known poem, was written on the occasion of Queen Victoria's jubilee in 1897. God of our fathers, known of old — The tumult and the shouting dies- An humble and a contrite heart. Far-called our navies melt away On dune and headland sinks the fire- Is one with Nineveh and Tyre ! If, drunk with sight of power, we loose Or lesser breeds without the Law For heathen heart that puts her trust Amen. Dune: a low hill of drifting sand, usually on the coast. Nin'e veh, in Assyria, and Tyre, in Phoenicia: ancient cities so completely destroyed that even their sites have been subjects of dispute. Shärd: fragments; broken pieces of earthenware or of other brittle substances. 5 10 On National Prejudices BY OLIVER GOLDSMITH Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): An English author. He is best known by his poems, "The Deserted Village," and "The Traveler," and his one novel, "The Vicar of Wakefield." He also wrote histories of England, Greece, and Rome, several comedies, and many essays. Here is one of his essays. Among a multiplicity of other topics, we took occasion to talk of the different characters of the several nations of 15 |