The peacock, too, at the opening



 

of spring goes to a field at the time when the
biossoms which it puts out are not only lovelier, but,
in a manner of speaking, more blossomy and brighter
of hue; spreading his wings and showing them to
the sun, lifting his tail and surrounding himself with
it, he, too, displays his blossoms and the April of his
wings, as if the field were challenging him to vie with
it. Atall events, he twists and turns and puts on airs
with his beauty. Now and again he is a sight still
more wonderful, when his colours change under the
light, altering a little and turning to a different kind
of loveliness. This happens to him chiefly in the
circles that he has at the tips of his feathers, each
of which is ringed with a rainbow. What was previously bronze has the look of gold when he shifts a
little, and what was bright blue in the sun is bright
green in shadow, so much does the beauty of his
plumage alter with the light!

 

For you know without my telling you that the sea has power to invite
and provoke longing when it is calm. At such a
time, no matter how much of a landsman and a
lubber a man may be, he wants at all costs to get
aboard ship and cruise about and go far from land,
above all if he perceives the breeze gently swelling the
canvas and the vessel sweetly and smoothly gliding
along, little by little, over the crest of the waves.