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.

 

Certainly, then, the beauty. of this hall has
power to rouse a man to speech, to spur him on in
speaking and to make him succeed in every- way. I
for my part am trusting in all this and have already


 

trusted in it; in coming to the hall to speak, I was
attracted by its beauty as by a magic wheel or a
Siren, for I had no slight hope that even if my
phrases were homely before, they would seem
beautiful if adorned, so to speak, in fine clothing.

 

There is, however, another point of view, not
insignificant but very important, if you take Mr. Point
o’ View's word for it; he kept interrupting me
as I spoke and trying to break up my speech, and
now that I have paused he says that I am mistaken
in this matter: he is surprised that I should say a
beautiful hall adorned with painting and gilding is
better suited for the display of eloquence, as the case
is entirely the reverse. But if you approve, let Mr.
Point o’ View himself take the floor in his own behalt
and tell you as he would a jury wherein he thinks a
mean and ugly hall more advantageous to the speaker.
You have heard me already, so that I do not need to
speak again to the same topic; let him take the
floor now and say his say, and I will be still and
ield to him for a time.

 

“Well, gentlemen of the jury,” says Mr. Point
o’ View, “the last speaker has made many striking
points in praise of the hall, and has adorned it with
his words. I myself am so far from intending to
criticise it that I have in mind to add the points
which he omitted, for the more beautiful you think
it, the more hostile to the speaker's interest it will
be, as I shall show.

 

“First, then, since he has mentioned women,
jewelry and gold, permit me also to make use of the
comparison. I assert that, far from contributing to
the good looks of a beautiful woman, abundant

 

jewelry is actually a detriment. Everyone who
meets her is dazzled by her gold and her expensive
gems, and instead of praising her complexion, her
eyes, her neck, her arm or her finger, he neglects
them and lets his eyes wander ta her sard or her
emerald, her necklace or her bracelet. She might
fairly get angry at being thus slighted for her
ornaments, when observers are too occupied to pay
her compliments and think her looks a side-issue.