232 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



try — think of it! It would put nations on the 

 alert. Who would not be early to rise, and rise 

 earlier and earlier on each successive morning of 

 his life, till he became unspeakably healthy, 

 wealthy, and wise?" 



Soon I fell into thinking of one in some ways 

 greater than Thoreau, so unlike the skyey-minded 

 New England prophet and solitary, so much more 

 genial and tolerant, more mundane and lovable; 

 and yet like Thoreau in his nearness to nature. 

 Not only a lover of generous wines — "That mark 

 upon his lip is wine" — and books "clothed in 

 black and red," all natural sights and sounds also 

 "filled his herte with pleasure and solass," and 

 the early crowing of the cock was a part of the 

 minstrelsy he loved. Perhaps when lying awake 

 during the dark quiet hours, and listening to just 

 such a note as this, he conceived and composed 

 that wonderful tale of the "Nun's Priest," in 

 which the whole character of Chanticleer, his 

 glory and his foibles, together with the homely 

 virtues of Dame Partlett, are so admirably set 

 forth. 



And longer ago it was perhaps such a note as 

 this, heard in imagination by the cock-loving 



