146 UNDER THE TREES. 



making ; if faithlessness and treachery and every 

 sort of baseness were taken out of human lives, we 

 should find only a healthy and vigorous joy in such 

 hardship as Nature imposes upon us. Upon men 

 of sound, sweet life, she lays only such burdens as 

 strength delights to carry, because in so doing it 

 increases itself.&quot; 



&quot; That is true,&quot; said Rosalind. &quot; The day is 

 dark only when the mind is dark ; all weathers are 

 pleasant when the heart is at rest. There are rainy 

 days in Arden, but no gloomy ones ; there are 

 probably cold days, but none that chill the soul.&quot; 



I do not know whether it was Rosalind s smile or 

 the sudden breaking of the sun through the clouds 

 that made the room brilliant ; probably it was both. 

 Rosalind opened the lattice, and I saw that the rain 

 had ceased. The drops still hung on every leaf, 

 but the clouds were breaking into great shining 

 masses, and the blue of the sky was of unsearchable 

 purity and depth. The sun poured a flood of light 

 into the heart of the Forest, and suddenly every 

 tiny drop, that a moment ago might have seemed a 

 symbol of sorrow, held the radiant sun on its little 

 disk, and every sphere shone as if a universe of 

 fairy creation had been suddenly breathed into 

 being. And the splendor touched Rosalind also. 



