WHAT THE MOUNTAINS SAW 375 



and together they sink contentedly into another 

 sleep of centuries. 



A third time they awaken. There is thunder 

 in the air and the flash of lightning far below 

 them. It is not the turmoil of the clouds, to which 

 they are accustomed, but the roar of cannon, the 

 fire of artillery and the bursting of shells. The 

 gorges and the cliffs re-echo with the cries of 

 fighting men and the dreadful din of battle. 



The few tiny "human beings," which the elder 

 mountain had perceived before, dotting the mea- 

 dows and the hillsides, have now multiplied and 

 are gathered into mighty cities. In the open 

 field they have dug long trenches around the 

 earth. They are surging, destroying, and slaying. 

 The ground beneath them is torn by shells, the 

 air above them is dark with smoke and vapor. 

 "What can it mean?" the old mountains ponder, 

 with their heads close to each other. But they 

 soon weary of the riddle and pass into slumber. 



A fourth time they awaken. The air is cold 

 and keen and bright. "What is it you see?" the 

 Jungfrau inquires. 



"Ice, snow and ice, all about us," the Finster- 

 aarhorn answers from his crystal outlook. "Ice 

 and eternal snow; cold, sparkling, dazzling snow. 

 All else has disappeared." The rising sun is 

 shining upon white polar fields and silent glaciers, 

 and upon a stark and frozen world in its cere- 

 ments of snow, where for centuries all life has 



