The Life of the Bee 



looked for only in the material details ; 

 if we did not seek, no matter where, in 

 uncertainties often far greater than the 

 one this little explanation has solved, in 

 the strange mystery of crossed fertilisa- 

 tion for instance, or in the perpetuity of 

 the race and life, or in the scheme of 

 nature ; if we did not seek in these for 

 something beyond the current explana- 

 tion, something that should prolong it, 

 and conduct us to the beauty and gran- 

 deur that repose in the unknown, I would 

 almost venture to assert that we should 

 pass our existence further away from the 

 truth than those, even, who in this case 

 wilfully shut their eyes to all save the 

 poetic and wholly imaginary interpreta- 

 tion of these marvellous nuptials. They 

 evidently misjudge the form and colour 

 of the truth, but they live in its atmo- 

 sphere and its influence far more than 

 the others, who complacently believe that 



326 



