110 CIlirKWEED. 



conscious and a waking being, wliile every 

 thing, whetlier animate or inanimate, is 

 slumbering around; — men upon their beds, 

 unconscious even of their names, — the cattle 

 sleeping on the grass, — the birds among the 

 branches, — all humming insects still; — no 

 sound except the torrent's rush, or the nmr- 

 niur of the night wind in the trees ; or, 

 perchance, at intervals the startling whoop 

 of the solitary owl. Plants, too, are sleep- 

 ing. Flowers that shone forth in all their 

 fragrance and their loveliness when the sun 

 was high, fold up their petals, and are often 

 so enwrapped by the leaves as to become 

 invisible. The heads of others are inclined 

 towards the earth ; and not a few close their 

 beautiful corollas, as if to protect them from 

 the depredations of such insects as love the 

 night. 



