42 FOOTING IT IN FRANCONIA 



Here they were, lying by for a day's rest in 

 this favorable spot ; flitting to and fro, 

 chirping, singing, feeding, playfully quarrel- 

 ing, as if life, even in rainy weather and in 

 migration time, were all a pleasure trip. It 

 was a sight to cure low spirits. I sat on the 

 hay just within the open side of a barn 

 which stands here in the woods, quite by it- 

 self, and watched them till I almost felt my- 

 seK of their company. I have forgotten 

 their names, though I listed them carefully 

 enough, beyond a doubt ; but it will be long 

 before I forget my delight in the birds them- 

 selves. Ours may be an evil world, as the 

 pessimists and the preachers find so much 

 comfort in maintaining, but there is one 

 thing to be said in its favor : its happy days 

 are the longest remembered. The pain I 

 suffered years ago 1 cannot any longer make 

 real to myself, even if I would, but the joys 

 of that time are still almost as good as new, 

 when occasion calls them up. Some of them, 

 indeed, seem to have sweetened with age. 

 This is especially the case, I think, with sim- 

 ple and natural pleasures ; which may be 

 considered as a good reason why every man 



