116 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



less condition, green. The cucumbers 

 cumber the ground, great, yellow, over- 

 ripe objects, no more to be compared to the 

 crisp beauty of their youth than is the fat 

 swine of the sty to the clean little pig. The 

 nutmeg-melons, having covered themselves 

 with a delicate lace-work, are now ready to 

 leave the vine. I know they are ripe if they 

 come easily off the stem. 



Moral Observations. You can tell when 

 people are ripe by their willingness to let go. 

 Richness and ripeness are not exactly the 

 same. The rich are apt to hang to the stem 

 with tenacity. I have nothing against the 

 rich. If I were not virtuous, I should like 

 to be rich. But we cannot have everything, 

 as the man said when he was down with 

 small-pox and cholera, and the yellow-fever 

 came into the neighborhood. 



Now, the grapes, soaked in this liquid 

 gold, called air, begin to turn, mindful of 

 the injunction " to turn or burn." The 

 clusters under the leaves are getting quite 

 purple, but look better than they taste. I 



