STILL WATERS 



187 



Anything that disturbs the smoothness of the 

 water also disturbs the clearness of the reflec- 

 tion. A breeze may cause it to disappear, and at 

 the same time may make the shadow more appar- 

 ent. Rough water will show the shadow of a 

 flying cloud almost as clearly as a field of grain 

 or a hill-side meadow, without giving us more 

 than a hint of the cloud's reflection. When 

 water is slightly ruffled the reflection does not 

 disappear at once, but is lightened or silvered 

 in color, and at the same time it is elongated. 

 This everyone must have observed at night, with 

 the moonlight falling on the lake. When the 

 surface is perfectly calm the moon shows in the 

 water like a round ball ; but as soon as the sur- 

 face is ruffled we have the elongation of the re- 

 flection into that flickering trail of light called 

 the Angels' Pathway. Elongation is seen again 

 in the reflection of the artificial lights in a har- 

 bor, where the water is always disturbed. The 

 reflection writhes and twists in the water like a 

 fiery snake. The sails of ships, houses, trees, 

 almost any object near or upon the water, will 

 show elongation in the same way. Everyone 

 who has been in Venice knows the effect of the 

 orange sails reflected in the swaying waters; 

 and the long wriggle of the blue-and- white gon- 



