The Nuptial Flight 



alcohol and the other scourge are accidents 

 that humanity has to surmount; ordeals, 

 it may be, by which certain of our organs, 

 those of the nerves, for instance, may 

 benefit; for we invariably find that life 

 profits by the ills that it overcomes. Be- 

 sides, a mere trifle that we may discover 

 to-morrow may render these poisons in- 

 nocuous. These men have thoughts and 

 feelings that those of whom La Bruyere 

 speaks had not." " I prefer the simple, 

 naked animal to the odious half-animal," 

 I murmured. " You are thinking of the 

 first semblance now," he replied, " the 

 semblance dear to the poet, that we saw 

 before ; let us not confuse it with the 

 one we are now considering. These 

 thoughts and feelings are petty, if you 

 will, and vile; but what is petty and 

 vile is still better than that which is 

 not at all. Of these thoughts and feel- 

 ings they avail themselves only to hurt 



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