46 WATER GARDENS 



on plate 19. "The perfect reflections we see in still water," 

 others will reply. "The play of wind upon the surface," say 

 others. "The sound of running water," others may exclaim, 

 thinking of the water-falls they know best. 



All these answers are correct so far as they go, but I believe 

 that only cultured people can delight in such things to the utmost. 

 The fascination that water has for the uneducated can be explained, 

 I fancy, only by going back to old root-ideas that humanity had 

 before the first language was evolved. Thirst is one, and the 

 pleasure of swimming is another. Of course, these ideas must 

 not emerge into consciousness, or the spell is broken. But I 

 am confident that the secret charm of water is that it stirs in our 

 subconsciousness these age-old impulses and race feelings. How 

 else can you explain the strong emotions we feel when we see 

 pictures of water in any hot or arid region? How else can 

 you explain why the gardens of ancient Persia appeal so powerfully 

 to the imagination ? Yet in those gardens, and in many Italian 

 gardens, the water may be a mere well, an irrigating ditch, a plain 

 drinking place, or a simple jet of water coming out of a crude pipe 

 without the slighest pretense of beautiful architecture or environ- 

 ment. All the pleasant thoughts suggested by water go back 

 to human comfort and refreshment. 



But there is a certain mystical charm about water which, I 

 think, cannot be explained on a physical basis. Water is the 

 perfect mirror. Every mother watches for the dramatic moment 

 when her child first sees its reflection in the looking-glass. In 



the water Narcissus met an unexpected vision. The mirror, 



4t 



somehow, makes things better than they are. It was said of Haw- 

 thorne that he tried to see life, not as it was, but as it would appear 

 in a mirror. In the water we suddenly see ourselves as others 



