NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS 147 



CHAPTER XII 



TO THE TEACHER 



I should like to repeat here the suggestions in " The Fall of the 

 Year " for this corresponding chapter. I will repeat only: "that you 

 are the teacher, not the book. The book is but a suggestion. You 

 begin* where it leaves off ; you fill out where it is lacking." For these 

 are not all the sounds of winter ; indeed they may not be the charac- 

 teristic sounds in your neighborhood. No matter : the lesson is not 

 this or that sound, but that your pupils learn to listen for sounds, for 

 the voices of the season, whatever those voices may be in their 

 own particular region. The trouble is that we have ears, and literally 

 hear not, eyes and see not, souls and feel not. Teach your pupils to 

 use their eyes, ears, yes and hearts, and all things else will be added 

 unto them in the way of education. 



FOR THE PUPIL 



It is the stilling of the insects that makes for the first of these 

 silences ; the hushing of the winds the second ; the magic touch of 

 the cold the third. 



II 



The voice of the great spring storm should be added to these, and 

 the shriek of the wind about the house. 



Ill 



You should not only hear, but you should also feel this split 

 passing with a thrilling shock beneath your feet. 



How many other of the small voices do you know ? The chirp of 



the kinglets ; the scratching of mice in a shock of corn ; the 



but you write a story about them. So listen for yourself. 



VI 



Do all you can to preserve the quail. Don't shoot. 



