XI 



THE RESTING MONTH 



SLEEP 



EW of us wonder at 



common things, or 



sleep would startle us. 

 To take leave of our- 

 selves so completely, to 

 sink the soul below the 

 threshold of conscious- 

 ness, and to lie blind, 

 deaf, speechless, helpless for hours, is surely 

 marvel enough to make us pause. And 

 then to rise, with the ashes and the smoke 

 of yesterday's fires cleared out of our tis- 

 sues, with brains alert to think, muscles 

 tense to act, digestive organs calling for 

 more fuel, lungs tingling for more of the 

 draught to feed the fires; this is what sleep 

 means to us. But glorious as is this rest 

 and refreshment, there are members of 



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