XDln&er a Dogvooo5 wftb /IDontaigne 



cuse for dabbling in every puddle, clean 

 or filthy, to which his feet happened to 

 stray. 



For the most part, the " Essais " are good 

 reading in the open air under a tree. A 

 fresh woodland place suits them, a place 

 where vegetable mold and sprouting wild 

 bulbs give forth an Arcadian smack of 

 originality not altogether satisfying, yet 

 charmingly primeval. A purple-flowered 

 pitcher-plant close by me, the dogwood- 

 blossoms overhead, and a faint smell of 

 deer-tongue plantain went well with a pas- 

 sage like this in Book III, Chapter VII : 

 " When I think of growing, it is humbly, 

 with a retarded and timid progress." Or 

 with this : " I should probably like better 

 to be second or third in Perigord than first 

 in Paris." Or this : " I have such a shy 

 soul that I do not reckon good fortune 

 by its height, but by its accessibility." 

 Yonder wood-thrush, peering into a wisp 

 of foliage and starting back again and 

 again, has the same spirit. Montaigne 

 took what offered least resistance. 



We naturally look into the " Essais " ex- 

 259 



