The Life of the Bee 
looked for only in the material details; 
if we did not seek, no matter where, in 
uncertainties often far greater than the 
one this little explanation has solved, in 
the strange mystery of crossed fertilisa- 
tion for instance, or in the perpetuity of 
the race and life, or in the scheme of 
nature; if we did not seek in these for 
something beyond the current explana- 
tion, something that should prolong it, 
and conduct us to the beauty and gran- 
deur that repose in the unknown, I would 
almost venture to assert that we should 
pass our existence further away from the 
truth than those, even, who in this case 
wilfully shut their eyes to all save the 
poetic and wholly imaginary interpreta- 
tion of these marvellous nuptials. They 
evidently misjudge the form and colour 
of the truth, but they live in its atmo- 
sphere and its influence far more than 
the others, who complacently believe that 
326 
