INTRODUCTION 2 1 



When the sun is at its zenith, life is at its busiest 

 in the field, 



A hot fruitful vapour rises from the grass up into 

 the blue air, which is filled with the trilling song of 

 the lark. The ears of corn stand motionless in the 

 dry air ; only here and there a blade stirs and betrays 

 the passage of some invisible inhabitant of the field. 



But life is briskest in the field at the point where 

 the flower-filled ditches, crowded with rich vegetation, 

 are found. Here the bees and wasps hum from flower 

 to flower : white, blue, and many-coloured butterflies 

 dart about ; and the ground swarms with running insects. 



Beetles creep up the trunks of the willows that stand 

 at the border, and their leaves are the pasturage of the 

 insatiable caterpillar. On a branch of the tree sits the 

 wood-lark, and begins his song. Then inspiration comes 

 to him ; he rises, and mounts to the sky, pouring out 

 his song in triumph as he ascends. At last he spreads 

 his wings, and with long-drawn notes sinks to earth 

 once more. 



• ••••• 



Now evening approaches, and the rays of the sun fall 

 almost level ; the frogs give forth their round song in 

 the rush-bordered pond. 



Here, again, is an entirely new picture. 



The great dragon-flies dart rapidly over the water, 

 and their dark-blue wings glint like fairy-eyes from the 

 rushes. A crowd of gnats and May-flies dance above 

 the surface. On it the whirligigs form their endless 

 circles, like shining pearls ; and, like long-legged skaters, 

 the water-ticks glide hither and thither. 



