"10 Retrospect of. French Literature—Novels, Romatces, &¢. 
interest to the fishesin the little pool 
just alluded to, all the fears which 
they have been tormented with, on thé 
part of the finny race. 
‘© How, charming is this solitude !” 
The sheet of water,presented on every 
side, is studded here and there with 
reed-bearing islets. The largest of 
these are converted into aviaries, filled 
with all kinds of animals appertaining 
to. the feathered race, aad they com- 
maunicate with each other,by means of 
little bridges constructed some in wood 
and some in stone, partly circular and 
partly straight. When the water- 
lilies, with which the borders of the 
pond are aderned, open their flowers, 
they appear crowned with purple and 
searlet, like the horizonof the south- 
em seas. 
On retiring, 1{ is necessary to as- 
cend a stair-case cut out of the living 
rock, by the labours of the pick-axe, 
the marks of which are still visible. 
The cabinet formed at the top, has 
nothing bet simplicity to recommend 
it, although, indeed, it is sufficiently 
adorned by the view of an immense 
plain,where the * Kiang winds through 
straggling villages and rice-grounds. 
The mnumerable barks with which 
this great river is covered; the la- 
bourers scattered up and down the 
country, and the traveliers who crowd 
the roads, all contribute to animate 
this enchanting landscape. The azure- 
coloured mountains which terminate 
the horizon, at once charm and res 
fresh the sight. 
_ When | am weary of composing, 
and of writing among my books in 
the. great hall, I throw myself into a 
bark, conducted by myself, and repair 
to taste the pleasures of my garden. 
Sometimes I land at the isle of the 
fishermen, and covering my head 
with a large straw hat, by means of 
bait I allure the fishes which sport in 
the besom of the waters; and ! study 
our passions in their mistakes. 
_ At other times, with a quiver bung 
across my shoulder, and a bow mmy 
hand, I.climb among the rocks, and 
there Inrking fke a traitor ior the 
rabbits woich issue from the fissures, 
I pierce them with my arrows, at the 
culrance iuto their retreats. Ales! 
more wise than ourselves, ihey dread 
danger, and they ly fromit! If they 
perceive my arrival, not one of thein 
makes its appearance. 
oe eee 
~ . 5 ae a 
~ & large Chinese river, 
When I walk on my perterre, it is my 
delight to cul! such medicinal ‘plants 
there as T may Wish to preserve. Does 
ove flower delight me, I seize an] be- 
come intoxicated with its perfumes. Is 
another dreopme from thirst’ I “water 
it, and its neighbours profit by my 
bounty. How often have ripe and de- 
licions frnits restored to me that ap- 
petite, of which the sight of the most 
déliciotis meats have deprived me? my 
peaches and pomegranates arenot beter, 
péthaps, when plucked by my hand; 
but I myself am more pleased ~ith 
them, while my friends, to whem I 
send baskets, stem always delignted 
to praise them. Do I perceive a young 
and straggling baniboo, which I wish 
to encourage; I cut it, orl bend and 
interlace its beauches, so as no longer 
to droop on the earth. ‘The margin of 
the water, the recesses of a waoil, and 
the terminating point of a rock, al 
serve me equally, and by turns, for 
the purposes of repose. [f bow enter 
into my cabinet to hehold my swims 
making war onthe fishes; but scarcely 
have I sat down, when | tske up my 
hin,* and provoke the music of the 
neighbouring groves. 
The last rays of the sun sonietimes 
surprise ime, while considering in SI- 
lence, the tender solicitudes of a swal. 
low for her young, or the stratagems 
recutred to by a kite, for the purpose 
of carrying away bis prey. The murs 
tour ofthe waters, the fluttering ‘of the 
foliave gently agitated by ihe zephyrs, 
and the beauty of the heavens, serve by 
turns to plunee ime in a sweet reverie. 
All nature seems to speak to my heart. » 
I am lost in listening to hers; and the 
nicht is already half spent when 1 
reach the threshold of my mansion. 
Sleep alone ravishes from me those 
charms which I experience $ but if I 
am awoke by iy dreams, I anticipate 
Aurora. by beholding from the top of 
some neighbouring eminence, those 
pearls and rubies, which she scatters 
along the path traced by the sun. 
My friends frequently mterrupt my 
solitude, in order to recite their own 
works, or Histen to mine, I associate 
them in niy amusements. ‘The juice 
of the grape ‘gives gaiety to ous frugal 
repasts; philosophy seasons them, and. 
whie the court dissolved in voluptu- 
ousness,caresses calumny, forges felters 
* A musical instrument, common in 
Ching. < " 4 
and 
