He Was About
Five-And-Twenty, A "Doctor Philosophiae," And Had Come To
Iceland To Catch Gnats.
After having caught gnats in
Iceland, he intended, he said, to spend some years in
catching gnats in Spain.
- The privacy of Spanish gnats,
as it appears, not having been hitherto invaded. The
truth is, my guest was an entomologist, and in the pursuit
of the objects of his study was evidently prepared to
approach hardships and danger with a serenity that would
not have been unworthy of the apostle of a new religion.
It was almost touching to hear him describe the intensity
of his joy when perhaps days and nights of fruitless
labours were at last rewarded by the discovery of some
hitherto unknown little fly; and it was with my whole
heart that, at parting, I wished him success in his
career, and the fame that so much conscientious labour
merited. From my allusion to this last reward, however,
he seemed almost to shrink, and, with a sincerity it was
impossible to doubt, disclaimed as ignoble so poor a
motive as a thirst for fame. His was one of those calm
laborious minds, seldom found but among the Teutonic
race, that - pursuing day by day with single-minded energy
some special object - live in a noble obscurity, and die
at last content with the consciousness of having added
one other stone to that tower of knowledge men are building
up toward heaven, even though the world should never
learn what strong and patient hands have placed it there.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 73 of 286
Words from 20231 to 20488
of 79667
