登陆注册
15385300000002

第2章 PREFACE(2)

Moistened by the salt mist the trees did not wither, but grew prodigiously.In all that expanse of turbulent sea--and only those who have seen the North Sea in a storm know how turbulent it can be--there was not a foot of ground on which the birds, storm-driven across the water-waste, could rest in their flight.Hundreds of dead birds often covered the surface of the sea.Then one day the trees had grown tall enough to look over the sea, and, spent and driven, the first birds came and rested in their leafy shelter.And others came and found protection, and gave their gratitude vent in song.Within a few years so many birds had discovered the trees in this new island home that they attracted the attention not only of the native islanders but also of the people on the shore five miles distant, and the island became famous as the home of the rarest and most beautiful birds.So grateful were the birds for their resting-place that they chose one end of the island as a special spot for the laying of their eggs and the raising of their young, and they fairly peopled it.It was not long before ornithologists from various parts of the world came to "Eggland," as the farthermost point of the island came to be known, to see the marvellous sight, not of thousands but of hundreds of thousands of bird-eggs.

A pair of storm-driven nightingales had now found the island and mated there; their wonderful notes thrilled even the souls of the natives; and as dusk fell upon the seabound strip of land the women and children would come to "the square" and listen to the evening notes of the birds of golden song.The two nightingales soon grew into a colony, and within a few years so rich was the island in its nightingales that over to the Dutch coast and throughout the land and into other countries spread the fame of "The Island of Nightingales."Meantime, the young mayor-judge, grown to manhood, had kept on planting trees each year, setting out his shrubbery and plants, until their verdure now beautifully shaded the quaint, narrow lanes, and transformed into cool wooded roads what once had been only barren sun-baked wastes.

Artists began to hear of the place and brought their canvases, and on the walls of hundreds of homes throughout the world hang to-day bits of the beautiful lanes and wooded spots of "The Island of Nightingales."The American artist William M.Chase took his pupils there almost annually."In all the world to-day," he declared to his students, as they exclaimed at the natural cool restfulness of the island, "there is no more beautiful place."The trees are now majestic in their height of forty or more feet, for it is nearly a hundred years since the young attorney went to the island and planted the first tree; today the churchyard where he lies is a bower of cool green, with the trees that he planted dropping their moisture on the lichen-covered stone on his grave.

This much did one man do.But he did more.

同类推荐
  • 三才定位图

    三才定位图

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 八洞天

    八洞天

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 江月松风集

    江月松风集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 佛说秘密三昧大教王经

    佛说秘密三昧大教王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • Another Study of Woman

    Another Study of Woman

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 最强神明是懒神

    最强神明是懒神

    上与下、天与地、动与静、升与降。阴阳互体,阴阳化育,阴阳对立,阴阳同根。阴与阳,正与反。从所未闻的世界,一个懒惰的主角,又该如何奋起?
  • Bruce

    Bruce

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 我们一起守候十年

    我们一起守候十年

    tfboys与3位四叶草的故事。他们的爱情会遇到什么挫折呢?
  • 等不到日出一个人孤独

    等不到日出一个人孤独

    男孩要走了,却在临走之前对女孩许下一生一世的诺言,“当樱花开时,我便回来找你,与你天长地久。”女孩在樱花树下等了八年,回来时,他早已是众星捧月的天之骄子,而她却还是那个普通的她。当他与她再相遇时,往日的温情不在只剩下厌恶,男孩在八年里失去对女孩的所有记忆,后来男孩恢复了记忆,她却成了别人的新娘............是命运的捉弄让我们重逢,也是时间的过错让你逐渐忘了我,也许我们真的是有缘却无份,让彼此错过。
  • 永生之人

    永生之人

    何为永生,只是一直活着吗?生死本相应,奈何人世情。欲为道无常,勘破生死间。残身世中厉,英魂千古杰。踏古行今路,我本永生人。
  • 肩周炎简便自疗

    肩周炎简便自疗

    本书是一部全面反映肩周炎自我治疗和调养新成果的科普读物,内容融汇中西医精髓,具有科学性、实用性和可读性强的特点,不仅适合肩周炎患者的自我治疗,也可作为基层医护人员的参考读物。
  • THE SIGN OF FOUR

    THE SIGN OF FOUR

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 龙斗苍穹

    龙斗苍穹

    空间的穿越,面临一个新的世界,出现啦新的挑战,该何去何从。。功法、斗气、天下之顶,唯我独尊~武神之路,坎坷曲辄,黑暗势力蠢蠢欲动一短人生的消亡,是另一人生的开始!!
  • 青少年应该知道的钢铁

    青少年应该知道的钢铁

    本书对钢铁材料基本知识作了详细的介绍,主要针对我国钢铁的冶炼、发展进行了详细探讨,同时还涉及到冶金机械、压力加工等钢铁生产制造及应用的知识,试图为青少年提供趣味性和科学性相结合的钢铁知识。
  • 钻石伯爵:邪少的契约恋人

    钻石伯爵:邪少的契约恋人

    五千万欧元的交易。他只为卖她做三个月女友。他道:五千万欧元已经打到你爸爸的户头上,你只需签了这份契约,做我三个月女友,而且我不会动你一根毫毛。而她作为一个草根,从没想过这样的事情会发生在她身上,利弊分析,能赚五千万欧元不说,还能在英国感受异国风情,何乐而不为?而她却不知,自己的存在完全是一个时机恰好的垫脚石。******************************************她的莽撞总能引起他的注意——舞会上把异国王子挤到游泳池,聚会上打翻盘子,野外赛马从马背跌下,酒吧里喝醉酒大跳艳舞.......她这个伪装的‘中国公主’行为也太过小白了!他在一次次的救驾中,渐渐发现他的目光从她的身上转移不开了......**********************************************当他爱上她时。她的心已经被伤透,她说:你自始至终都没有爱过我,你和我签契约只是为了让法国公主生气!我是你们的垫脚石?你们和好了,为什么还要来找我!?让我离开这里!我再也不想见到你!而他心痛之余,只有说:三个月的契约没到,你离开的话必须给我一万欧元的赔偿金!!................***********************************************纳兰的新文同步更新中:http://novel.hongxiu.com/a/323431/《戏老牛,别冲动》http://novel.hongxiu.com/a/315994/《相公,婆婆怒了》还有亲爱妹妹珊瑚小海的精品文文:http://novel.hongxiu.com/a/271277/《帝姬皇妹》不喜欢追文的请移步纳兰的完结