Pagina 179 di 483

"Several changes of day and night passed, and the orb of night

had greatly lessened, when I began to distinguish my sensations

from each other. I gradually saw plainly the clear stream that

supplied me with drink and the trees that shaded me with their

foliage. I was delighted when I first discovered that a pleasant

sound, which often saluted my ears, proceeded from the throats of

the little winged animals who had often intercepted the light

from my eyes. I began also to observe, with greater accuracy, the

forms that surrounded me and to perceive the boundaries of the

radiant roof of light which canopied me. Sometimes I tried to

imitate the pleasant songs of the birds but was unable. Sometimes

I wished to express my sensations in my own mode, but the uncouth

and inarticulate sounds which broke from me frightened me into

silence again.