,,the ,,parthenon ,,by ,,way ,,of ,,papendrecht ,by ,f4 ,hopkinson ,smith #aiji 8,,wilyum644444,wilyum644444,,wilyum60 ,it was mine host of the ,ferry ,inn at ,cook-ham who was calling1 and at the top of his voice--and a big-chested voice it was--the sound leaping into crescendo as the object of his search remained hidden4 ,then he turned to me3 8,he's somewheres 'round the boat house--you can't miss him--there's too much of him60 8,are ye wantin' me1 sor80 came another shout as ,i rounded the squat building stuffed with boats--literally so--bottom1 top1 and sides4 8,yes--are you the boatman80 8,i am1 sor--and bloody sick of me job4 ,do ye see that wherry shovin' off--the one with the lady in a sweater8 ,yes--that's right--just slipped under the bridge4 ,well1 sor1 what d'ye think the bloke did for me8 ,look at it1 sor60 7,here he held out his hand1 in which lay a half-penny47 8,and me a-washin' out 'is boat1 feedin' of 'is dog1 and keepin' an eye on 'is togs and 'is ladies--and then shoves off and 'ands me this--a 'a'penny1 sor--a 'a'penny--from the likes o' 'im to the likes o' me6 ,damn 'im60--and away went the coin into the river4 8,you'll excuse me1 sor1 but i couldn't choke it down4 ,is it a punt ye're lookin' for80 ,the landlord was right--there was a good deal of him--six feet and an inch1 ,i should think2 straight as an oar1 his bared arms swinging free2 waist1 thighs1 and back tough as a saw-log4 ,to this was added two big blue eyes set in a clean-shaven face bronzed by the sun1 and a double row of teeth that would have shamed an ear of corn4 ,i caught1 too1 the muscles of his chest rounding out his boating shirt1 and particularly the muscles of the neck supporting the round head crowned with closely cropped hair--evidently a young ,englishman of that great middle class which the nation depends upon in an emergency4 ,my inspection also settled any question ,i might have had as to why he was 8,william10 and never 8,bill10 to those about him4 ,the one thing lacking in his make-up--and which only came into view when he turned his head--was the upper part of one ear4 ,this was clipped as close as a terrier's4 ,again he repeated the question--with a deprecatory smile1 as if he already regretted his outburst4 8,is it a punt ye're wantin'1 sor80 8,yes--and a man to pole it and look after me while ,i paint4 ,i had old ,norris for the past few years1 but ,i hear he's gone back to gardening4 ,will you have time with your other work80 8,time6 ,i'll chuck my job if ,i don't40 8,no1--you can do both1--,norris did4 ,you can pole me out to where ,i want to work2 bring me my lunch when you have yours1 and come for me at night4 ,you weren't here two years ago--were you80 8,no--,i was with ,general ,french4 ,got this clip outside ,kimberly--0 and he touched his ear4 8,been all my life on the river--,maidenhead and ,bourne's ,end mostly--and so when my time was up ,i come home and the boss here put me on40 8,a soldier6 ,i thought so4 ,i see now why you got mad4 ,wonder you didn't throw that chap into the river40 ,i am a crank on the happiness one gets from the giving of tips--and a half-penny man is the rock bottom of meanness4 ,his face straightened4 8,well1 we can't do that1 sor--we can't never talk back4 ,got to grin and bear it or lose yer job4 ,learned that in the ,hussahs4 ,i didn't care for his money--maybe it was the way he did it that set me goin'--as if ,i was--,well--let it go6 ,and it's a punt ye want8--,yes1 sor--come and pick it out40 ,after that it was plain sailing--or punting4 ,the picture of that ,london cad sprawling in the water1 which my approval had created in his mind1 had done it4 ,and it was early and late too 7there were few visitors that month72 down by the ,weir below the lock as far as ,cliveden2 up the backwater to the ,mill--,william stretched beside me while ,i worked1 or pulling back and forth when a cool bottle--beer1 of course--or a kettle and an alcohol lamp would add to my comfort4 9999999999 ,many years of tramping and boating up and down the ,thames from ,reading to ,maidenhead have taught me the ins and outs of the river4 ,i know it as ,i do my own pocket 7and there is more in that statement than you think--especially during regatta week74 ,first comes ,sonning with its rose gardens and quaint brick bridge2 and then ,marlowe with that long stretch of silver bordered by nodding trees and dominated by the robber ,inn--four shillings and six for a sawdust sandwich6 ,then ,maidenhead1 swarming with boats and city folks after dark 7it is only a step from the landing to any number of curtained sitting-rooms with shaded candles--and there be gay times at ,maidenhead1 let me tell you674 ,and1 between1 best of all1 lovely ,cookham4 ,here the river1 crazy with delight1 seems to lose its head and goes meandering about1 poking its nose up backwaters1 creeping across meadows1 flooding limpid shallows1 mirroring oaks and willows upside down1 surging up as if to sweep away a velvet-shorn lawn1 only to pour itself--its united self--into an open-mouthed lock1 and so on to a saner life in a level stretch beyond4 ,if you want a map giving these vagaries1 spill a cup of tea and follow its big and little puddles with their connecting rivulets3 ten chances to one it will come out right4 ,all this ,william and ,i took in for three unbroken weeks1 my usual summer allotment on the ,thames4 ,never was there such a breesy1 wholesome companion2 stories of his life in the ,veldt2 of his hospital experience over that same ear--8,the only crack ,i got1 sor1 thank ,god6--except bein' 'alf starved for a week and down two months with the fever--0 neither of which seemed to have caused him a moment's inconvenience2 stories of the people living about him and those who came from ,london with a 8'am sandwidge in a noospaper1 and precious little more10 rolled out of him by the hour4 ,and the poise of the man6 ,when he lay stretched out beside me on the grass while ,i worked--an old bivouac attitude--he kept still2 no twitching of legs or stretching of arms--lay as a big hound does1 whose blood and breeding necessitate repose4 ,and we were never separated4 ,first a plunge overboard1 and then a pull back for breakfast1 and off again with the luncheon tucked under the seat--and so on until the sun dropped behind the hills4 ,the only days on which this routine of work and play had to be changed were ,sundays and holidays4 ,then my white umbrella would loom up as large as a circus tent1 the usual crowd surging about its doors4 ,as you cannot see ,london for the people1 so you cannot see the river for boats on these days--all sorts of boats--wherries1 tubs1 launches1 racing crafts1 shells1 punts--everything that can be poled1 pulled1 or wobbled1 and in each one the invariable combination--a man1 a girl1 and a dog--a dog1 a girl1 and a man4 ,this has been going on for ages1 and will to the end of time4 ,on these mornings ,william and ,i have our bath early--ahead of the crowd really1 who generally arrive two hours after sunrise and keep up the pace until the last train leaves for ,paddington4 ,this bath is at the end of one of the teacup spillways1 and is called the ,weir4 ,there is a plateau1 a plunge down some twenty feet into a deep pool1 and the usual surroundings of fresh morning air1 gay tree-tops1 and the splash of cool water sparkling in the sunlight4 ,to-day as my boat grated on the gravel my eyes fell on a young ,english lord who was holding the centre of the stage in the sunlight4 ,he was dressed from head to foot in a skin-tight suit of underwear which had been cut for him by a ,garden-of-,eden tailor4 ,he was just out of the water--a straight1 well-built1 ruddy-skinned fellow--every inch a man6 ,what birth and station had done for him would become apparent when his valet began to hand him his ,bond ,street outfit4 ,the next instant ,william stood beside him4 ,then there came a wriggle about the shoulders1 the slip of a buckle1 and he was overboard and out again before my lord had discarded his third towel4 ,i fell to thinking4 ,naked they were equals4 ,that was the way they came into the world and that's the way they would go out4 ,and yet within the hour my lord would be back to his muffins and silver service1 with two flunkies behind his chair1 and ,william would be swabbing out a boat or poling me home through the pond lilies4 ,but why8--,i kept asking myself4 ,a totally idiotic and illogical question1 of course4 ,both were of an age2 both would be a joy to a sculptor looking for modern gods with which to imitate the ,greek ones4 ,both were equal in the sight of their ,maker4 ,both had served their country--my lord1 ,i learned later1 being one of the first to draw a bead on ,spion ,kop close enough to be of any use--and both were honest--at least ,william was--and the lord must have been4 ,there is no answer--never can be4 ,and yet the picture of the two as they stood glistening in the sunlight continues to rise in my memory1 and with it always comes this same query--one which will never down--,why should there be the difference8 9999999999 ,but the summer is moving on apace4 ,there is another ,inn and another ,william--or rather1 there was one several hundred years ago before he went off crusading4 ,it is an old resort of mine4 ,seven years now has old ,leah filled my breakfast cup with a coffee that deserves a hymn of praise in its honor4 ,i like it hot--boiling1 blistering hot1 and the old woman brings it on the run1 her white sabots clattering across the flower-smothered courtyard4 ,during all these years ,i have followed with reverent fingers not only the slopes of its roof but the loops of swinging clematis that crowd its balconies and gabies as well4 ,i say 8my0 because ,i have known this ,inn of ,william the ,conqueror long enough to include it in the list of the many good ones ,i frequent over ,europe--the ,bellevue1 for instance1 at ,dordrecht1 over against ,papendrecht 7,i shall be there in another month74 ,and the ,britannia in ,venice1 and ,i hope still a third in unknown ,athens--unknown to me--my objective point this year4 ,this particular ,inn with the roof and the clematis1 is at ,dives1 twenty miles from ,trouville on the coast4 ,you never saw anything like it1 and you never will again4 ,i hold no brief for my old friend ,le ,remois1 the proprietor1 but the coffee is not the only thing over which grateful men chant hymns4 ,there is a kitchen1 resplendent in polished brass1 with three ,french chefs in attendance1 and a two-century-old spit for roasting4 ,there is the wine-cellar1 in which cobwebs and not labels record the age and the vintage2 there is a dining-room--three of them--with baronial fireplaces1 sixteenth-century furniture1 and linen and glass to match--to say nothing of tapestries1 ,spanish leathers1 shrines1 carved saints1 ivories1 and pewter--the whole a sight to turn bric-a-brac fiends into burglars--not a difficult thing by the way--and then1 of course--there is the bill6 8,where have you been1 ,m4 ,le ,rmois80 asked a charming woman4 8,to church1 ,madame40 8,did you say your prayers80 8,yes1 ,madame10 answered this good boni-face1 with a twinkle4 8,what did you pray for80 8,i said--',oh1 ,lord6--do not make me rich1 but place me next to the rich'0--and he kept on his way rubbing his hands and chuckling4 ,and yet ,i must say it is worth the price4 ,i have no need of a ,william here--nor of anybody else4 ,the water for my cups is within my reach2 convenient umbrellas on movable pedestals can be shoved into place2 a sheltered back porch hives for the night all my paraphernalia and unfinished sketches1 and a step or two brings me to a table where a broiled lobster fresh from the sea and a peculiar peach ablaze in a peculiar sauce--the whole washed down by a pint of--7,no--you can't have the brand--there were only seven bottles left when ,i paid my bill7--and besides ,i am going back--help to ease the cares that beset a painter's life4 ,but even this oasis of a garden1 hemmed about as if by the froth of ,trouville and the suds of ,cabourg2 through which floats the gay life of ,paris resplendent in toilets never excelled or exceeded anywhere--cannot keep me from ,holland very long4 ,and it is a pity too1 for of late years ,i have been looked upon as a harmless fixture at the ,inn--so much so that men and women pass and repass my easel1 or look over my shoulder while ,i work without a break in their confidences--quite as if ,i was a deaf1 dumb1 and blind waiter1 or twin-brother to old ,coco the cockatoo1 who has surveyed the same scene from his perch near the roof for the past thirty years4 ,none of these unconscious ear-droppings am ,i going to betray--delightful1 startling--improper1 if you must have it--as some of them were4 ,not the most interesting1 at all events1 for ,i promised her ,i wouldn't--but there is no question as to the diversion obtained by keeping the latch-string of your ears on the outside4 ,none of all this ever drips into my auricles in ,holland4 ,a country so small that they build dikes to keep the inhabitants from being spilt off the edge1 is hardly the place for a scandal--certainly not in stolid ,dordrecht or in that fly-speck of a ,papendrecht1 whose dormer windows peer over the edge of the dike as if in mortal fear of another inundation4 ,and yet1 small as it is1 it is still big enough for me to approach it--the fly-speck1 of course--by half a dozen different routes4 ,i can come by boat from ,rotterdam4 ,fop ,smit owns and runs it--7no kin of mine1 more's the pity7--or by train from ,amsterdam2 or by carriage from any number of 'dams1 'drechts1 and 'bergs4 ,or ,i can tramp it on foot1 or be wheeled in on a dog-wagon4 ,i have tried them all1 and know4 ,being now a staid old painter and past such foolishness1 ,i take the train4 ,toot6 ,toot6--and ,i am out on the platform1 through the door of the station and aboard the one-horse tram that wiggles and swings over the cobble-scoured streets of ,dordrecht1 and so on to the ,bellevue4 ,why ,i stop at the ,bellevue 7apart from it being one of my ,inns7 is that from its windows ,i cannot only watch the life of the tawny-colored1 boat-crowded ,maas1 but see every curl of smoke that mounts from the chimneys of ,papendrecht strung along its opposite bank4 ,my dear friend1 ,herr ,boudier1 of years gone by1 has retired from its ownership1 but his successor1 ,herr ,teitsma1 is as hearty in his welcome4 ,peter1 my old boatman1 too1 pulled his last oar some two years back1 and one 8,bop0 takes his place4 ,there is another 8p0 and an 8e0 tacked on to ,bop1 but ,i have eliminated the unnecessary and call him 8,bob0 for short4 ,they made ,bob out of what was left of ,peter1 but they left out all trace of ,william4 ,this wooden-shod curiosity is anywhere from seventy to one hundred and fifty years old1 gray1 knock-kneed1 bent in the back1 and goes to sleep standing up--and stays asleep4 ,he is the exact duplicate of the tramp in the comic opera of 8,miss ,hook of ,holland0--except that the actor-sleeper occasionally topples over and has to be braced up4 ,bob is past-master of the art and goes it alone1 without propping of any kind4 ,he is the only man in ,dordrecht1 or ,papendrecht1 or the country round about1 who can pull a boat and speak ,english4 ,he says so1 and ,i am forced not only to believe him1 but to hire him4 ,he wants it in advance1 too--having had some experience with 8painter-man10 he explains to ,herr ,teitsma4 ,i shall1 of course1 miss my delightful ,william1 but ,i am accustomed to that4 ,and1 then1 again1 while ,bob asleep is an interesting physiological study1 ,bob awake adds to the gayety of nations1 samples of which crowd about my easel1 ,holland being one of the main highways of the earth4 ,i have known ,dort and the little 'drecht across the way for some fifteen years1 five of which have slipped by since ,i last opened my umbrella along its quaint quays4 ,to my great joy nothing has changed4 ,the old potato boat still lies close to the quay1 under the overhanging elms4 ,the same dear old man and his equally dear old wife still make their home beneath its hipped roof4 ,i know1 for it is here ,i lunch1 the cargo forming the chief dish1 followed by a saucer of stewed currants1 a cup of coffee--7more hymns here7--and a loaf of bread from the baker's4 ,the old ,groote ,kirk still towers aloft--the highest building in ,holland1 they say2 the lazy1 red-sailed luggers drift up and down1 their decks gay with potted plants2 swiss curtains at the cabin windows1 the wife holding the tiller while the man trims the sail4 ,the boys still clatter over the polished cobbles--an aggressive mob when school lets out--and a larger crop1 ,i think1 than in the years gone by1 and with more noise--my umbrella being the target4 ,often a spoilt fish or half a last week's cabbage comes my way1 whereupon ,bob awakes to instant action with a consequent scattering1 the bravest and most agile making faces from behind wharf spiles and corners4 ,peter used to build a fence of oars around me to keep them off1 but ,bob takes it out in swearing4 ,only once did he silence them4 ,they were full grown1 this squad1 and had crowded the old man against a tree under which ,i had backed as shelter from a passing shower4 ,there came a blow straight from the shoulder1 a sprawling boy1 and ,bob was in the midst of them1 his right sleeve rolled up1 showing a full-rigged ship tattooed in ,india ink4 ,what poured from him ,i learned afterward was an account of his many voyages to the ,arctic and around the ,horn1 as the label on his arm proved--an experience which1 he shouted1 would be utilized in pounding them up into fish bait if they did not take to their heels4 ,after that he always went to sleep with one eye open1 the boys keeping awake with two--and out of my way--a result which interested me the more4 ,if my ,luigi was not growing restless in my beloved ,venice 7it is wonderful how large a portion of the earth ,i own7 ,i would love to pass the rest of my summer along these gray canals1 especially since ,bob's development brings a daily surprise4 ,only to-day ,i caught sight of him half hidden in an angle of a wall1 surrounded by a group of little tots who were begging him for paper pin-wheels which a vender had stopped to sell1 an infinitesimal small coin the size of a cuff button purchasing a dozen or more4 ,when ,i again looked up from a canvas each tot had a pin-wheel1 and later on ,bob1 that much poorer in pocket1 sneaked back and promptly went to sleep4 ,but even ,bob's future beatification cannot hold me4 ,i yearn for the white1 blinding light and breathless lagoons1 and all that makes ,venice the ,queen ,city of the ,world4 ,luigi meets me inside the station4 ,it takes a soldo to get in1 and ,luigi has but few of them1 but he is always there4 ,his gondola is moored to the landing steps outside--a black swan of a boat1 all morocco cushions and silk fringes2 the product of a thousand years of tinkering by the most fastidious and luxurious people of ancient or modern times1 and still to-day the most comfortable conveyance known to man4' ,hurry up1 you who have never known a gondola or a ,luigi6 ,a vile-smelling1 chuggity-chug is forcing its way up every crooked canal1 no matter how narrow4 ,two ,venetian shipyards are hammering away on their hulls or polishing their motors4 ,soon the cost of production will drop to that of a gondola4 ,then look out6 ,there are eight thousand machinists in the ,arsenal earning but five francs a day1 any one of whom can learn to run a motor boat in a week1 thus doubling their wages4 ,worse yet--the world is getting keener every hour for speedy things4 ,i may be wrong--,i hope and pray ,i am--but it seems to me that the handwriting is already on the wall4 8,this way to the ,museo ,civico10 it reads--8if you want to find a gondola of twenty-five years ago40 ,as for the ,luigis and the ,esperos--they will then have given up the unequal struggle4 ,the only hope rests with the ,venetians themselves4 ,they have restored the scarred ,library1 and are rebuilding the ,campanile1 with a reverence for the things which made their past glorious that commands the respect of the artistic world4 ,the gondola is as much a part of ,venice as its sunsets1 pigeons1 and palaces4 ,let them by special license keep the ,tragfaetti intact1 with their shuttles of gondolas crossing bade and forth--then1 perhaps1 the catastrophe may be deferred for a few decades4 9999999999 ,as it was in ,dort and ,papendrecht so it is in ,venice4 ,except these beastly1 vile-smelling boats there is nothing new1 thank ,god4 ,everything else is faded1 weather-worn1 and old1 everything filled with sensuous beauty--sky1 earth1 lagoon1 garden wall1 murmuring ripples--the same wonderful ,venice that thrills its lovers the world over4 ,and the old painters are still here--,walter ,brown1 ,bunce1 ,bompard1 ,faulkner1 and the rest--successors of ,ziem and ,rico--men who have loved her all their lives4 ,and with them a new band of devotees--,monet and ,louis ,aston ,knight among them4 8,for a few days10 they said in explanation1 but it was weeks before they left--only to return1 ,i predict1 as ,jong as they can hold a brush4 ,as for ,luigi and me--we keep on our accustomed way1 leading our accustomed lives4 ,seventeen years now since he bent to his oar behind my cushions--twenty-six in all since ,i began to idle about her canals4 ,it is either the little canal next the ,public ,garden1 or up the ,giudecca1 or under the bronze horses of ,san ,marco2 or it may be we are camped out in the ,piazzetta before the ,porta della ,carta2 or perhaps up the narrow canal of ,san ,rocco1 or in the ,fruit ,market near the ,rialto while the boats unload their cargoes4 ,all old subjects and yet ever new2 each has been painted a thousand times1 and in as many different lights and perspectives4 ,and yet each canvas differs from its fellows as do two ripples or two morning skies4 ,for weeks we drift about4 ,one day ,carlotta1 the fishwife up the ,fondamenta della ,pallada1 makes us our coffee2 the next ,luigi buys it of some smart caf on the ,piazza4 ,this with a roll1 a bit of ,gorgonzola1 and a bunch of grapes1 or half a dozen figs1 is our luncheon1 to which is added two curls of blue smoke1 one from ,luigi's pipe and the other from my cigarette4 ,then we fall to work again4 ,but this will never do6 ,while ,i have been loafing with ,luigi not only has the summer slipped away1 but the cool winds of ,october have crept down from the ,alps4 ,there are fresh subjects to tackle--some ,i have never seen4 ,athens beckons to me4 ,the columns of the ,parthenon loom up6 9999999999 ,if there are half a dozen ways of getting into ,papendrecht--there is only one of reaching ,athens--that is1 if you start from ,venice4 ,trieste first1 either by rail or boat1 and then aboard one of the ,austrian ,lloyds1 and so on down the ,adriatic to ,patras4 ,it is ,october1 remember--when every spear of grass from a six months' drought--the customary dry spell--is burnt to a crisp4 ,it will rain to-morrow1 or next week1 they will tell you--but it doesn't--never has in ,october--and never will4 ,strange to say1 you never miss it--neither in the color of the mountains flanking the ,adriatic or in any of the ports on the way down1 or in ,patras itself4 ,the green note to which ,i have been accustomed--which ,i have labored over all my life--is lacking1 and a new palette takes its place--of mauve1 violet1 indescribable blues1 and evanescent soap-bubble reds4 ,the slopes of the hills are mother-of-pearl1 their tops melting into cloud shadows so delicate in tone that you cannot distinguish where one leaves off and the other begins4 ,and it is so in ,patras1 except for a riotous1 defiant pine--green as a spring cabbage or a newly painted shutter--that sucks its moisture from nobody knows where--hasn't any1 perhaps1 and glories in its shame4 ,all along the railroad from the harbor of ,patras to the outskirts of ,athens it is the same--bare fields1 bare hills1 streets and roads choked with dust4 ,and so1 too1 when you arrive at the station and take the omnibus for the ,grand ,bretagne4 ,by this time you are accustomed to it--in fact you rather enjoy it4 ,if you have a doubt of it1 step out on the balcony at the front of the hotel and look up6 ,hanging in the sky--in an air of pure ether1 set in films of silver grays in which shimmer millions of tones1 delicate as the shadings of a pearl1 towers the ,acropolis1 its crest fringed by the ruins of the greatest temples the world possesses4 ,i rang a bell4 8,get me a carriage and send me up a guide--anybody who can speak ,english and who is big enough to carry a sketch trap40 ,he must have been outside1 so quickly did he answer the call4 ,he was two-thirds the size of ,william1 one-half the length of ,luigi1 and one-third the age of ,bob4 8,what is your name80 8,vlassopoulos40 8,anything else80 8,yes--,panis40 8,then we'll drop the last half4 ,put those traps in the carriage--and take me to the ,parthenon40 ,i never left it for fourteen consecutive days--nor did ,i see a square inch of ,athens other than the streets ,i drove through up and back on my way to work4 ,nor have ,i in all my experience ever had a more competent1 obliging1 and companionable guide--always excepting my beloved ,luigi1 who is not only my guide1 but my protector and friend as well4 ,it was then that ,i blessed the dust4 ,green things1 wet things1 soggy things--such as mud and dull skies--have no place in the scheme of the ,parthenon and its contiguous temples and ruins4 ,that wonderful tea-rose marble1 with its stains of burnt sienna marking the flutings of endless broken columns1 needs no varnishing of moisture to enhance its beauty4 ,that will do for the faade of ,burlington ,house with its grimy gray statues1 or the moss-encrusted tower of the ,groote ,kirk1 but never here4 ,it was this fear1 perhaps1 that kept me at work1 haunted as ,i was by the bogy of 8,rain to-morrow4 ,it always comes1 and keeps on for a month when it starts in40 ,blessed be the weather clerk6 ,it never started in--not until ,i reached ,brindisi on my way back to ,paris2 then1 if ,i remember1 there was some falling weather--at the rate of two inches an hour4 ,and yet ,i might as well confess that my fourteen days of consecutive study of the ,acropolis1 beginning at the recently uncovered entrance gate and ending in the ,museum behind the ,parthenon1 added nothing to my previous historical or other knowledge--meagre as it had been4 ,where the ,venetians wrought the greatest havoc1 how many and what columns were thrown down2 how high and thick and massive they were2 what parts of the marvellous ruin that ,high ,robber ,chief ,lord ,elgin stole and carted off to ,london1 and still keeps the ,british ,museum acting as 8fence02 how wide and long and spacious was the superb chamber that held the statue the gods loved--none of these things interested me--do not now4 ,what ,i saw was an epoch in stone2 a chronicle telling the story of civilization2 a glove thrown down to posterity1 challenging the competition of the world4 ,and with this came a feeling of reverence so profound1 so awe-inspiring1 so humbling1 that ,i caught myself speaking to ,panis in whispers--as one does in a temple when the service is in progress4 ,this1 as the sun sped its course and the purple shadows of the coming night began to creep up the steps and columns of the marvellous pile1 its pediment bathed in the rose-glow of the fading day1 was followed by a silence that neither of us cared to break4 ,for then the wondrous temple took on the semblance of some old sage1 the sunlight on his forehead1 the shadow of the future about his knees4