with the eye, to
say nothing of one's steps, for there all is covered with a misty cloud
that rises incessantly from quivering morasses. But finally behind this
mist (so runs the common rumour) extends a very fair and fertile region,
the main capital of the kingdom of beasts and plants. In it are gathered
the seeds of all trees and herbs, from which their varieties spread abroad
throughout the world; in it, as in Noah's ark, of all the kinds of beasts
there is preserved at least one pair for breeding. In the very centre, we
are told, the ancient buffalo and the bison and the bear, the emperors of
the forest, hold their court. Around them, on trees, nest the swift lynx
and the greedy wolverene, as watchful ministers; but farther on, as
subordinate, noble vassals, dwell wild boars, wolves, and horned elks.
Above their heads are the falcons and wild eagles, who live from the
lords' tables, as court parasites. These chief and patriarchal pairs of
beasts, hidden in the kernel of the forest, invisible to the world, send
their children beyond the confines of the wood as colonists, but
themselves in their capital enjoy repose; they never perish by cut or by
shot, but when old die by a natural death. They have likewise their
graveyard, where, when near to death, the birds lay their feathers and the
quadrupeds their fur. The bear, when with his blunted teeth he cannot chew
his food; the decrepit stag, when he can scarcely move his legs; the
venerable hare, when his blood already thickens in his veins; the raven,
when he grows grey, and the falcon, when he grows blind; the eagle, when
his old beak is bent into such a bow that it is shut for ever and provides
no nourishment for his throat;83 all go to the graveyard. Even a lesser
beast, when wounded or sick, runs to die in the land of its fathers. Hence
in the accessible places, to which man resorts, there are never found the
bones of dead animals.84 It is said that there in the capital the beasts
lead a well-ordered life, for they govern themselves; not yet corrupted by
human civilisation, they know no rights of property, which embroil our
world; they know neither duels nor the art of war. As their fathers lived
in paradise, so their descendants live to-day, wild and tame alike, in
love and harmony; never does one bite or butt another. Even if a man
should enter there, though unarmed, he would pass in peace through the
midst of the beasts; they would gaze on him with the same look o