The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1880-11-25
PROF. P0IRIER'S DREAM.
From the French OF Erckmann- Chatria

o.
ing Darwin.
My window opened upon the Charter
house garden; the rustling of the leaves
vaguely TO my ears; a light breath of
mir carcssed my cheeks. Suddenly, in
n dream, | saw myself transported to
the banks of the Ganges, not far from
Benares.
was sitting in the shade of a great
tamarind tree; the sacred river rolled
before me like lake, white with light
and upon its banks an immense forest
Of palms, bananas, and other exotic
plants spread itself, whose lanccs, par
asols, and fans mingled together as far
rs the eye could reach,
And while contemplated in wonder
ment this splendid landscape, slight
noise in the leaves over my head drew
my attention. | looked up and saw
guess what | saw!
saw myself, Nicholas PORTER pro-
sessor of philosophy at the College of
Saint Suzanne, in the form of CHM
panzee, hanging by one of my paws to
the lower branch of the tamarind tree,
and making faces at myself.
Judge of my establishment!
Comprehending directly that my body
had discovered itself from my soul, and
was capering about in the lonely forest,
l was in CONSERVATION.
If it wanders of into the depths OF
the wood" | said TO myself, sit Will
never return, and shall remain here
alone, with my metaphysics and moth
ing else to console me-
The thoughts made me shudder l
wanted to summon my Not-me to re-
sumo Immediately its accustomed place,
but the fear of frightening it modified
my ideas, and with q conciliatory tone,
l said to it:
Come! come! my dear Nicholas,
consider-does that posture suit the
dignity of your characterP Ought a
professor of philosophy TO suspend him
self from the branch of treep Is it
proper? Come, my friend, come back
to proprietym
But the chimpanzee, after replying to
me By two or three grimaces, said;
"Ah! now, do you take me for fool,
proud and stupid spirit? descent from
my tree to seat myself again in your old
armchair, and wear out my eyes in de-
ciphering silly stories! All, you know
me little if you reckon on that. No, no!
am very well on my tree, and here |
stay--until the fancy takes me to get
down and munich a few almonds or
treat myself TO cocoanut. That's
what suits me. You! do what you like,
discuss, dream, babble; that is your
affair. | have had enough of it"
AT this impertinent answer l had a
mind to be angry, but for the second
time rejecting that this would not be a
good way to bring back the Not-me, ]
resolved to convince it by the force OF
logic, and in softened accents cried:
II comprehend, my dear Nicholas,
the wish for liberty which has taken
possession of you; the desire to stretch
yourself was natural enough, after be-
ing thirty years at rest. But this once
is enough. You should listen TO rea-
son. Come, my friend, come"
Hear me-" interrupted the chin
pahzee. "For a long time have known
what you keep in store for me; that you
distinguish between yourself and me
who are your own body and your own
life; that you propose to survive me,
after having made me work and sweat
to satisfy your vanity. You have told
me so hundred times, while we were
together under the same envelope. You
have said TO me, You, body, shall die
you shall turn to dust, after being bur-
led tremendously; but |, spirit, | am
of another essence than yours; my es.
sence is one and indivisible; it is i'm.
mortal, outside of space and time; time
cannot affect it. You, you were made
to be eaten by worms Is it trueP Did
you say sop
could not deny it, my body having
lived with me fifty years in the most in.
innate confidence, and, besides, | had
taught the thing professionally in the
lecture-room, according to the pro.
gramme of the university. / could not,
therefore, dispute the fact, and the
chimpanzee, seeing me embarrassed, re.
commenced making faces at me, Civ.
ing forth peals of laughter with an all
of triumph.
lost patience.
"Are you coming down directlyP"
cried. II am tired of all this talk. II
is who command, | the spirit and
matter ought to obey
"You have told me so n hundred
times said the ape, sneeringly, land
| was stupid enough TO believe you
But times are changed. Stay in youi
armchair, | am going to skip away
swing on the vines, and try TO find some
pretty monkey to beautify my exist.
ence."
At this threat shuddcr of horror
seized me; and, softening my voice,
said:
well, then, yes! | have said what
has been repeated for six thousanc
years: 1t is clear that the body turns
to dust, but that it is not my fault; it il
fact and every reasonable ANNA
must submit to positive material facts
What is the use of strugglingp That il
evident to the senses. But the spirit
invisible, impalpable, is necessarily i'm
mortal"
| On hearing this, my chimpanzce burs
into endless roars of laughter, chatter
ing his teeth and repeating;
1.-The spirits is immortal! immortal
Ha! ha! ha! that's good joke! immor