The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1882-10-14
A MODERN WOOD DEITY.

In very ancient times, when meE be-
ieved that almost every mountain and
river brook and grove, was presided
over by deity of some sort, it was said
that nectar and ambrosia were he drink
and food of these gods. Because hose
old poets and philosophers INDUCED in
those fine stories about nymphs and
satyrs,r lawns naiads and dryads, we
call them heather; bu', after ALL their
myths, like the fictions of our own
writer's, are beautiful and en- ertaining.
| have often bought Ola charming story
which might be written by some mag
NATIVE boy or girl about a wood deity
which haunts some of The groves OF
America 1t can be said with much
truth that nee az and anibrosia fill the
cups and pots of his bright and joyous
being. have seen him slipping nectar
more fragrant than the tabled sweets OF
Hybla and Hymettus. This is saying
much, for Hybla used to be the most
famous town in the world for its honey,
and Hylnettus was mountain, south
east of Athens, in Greece, where the
bees stored their combs with the purest
Installations from tho flowers, But
have look ed into the clean, curiously
wrought cups of our American grove
god, When they were full to overiowing
with clear fluid! have even tasted the
NECTAR, although the cups were so small
that only the mereSt bit of my tongue
could enter.luI 1t is Slightly acrid this
nectar but it has in its taste hints, so to
speak, of all the, perfumes and sweets
of the winds and leaves and flowersA- o.
fragrance of green wood when cut, and
of the inner tender bark of young trees.
And racy favor, too. Which comes
from the aroma,icreots of certain of our
evergreens,i is sometimes discoverable
in it,
THE being ofwhich I speak is an in
dustriouS little fellow. Many times i
haze watched him making pots to catch
nectar in, and cups to hold the precious
ambrosa. These he hollows 4 out so
neatly, that they all look alike, and he
arranges them in rows around the bole
Of a treeAsometimes a maple, often an
ash, may be O pine, and frequently,a
/ cedar, He has a great many of these
| pots and cups4soF MANY indeed, that
it seems to keep him busy. for a great
part of-the day drinking their delicious
contents olHe, has very ,qpiet ways, and
/ you must be silent and wa chful if you
wish ever to see him He rarely uses
! hislyoiees except When disturbed, and
| then he utters Keen cry and steals off
through the air soon disappearing in
the shadows OF the woods ih0P3 ,l1iter.
In the. warm, dreamful weather of
our early spring days You may find him
by keeping sharp lookout for the pots,
which are little holes or. pits bored
through the bak and through the soft
outer ring of the wood of certain trees
Very often you can find rings and rings
OF these pits on, the trunks of the apple
trees of the orchards, every one OF them
| full of nectar. ad l9 Uo'-t4s GIlls uH
adAnd now you discover that, after all,
my winged grove deity is nothing but
a little bird that many persons call by
the lpndignified but very significant
name of Sap-sucker! Well, what of iii?
My story is truer than those Of the old
Greek and Latin poets. for mine has
| something real in it, as well as some
thing beautiful and interesting. / sus-
pect that manysof-the ancient myths
are based upon the facts Of nature and
are embellished with fantastic dressing,
Just as some imaginative boy or girl
might dress up this true story OF our sap
drinking woodpeelxer.s-
on In fact, how much happier, how much
more redolent of Joyous sweets, is the
life Of this quiet bird than that of such
beings-if they could have existed--as
those with which the ancients peopled
their groves and mounta ms! Think of
| flying about on real wings among the
shadows of the spring and summer