The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-10-08


Friend The Dog" published singly in
q small, artistically bound and print
ed volume by Dodd, Mead & Co. The
essay IS not new to American readers.
having appeared in several earlier edi-
tlonS OF the works of Maete"ljnck but
Its present form is such as to COM
mend it anew to its admirers The
DOCK would mako an especially vel
come gift to anyone who subscri bes
TO the principle, Love me, love my
dog" and ought to have a good holt
day sale although it is perhaps a
little early get to talk about that.
If one wanted to be trite COT course
nobody does but that will do by way
of apology for triteness) one might
call the book d symphony in green
The cloth cover is in two shades of
green and white and each page has
q border design in the same tones.
These decorations are by Charles B.
Fails and the illustrations are by Paul
j. Meylan- They are uncommOnly
good pictures-lifelike studies of
small French bulldog in different
phases of activity, evidently done by
man who knows and loves dogs,
so well has he caught the character
1stc poses and expressions, recognized
and admired by everyone who has
owned dog. There is one particular
ly good one of the dog "Pelleas'' en-
gagged in a favOrite puppy diversion
of chasing birds which recalls the af-
fectiOnate comment of the man who,
speaking OF the WorthlesSneSS of his
yellow cur" said: He'll chase a
small bird all day but you couldn't
set him on a damned thing"
Our Friend the Dog is conceived
In no humorous vein. Maeterlinck is
always serious and he is usually mys-
teal but in this essay he has struck
that happy vein in manner and ex-
preston combined with originality of
idea, depth of feeling and wealth of
imagination which made his Life of
the Bee one of the most fascinating
OF books One cannot read this simple
n n falr lot .Nr, 40
ter, suggested by the death of his lit
tie bulldog "PelleaS'' unnoved IT is
typical OF the Maeterlinck philosophy
with its reverenttal wonder at the phe-
nomena of everyday life, its melan-
choly, patient, hopeful marvelling at
the mysteries of the universe. There
is peculiar charm in all that this
man mas written. Sometimes it is
moods his ideas may mean nothing to
you more than they have to the many
who have burlesqued and ridicuIed the
manner and the matter of his work
But all that he writes is poetry The
Life of the Bee is pure lyric
Some have said that Maeterlinck is
pessimist- While this may be de-
MED concerning a man who has written
so much of the beauties of the world
OF nature and human nature and the
klnSh1p OF all matter organic and in
organic, 1t Is easy to understand how
swallow mind would so interpret
mysticism. -
His reverence for all life and his re-
1usal to consider human life the high
est est POSSIBLE type are typical Always
We nnd Maenerlinck returning TO the
ldea OF man, as viewed by a higher in
tellgence, superior power in compari-
son witt. with other forms of life. And SO
ed by all the knc wleGge of his own
elders and his II others, takes 20 or 40
years TO outline a satisfactory concen-
5loLl OF the universe. but the humble |
Val Ii.
IeW days; and yet in the eyes of a god |
VINO should know all things would If |
NOT nave the same weight and the same |
NaIIe as our own ?'' ssTt ic n /
long work to organize a happv exist- |
ence upon the borderland of two such
olfterent worlds as the world of beasts |
ana the world of men. How should
we fare if we had to serve, while re- |
naming within our own sphere a Iii !
VIhty, not an imaginary one like to |
ourselves, because the offspring of orr /
own brain, but god actually visible |
ever present, ever active and as foreign. |
the dog?"
Man loves the dog, but how
much more ought he to love it if he |
considered in the inf1exfble harmony of /
the laws Of nature, the sole exception |
which is that love of a being that sue
ceeds in piercing, in order to draw clos
er 10 us, the partitions, everywhere else
lmpermeable that separate the spe-
cles! We are alone, absolutely alone /
on this chance planet; and amid all the
forms of life that surround rs NOT ono
excepting the dog, has made an alliance
with u.s. A few creatures fear US most
are unaware of US, and not one loves
US In the world of plants, we have
OuInD and mOtiOnleSS slaves: but thew
serve US in spite of themselves They
simply endure our laws and our woke
Ihey are impotent prisoners. victims
incapable of escaping, but silently re-
oelnous; and so soon as we lose sight
OF them, they hasten to betray us and
return to their former wild and mis-
chieVous liberty. The rose and the
approach like the birds
among the animals we number a
Few servants who have submitted onlv
through indifference, cowardice or stu
pldlty- the uncertain and craven horse
who responds only to pain and is ar
tached to nothing; the passive and de-
Jected ass. who stays with us only be-
cause he knows not what to do nor
where to go, but who nevertheless nm
DER the cudgel and the pack-saddIe re-
tains the idea that turks behind his
ears; the COW and the OK happy so i
long as they are eating. and dOciIe he /
cause Tor centuries they have not had
a thought of their own; the affriehted
sheep. who knows no other master than /
poultry yard because she finds more
maize and wheat there than in the l.
neiShbOring forest. 1 do not sneak NJ |
the cat. to whom we are nothing more I
than too large and uneata bic prev.
the ferocious cat. whose sidelons con,
tempt tolerates us only as cncumbering
parasites in our own homes. She at
least, curses us in her mysterious
heart; but all the others live beside ms
as they might live beside a rock or
tree They co not love us, do not know
us, scarcely notice us. They are m
aware of our life, our death, our denar-
ture, our return. our sadness our iov
our smile. They do not even hear the
SOUND OF our voice, so soon as it no
longer threatens them; and when they
look at us. it is with the distrustful he .
wilderment of the horse in whose eve
still hovers the infatuation of the ellyt
or gazelle that sees US for the first
time, or with the dull stupor of the
in 10