Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-06-07
ONLY MAN IS BLUE.
Animals, Birds and Insects Never Suf-
fer From Ennui

Every human being. man. woman and
child. suffer occasionally with what they
call 1.-The blues" No matter how happy
the temperament as general thing, a
when the blue devils" get the upper
hand What the French call "cnnui''
afliicts everybody occasionally ard many
find low, spirits. boredom. melancholy. the
animals evidently do rot suffer at all in
this way. Birds and beasts, as well as
the insects. manage to pass through If"
crazes their more intelligent superiors
LoaIinG or chronic idlercss, as every one
knows is the most fruitful source of mis-
cry, and lack of occupation is the sure
bre edcr of dependency. The other ami
mails. however do not loaf. Loafing is an
art which few living creatures under
stand. Lizards. crocodlcs and other
saurians seem to have mastered the phil
osophy of being laboriously idle without
idle results. but there is nothing to indi-
cate that they suffer from the blues"
The art appears to consist in the fact that
animals have acquired the knack of max
ing much I'd" about nothing: they have
learned to be very busy without doing
anything.
obviously this accomplishment differs
from what among men is called loating
1t is one which animals have brought to
perfection and by knowing how to elm
mate the horrors OF "ennui' th"y obtain
from life the maximum Of hrppincSs
Some human beings, chiefly women. also
succeed in mastering this art Of potter
ing and Understanding. though nothing
really is being done. Old men, too, some
times exhibit the same trait Washing
ton Irving remarks that one of the com
pensatonS of old age is that il allows one
to be idle with impinitv aud without re
preach. Th" aged rise early and ar" etcr-
nallv 'pct"ring around in an himl"sS
way. husly occupied III doing nothing OF
consequence.
Watch IL wasp overhead bnSilv "xplor-
Ing the holes in the trunk Of u tree. Why
he docs this he probably does not know
he has no time to stop and think. He is
quite content Ia cXpolre away AS If hi;
life depended upon it and Will inFpcct
same hole. All this labor is use less in a
seESe. but it apparently constiutt'S the
wasr's taste. without which IT would in
all probability die Of what men call low
spirits Many other creatures are equal
| " expert at frittcrinE away time. they
spent much Of their time in futl" DALI
anc". Note a canary in cage. tic h"pi
backward and forward between two
p.>rches as f he was raid by tn" distanc"
for doing So Look at a butterfly. II"
leads an aimieSS existence. but manages
to keep busy all the time and oInbodie4
the very perfection of living. bee Wis
| it's more flowers than butterr%. but his
trips are for business. while the "theE
seems to have no other object than to
keep moving.
Tho farmer and the farmers wife suf-
| fer more or less frcm worry. They have
their cares their troubles their anxietieH
| Of q the usanG kinds. which often ev"ntu-
ate in horrible and lonG-continued fits oil
"the blues" Not So the animals around
them There is no dependency in chanti-
| cleer's crow or bddy's lively ca"kl", Tn
cows and horses are ALWAYS cheerful. AZ
ways in good spirits and have no trouble
| killing time" Unless i'll or injured SONS
way they are never Respondent. Perhaps
mans very superiority caIISes much Of hi
| misery Perhaps he would be happier il
he were not endowed with reason. if he
did not think The undetermined happi
ness of children it evidently the bliss nl
| ignorance They have not vet reached
| the age of worry which Games with think
ing. The lower animals mover reach this
| stage and their lives are free from care
| frCm regret for The past or worry for thu
| future "Thcre is nothing good or bo.
| hut thinking makes it So. remarks thu
\ melancholy Hamlet. Men think them
| selves into most Of their unEarpiness'
while the animals not possessing his fac
| ulty. escapc its most fruitful source 81
| misery Tho philosophy of it all woult
seem to he that man either knows too lit
l tic or h" knows too much. Do not thu
| lower animals prove the truth of the ole
| ma kim that Ignorance is bliss" IL so
| is it not folly to no wise and is it MOI
| orIeStionabl" if civilization. after all
brings mankind any nearer to tho muc>
desired tut ever-illusive entity called hap
| rinoSs.-Chica 60 Chronicle.