The San Francisco call. [volume], May 04, 1913, Page 9, Image 9

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
he, to his knowledge, seen, a portrait of her. Not
withstanding which, he says:
"A night or two afterward, as I was sleeping
with my wife, a fire brightly burning in the room
and a candle alight, I suddenly awoke, and saw a
lady sitting by the side of the bed v here my wife
was sleeping soundly. "At once I sat up in the bed.
and gazed so intently that even now 1 can recall
her form and features. 1 remember that I was much
struck with the careful arrangement of her coiffure,
every single hair being most carefully brushed down.
"How long I sat and gazed I can not say but
directly the apparition ceased to be, I got out of
bed to see if any of my wife's garments had by any
means optically deluded me. I found nothing in
the line of vision but a bare wall. Returning to
bed, I lay till my ;vife, some hours after, awoke
OW, IN HER
younger days,
Eve was quite
con tc nt to be
Adam's Li t tie
&fiii v Know - Nothing.
She was the same sort of child-wife as Dora Copper
field, only she did n't call her husband Doady.
Adam, being a man, well liked her to be that way,
and loved her for her docile, trusting, adoring
nature. He didn't want a Cultured Highbrow or
a Suffragette for his mate;. he wanted the gentle,
ignorant little girl that was bestowed upon him.
And Eve loved Adam most exceedingly; she de
ferred to him always, with a pleasant meekness,
and desired greatly to learn knowledge of him. But
of a truth, Adam was all unable to teach her many
of the traits she wished to acquire and much lore
that she could have welcomed, he was at a loss or
unwilling to impart to her.
So Eve'wandered about the Garden of Eden and
pondered right mournfully on the vastness of a her
ignorance and her woeful lack of worldly wisdom.
And as she strolled, there came and rutted by[her?
side a great Peacock, dignified, yet flaunting of mien
and vastly beautiful.
"How wonderful 3 T ou are!" said Eve, admiringly;
■How wonderful you are!" said Eve, admiringly;
"I am" not of such beauty."
"You are beautiful," • returned the Peacock,' "but
you are ignorant."
"Too true," wailed Eve, in most sad accents. "But
I have] ho Tutors to tute me. How may I■■ acquire
worldly wisdom in this Garden?"
"There are many Tutors about, Oh, Eve replied
the Peacock; "but you fail to recognize them as such.
Many of the creatures in this Garden have traits
and knowledge, which, learned by you, would be of
inestimable value to you; and so, to womankind for
ever."
Eve's eyes sparkled, and her countenance grew
bright in anticipation of this coveted knowledge
that might yet be hers.
"Explain, Oh, Peacock!" she begged of the beau
tiful bird.
"I, myself, will teach you vanity," he responded,
and he proudly flaunted his gorgeous plumage
before her eyes. "Vanity is one of the most useful
studies in a Woman's curriculum. Be vain arid you
will be happy. Be convinced of your own beauty'
and you have already convinced others of it. Be
vain of your own accomplishments and you have
- already forced men to admire them, and women to
be jealous of them. Vanity produces little arts
and graces hitherto undreamed of it makes you
charming, alluring and altogether desirable."
The Peacock twisted his neck proudly, and* the
sun touched with gold the blue-green sheen.
"I am accounted beautiful, yes," lie went on;
"but mostly am I so accounted because I am vain
of my beauty. Vanity brings haughtiness, scornful
demeanor ? and supercilious ways, all of which arc
useful, even indispensable, to the worldly-wise
woman." ' -, •
Now,' Eve was of a fine receptiveness, and the
THE SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE SECTION
and then I gave her an account of her friend's ap
pearance. 1 described her color, form, etc., all of
"which exactly tallied'with, my-wife's recollection of
her. Finally I asked, 'But was there any special
point to strike one in her appearancef. 'Yes,' my
wife promptly replied, 'we girls used to tease her
at school for devoting so much time to the arrange
ment of her hair.' This was the very thing which
1 have said so much struck me."
In former times there would have been no alterna
tive between accepting such narratives as the above
as actual evidences of supernatural activity, 1 and re
jecting them as the fabrications of a diseased imagi
nation. But modern psychological investigation, and
especially the investigation of the st; te of the mind
during the transition period between sleep [and full
wakefulness, has made clear the fact that it is quite
EVE'S TVTORS
Reviewing Kindergarten Days
inEDENBr CAROLYN WELLS
Drawing by Elizabeth Ivins Jones
words of the Peacock fell on fertile soil. Vain she
became •at once. Proud of her own beauty, she
twined her long tresses with wild flowers, and
stuck poppies coquettishly over her ears. She chose
the 'finest, and best shaped fig leaves for her j new
apron, and bordered it with a fringe of bright
blossoms. v -,- .• > ... - .-"*„•
»' Vanity became an ineradicable trait of her nature,
and she besought Adam for extravagant expressions
of \ admirationX.iX ,' ,l\\ ~-' X X
1 Adam, poor man, was a bit bewildered.'[ He had
never seen a vain? woman before, and:he didn't quite
know how (j to treat one. 1 ' He did his best to please
her, and at last he exclaimed in baffled astonish
ment : "Why, you 're as vain as a Peacock
' Then was Eve full content, ' for what? more may
one ask than to equal one's teacher?
';Next, : turned she to the Tiger for enlightenment;
and wisdom. _ ' ; *X * "'' ' * '.
"My child, you have much to learn," said ; the great
beast, looking benevolently from 'rieath shaggy brows
at the beautiful* woman. ' , *-, -- t ~\ '- "
"Vain you are, but other feminine, 'raits should
be yours. Learn, then; of \ me. Acquire my soft,
velvet-padded caress, which yet conceals sharp claws.
Acquire my ; purring, indolent manner, which only
masks a most v alert " attention. Learn my stealthy,
secret mode of approach, even while all prepared
for a sudden, deadly spring. .*. This is the spirit of
the lore I would teach you."
;-■-.■ .'.'!•
"D EADTLY, Eve understood. Even the treachery
■ of [the Tiger's nature was[imparted to her, and
stored away in her waking brain for the [use of the
Eternal Feminine. ,:; X . \
Then came a Lamb, gamboling, x
"Oh, pshaw, Tiger!"
called the Lamb, gaily;
"you 're teaching Eve
too much of your de
ceitful nature.. Look
here, Madam Eve Man
admires in woman [the
meekness and playful
ness of the Lamb. A
merry gentleness and
docility doth at times
please him greatly."
"Teach me," said
Eve, tranquilly. "All
of these things I fain
would learn, that I may
use them at mv discre
tion!"
So, from the Lamb,
learned Eve all gentle
ness and? docility of
manner, which, of a
truth, well became her.
Now, when that Eve
exploited these newly
acquired traits in her
home, the house cat
looked at her critically.
Eve wandered about the Garden of Eden and pondered right mournfully .
[~-..,.: - .;.,...,,v,-,,-s. .:,;.;-.-•- . ....x.';-.--,v;"X— --X-X- '- ' ■
unnecessary, in seeking for an explanation, to resort
to either the hypothesis of fraud or the hypothesis
of .spirit action. ''The boy may lie;" but if he is
telling the truth, there is, as modern psychology sees
it, no need.of leaping to the other extreme and rais- .
ing the cry.of ''Ghosts! At most, it is necessary
to postulate merely telepathy between living minds.
More frequently' :: the solution of the mystery is '■ at
hand in a certain well-established peculiarity of the
hypnoidal state, as the transition period between
sleeping and waking is technically designated.
This peculiarity is that the hypnoidal state is very
apt to permit the emergence, from the depths of the
sleeper's "subconsciousness" of memories which rise
above the threshold of consciousness in the form of
usually vivid dreams or of hallucinations that may-
readily impose themselves
"Much hast thou learned, Oh, Eve!" she spake,
oracularly; "but more yet can I teach thee."
So Eve learned from;the cat. [ [x ;
She acquired an elusiveness that was most tantal
izing. She learned to walk; away when called, and
to sidle lip unexpectedly. She,learned to select the
best seat; and 'she? lea rued.; thoroughly the "vice of
curiosity. [She acquired ? slyness, secret; vindictive
ness, and other [catty attributes,? which she [stored
away in her brain against the; time when there should
be other women in the world. x
AND more yet, learned Eve. Of the Donkey, she
■ acquired a fine stubbornness (this she determined
to [use with great moderation, but with decided
effect).
From the} Hen she learned domestic * science," and \
a certain very feminine quality known as hen-mind
ed iless. From the Chameleon; she discovered how to
take color from her .•surroundings, which is a fine
art. Even [the[Crocodile- taught her a pretty trick.
"Eve," said . he, "weeping is a great thing to
understand;„,. Not for a real sorrow — such? tears '■•■
need no ? teaching. But tears for a purpose are
among a woman's best weapons, in the unequal
fight she must, wage against ; men. ; It's mighty |
handy to be [able to shed tears at will."
Eve greatly thanked the kind Crocodile, and soon
learned to perfection the art of letting her beautiful;
eyes fill with; big tears, and [then rolling them in
pearly drops slowly down her pink,cheeks.
[Now, the; Serpent was more subtle than any beast
of the field. And when that the others, of their
love, had taught <Eve much; then glided [to her the
Serpent and finished ,her education. [He iiriparted;
to her the secrets of his sinuous grace* his mysterious
insinuating charm, and his persuasive arid fascinat
ing allurement. So, Eve learned the wisdom; of
the Serpent, and now was she wise indeed. Of
such a wisdom was she that she tempted Adam;
and by the inheritance of ■[-, her - wisdom, [ the ■
daughters of Eve, have ever -possessed;
Knowledge, Wisdom and Power all unpar
alleled by that of man.
9
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