Female Sympetrum Eroticum

Sympetrum eroticum (竖眉赤蜻). Female.

While the male's abdomen is a vibrant red, the female's is a tigroid pattern of black and yellow. There are many of both sexes, around ponds and still waters throughout Changsha from late Summer to late Autumn.

My Head is as Full of Latin as an Egg’s Full of Oatmeal

Robert Greene (1558-1592), Plays, ed. by T.H. Dickinson (London: T. Fisher Unwin, [1909]), p. 296 [Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (c. 1589), Act V, Scene I]:

MILES:
A scholar, quoth you! marry, sir, I would I had been made a bottle-maker when I was made a scholar; for I can get neither to be a deacon, reader, nor schoolmaster, no, not the clerk of a parish. Some call me a dunce; another saith my head is as full of Latin as an egg’s full of oatmeal [...]A scholar, quoth you!

Japanese Morning Glory

Japanese Morning Glory (Ipomoea nil, 牵牛).

In spite of its name, it is from the American tropics. I have seen it in gardens in and near Changsha, but only recently noticed (on account of the striking flowers) a few long climbing vines in the wilds of Yuelu Mountain.

Three Latin Nursery Rhymes

1. ‘CARMINA GYNACEI’ [Little Jack Horner]

In latebra sedit Horner (dixere) Johannem,
Parvus, edens natale, quietus! crustula christi,
Inseruit digitum—depromsit, callide! prunum,
Et laetus dixit—“Juvenis quam sum bonus ego.”

2. [Hey diddle diddle]

Nunc felem citharamque cano cum hei diddle diddle,
Lactiferam necnon vaccam qui saltat ad astra,
Atque canem parvum qui risit videre ludos,
Cochlear et patinam fugientem, horribile visu!

3. ‘Invocatio ad Mercurium et eius responsum.’ [Mary had a little lamb]

“Parvus, oves Bopeep infelix perdidit olim,
   Qua censes O Rex invenisset eas?”
“Permitte esse in eas ad ovilia mox redituras,
   Haud dubio caudas ducere pone suas.”

Anonymous, The Regrets of Memory (London: Henry Wix, 1840), pp. 101-103. Emended ‘inveniisset’. The first two are simple dactylic hexameters; the third has been rendered as an epigram in elegiac couplets,

Black Bulbul

Black Bulbul (Hypsipetes leucocephalus, 黑短脚鹎). White headed morph.

I have been infrequently spotting this bird since mid-July on Yuelu Mountain by my college. In fact I have been seeing and hearing birds in greater numbers and variety along my favourite footpaths throughout the mountain this season than I have over the past several years; a trend I hope will continue.

Liberals

John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, Baron Acton (1834-1902), Lectures on the French Revolution (London: Macmillan, 1910), p. 19:

Yet all these fractions of opinion were called Liberal: Montesquieu, because he was an intelligent Tory; Voltaire, because he attacked the clergy, Turgot, as a reformer; Rousseau, as a democrat; Diderot, as a freethinker. The one thing common to them all is a disregard for liberty.

Angled Sunbeam

Angled Sunbeam (Curetis acuta, 尖翅银灰蝶).

A flashy orange and brown in flight, this lycaenid blends easily into different backgrounds: most likely why this is only the second one I have ever seen on Yuelu Mountain; in this case it was happily camouflaged on a granite block.

Autumn is Like Old Age

ἔοικε δὲ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ περιιόντος οἷον γῆρας εἶναι τὸ φθινόπωρον· οὔπω γὰρ ἥκει τὸ ὑγρόν, οὐκέτι δὲ τὸ θερμὸν ἔρρωται

And as the year revolves, late autumn is like old age; for the wet season has not arrived, and the warm season is no longer strong

Plutarch, Moralia, VIII.736. My translation.

Slender Skimmer

Slender Skimmer (Orthetrum sabina, 狭腹灰蜻).

A species of orthetrum ranging from south-east Europe to Australia, it has clearly adapted to a variety of different environments. In summer, there are often a few around the local lakes; towards the end of summer they are easy to find around Yuelu Mountain and in the nearby forests, wherever there are ponds or pools of water--and often vigorously chasing away other species of dragonflies!

Training and Talent

Neque enim ingenium sine disciplina aut disciplina sine ingenio perfectum artificem potest efficere.

For indeed neither raw talent without instruction nor instruction without raw talent can make a perfect artisan.

Vitruvius, De Architectura, I.3. My translation.

Juvenile Giant Asian Mantis

Giant Asian Mantis (Hierodula patellifera, 广斧螳).

A juvenile mantis (it was only 3cm in length, though awkward to measure on account of the upright position of its abdomen and its unwillingness to stay still), slowly strolling across the road and shaking like a wind-blown leaf.

The Professor's Dictionary

Isambard Wilkinson, Travels in a Dervish Cloak (London: Eland, 2017), p. 39:

One day, the Professor handed me a copy of his latest dictionary, Essential English Usage. ‘I’ve written it,’ he said, pausing to compress his lips, eyes twinkling with satire, ‘so that I might become very famous.’ I skimmed through it. Several phrases stood out: ‘…the moon’s lucent rays silvered the river’ ‘…she is a voluptuous dancer (Having large breasts and hips)’ ‘…Portly – having a rather fat body’ As I skimmed on, its deeper currents revealed it to be a Voltairian swipe against infamy. ‘Why does the feudal abase his servants in public?’ ‘Her landlord is a bit of an ogre’ ‘Who is not aware of the political and financial shenanigans among the political elite?’ The Professor asked if I would mind reviewing his dictionary for my newspaper. ‘The paper doesn’t usually review such books,’ I said. ‘But couldn’t you put a little something down on paper?’ he gently prodded. Later on he pressed a fresh edition of the book into my hands. He turned it over so I could see its back cover. There was my paper’s endorsement of his work ‘…this steadfast collection of definitions and usages is brightened by wit and literary flair’. He was very pleased. ‘You know,’ I said, in a confessional tone, ‘the review was never actually published in the paper.’ ‘No matter. No matter at all. That is far from the point,’ reassured the Professor.

Truth is Bold

Truth is bold and unsuspicious; want of self-reliance is the mark of falsehood.

John Henry Newman, The Idea of a University (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1996; 1873), p. 58.

Common Gull

Common Gull (Cepora nerissa, 黑脉园粉蝶).

Common, as its name suggests, at least throughout India, and South East Asia as far south as Indonesia. In China, they can be found in the southern coastal regions,  but for whatever reason, they are not much of a presence in the landlocked provinces. This one was in the Fuzhou National Park.

Immortality

Edwin Muir, An Autobiography (London: Methuen, 1964; 1940), pp. 51-52:

I do not have the power to prove that man is immortal and that the soul exists; but I know that there must be such a proof, and that compared with it every other demonstration is idle. It is true that human life without immortality would be inconceivable to me, though that is not the ground for my belief. It would be inconceivable because if man is an animal by direct descent I can see human life only as a nightmare populated by animals wearing top-hats and kid gloves, painting their lips and touching up their cheeks and talking in heated rooms, rubbing their muzzles together in the moment of lust, going through innumerable clever tricks, learning to make and listen to music, to gaze sentimentally at sunsets, to count, to acquire a sense of humour, to give their lives for some cause, or to pray.

Magpie Flat

Magpie Flat (Abraximorpha davidii, 白弄蝶).

A skipper butterfly with a fairly wide range over southern China. I have on the rare occasion seen one in Changsha, but this one was photographed while rit reposed for a moment in Fuzhou National Forest Park.

Lemon Migrant

Lemon Migrant (Catopsilia pomona, 迁粉蝶).

These pierid butterflies were scattered about through various parts of the Xiamen Botanical Gardens. They are found throughout India, southern China, and throughout south-east Asia down to Australia. As seasonal migrants, they navigate in groups up and down the rivers, to avoid cold weather.

Autumn

 vel cum decorum mitibus pomis caput
      Autumnus agris extulit,
ut gaudet insitiva decerpens pira
      certantem et uvam purpurae,
qua muneretur te, Priape, et te, pater
      Silvane, tutor finium!

when out in the fields Autumn raised his head adorned with mellow fruits, how he rejoices in plucking grafted pears and the grape which competes in hue with the purple with which he might repay you, Priapus and you, Father Sylvanus, guardian of the countryside!

Horace, Epodes, II.17-22. My translation.

Pearly Sea Anemone

Pearly Sea Anemone (Paracondylactis sinensis, 中华近瘤海葵).

Beaches are a liminal space between our world and the alien world that comprises most of our planet. Exploring the Xiamen beach at low tide at night there were many sea urchins and sea anemones, and other small creatures besides quickly and obscurely going about their business, present but barely observable.

Unfinished Work

Charlotte Wood, Stone Yard Devotional (Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2023), p. 128:

I remembered an artist I knew in my twenties. He said an unfinished painting was a form of malignance. He said an artist must complete their work, good or bad, lest it make them sick.

Black-spotted Frog

Black-spotted Frog (Pelophylax nigromaculatus, 黑斑侧褶蛙)

A common true frog, I see them more often at night but sometimes by the edges of ponds and other still waters during the day. Some individuals are green, others grey or olive. Their bellies are always white. The name refers to their large noticeable dark spots, but they also have a distinct mid-dorsal line, and lines on each of their two dorso-lateral folds.

Old is Better Than the New

    There must be several men of spirit and experiences akin to mine who remember that little book-shop opposite Portland Road Station. It had a peculiar character; the books were of a solid kind—chiefly theology and classics—and for the most part those old editions which are called worthless, which have no bibliopolic value, and have been supplanted for practical use by modern issues. The bookseller was very much a gentleman, and this singular fact, together with the extremely low prices at which his volumes were marked, sometimes inclined me to think that he kept the shop for mere love of letters. Things in my eyes inestimable I have purchased there for a few pence, and I don’t think I ever gave more than a shilling for any volume. As I once had the opportunity of perceiving, a young man fresh from class-rooms could only look with wondering contempt on the antiquated stuff which it rejoiced me to gather from that kindly stall, or from the richer shelves within.  My Cicero’s Letters for instance: podgy volumes in parchment, with all the notes of Graevius, Gronovius, and I know not how many other old scholars.  Pooh!  Hopelessly out of date. But I could never feel that.  I have a deep affection for Graevius and Gronovius and the rest, and if I knew as much as they did, I should be well satisfied to rest under the young man’s disdain. The zeal of learning is never out of date; the example—were there no more—burns before one as a sacred fire, for ever unquenchable.  In what modern editor shall I find such love and enthusiasm as glows in the annotations of old scholars?
   Even the best editions of our day have so much of the mere school-book; you feel so often that the man does not regard his author as literature, but simply as text. Pedant for pedant, the old is better than the new.

George Gissing, The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987; 1903), pp. 32-33.

Rough-leaved Cats-Whiskers

Rough-leaved Cats-Whiskers (Rotheca myricoides, 蓝蝴蝶).

Native to mountains across Africa, with its striking dichasial cymes, it was one of the more beautiful summer flowers in the Xiamen Botanical Gardens.

People

Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake (New York: Scribner, 2024), loc.1189-1190:

Nature doesn’t bother me. What bothers me in nature is the possibility of people. I get a feeling in woods, no matter how remote they are, that someone could be around.

South China Collared Carpenter

South China Collared Carpenter (Xylocopa dejeanii ssp. alboxantha, 华南领木蜂).

This solitary member of a widely distributed species of carpenter bee was resting on a flower in the Fuzhou National Forest Park. As they are such fascinating creatures, I hope to photograph more bees over the next year, wherever I can find them.

Memory Loss

Everyone thinks that memory loss is the end, that it’s impenetrable.

Anne Michaels, Held (London: Bloomsbury, 2023), p. 84.

Dark Palm Dart

Dark Palm Dart (Telicota ohara, 黄纹长标弄蝶).

A grass skipper butterfly ranging from south Asia to northern Australia.This one was darting about among the wild beggarticks in the Fuzhou National Forest Park.

Summer Fruits

δενδρέων δὲ νομὸν Διόνυσος πολυγαθὴς
αὐξάνοι, ἁγνὸν φέγγος ὀπώρας.

May Dionysus joy-bringer swell the trees
with fruit, the pure light of the serotinal season.

Pindar. Fragment 153. My translation.

Notes:
ὀπώρα, the season between the rise of Sirius and the rise of of Arcturus ends tonight.

The Woods at Night

Robert Louis Stevenson, Further Memories (London: William Heinemann, 1924), p. 124 [Memories of Fontainebleau]:

The woods by night, in all their uncanny effect, are not rightly to be understood until you can compare them with the woods by day. The stillness of the medium, the floor of glittering sand, these trees that go streaming up like monstrous sea-weeds and waver in the moving winds like the weeds in submarine currents, all these set the mind working on the thought of what you may have seen off a foreland or over the side of a boat, and make you feel like a diver, down in the quiet water, fathoms below the tumbling, transitory surface of the sea. And yet in itself, as I say, the strangeness of these nocturnal solitudes is not to be felt fully without the sense of contrast. You must have risen in the morning and seen the woods as they are by day, kindled and coloured in the sun's light; you must have felt the odour of innumerable trees at even, the unsparing heat along the forest roads, and the coolness of the groves.

Turk's Cap Cactus

Turk's Cap Cactus (Melocactus ssp?, 花座球属).

I found it growing through a crack in a wall, in one of the more rundown parts of Hulishan Cannon Fort in Xiamen. It is not a native species to China, and one wonders how it got here; When did its progenitor come from the Americas and how did its seems come to that particular crack between two sturdy stones?