Rough-fruited Buttercup (Ranunculus muricatus, 刺果毛茛).
Another species of buttercup growing on the paths along the Xiang river. Its native range is from the Mediterranean to Central Asia but is naturalized throughout the world, including here in Hunan.
Omnis homines, qui sese student praestare ceteris animalibus, summa ope niti decet, ne vitam silentio transeant veluti pecora, quae natura prona atque ventri oboedientia finxit. sed nostra omnis vis in animo et corpore sita est: animi imperio, corporis servitio magis utimur; alterum nobis cum dis, alterum cum beluis commune est. quo mihi rectius videtur ingeni quam virium opibus gloriam quaerere, et quoniam vita ipsa qua fruimur brevis est, memoriam nostri quam maxume longam efficere. nam divitiarum et formae gloria fluxa atque fragilis est, virtus clara aeternaque habetur.Sallust, Catilinae Coniuratio, I. My translation.
All human beings, who desire to surpass to other animals, ought to endeavour to the best of their ability to avoid passing through life in obscurity like cattle, which nature formed with their heads to the ground, subservient to their bellies. But taken as a whole our strength is situated in the mind as well as the body: we enjoy rather the power of the mind and servitude of the body; the first we hold in common with the gods, the latter with beasts. For which reason it appears to me more reasonable to seek glory with our intellectual resources than though our physical strength, and since the life itself which we enjoy is short, to make the memory of our lives as long lasting as possible. For the glory of wealth and physical beauty is fluid and fragile, but virtue shines brilliantly and is eternal.
Leszek Kołakowski, ‘Is There a Future for Truth’ in Is God Happy?: Select Essays (New York: Basic Books, 2013), pp. 288-297 (p. 288):
Some of us, at that stage of our early youth when we made our way through a great many books, believed that one day we would hit upon the book par excellence: the absolute book, the book that would bring ultimate enlightenment and reveal the Whole Truth. We fairly soon came to the conclusion that, although there are many excellent books, wise books and interesting books, the absolute book does not exist. But what we had in mind, as we laboured under the illusion of its existence and waited for the Truth to be revealed, was truth in a particular sense.
Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla, 蚁䴕).
Twice I have seen a wryneck in the trees by the Xiang river: once last April and exactly two weeks ago today. Both times, it has appeared in roughly the same spot though if it is the same bird it must only rarely forage there, as I have often looked for it.
Adolfo Bioy Cesares, Borges (Buenos Aires, Destino, 2006), pp. 290-91:
1957 Sábado, 15 de junio. ‘Hablamos de la Odisea y de la Iliáda. BIOY (a Borges): «A vos te gusta más la Odisea. Yo prefiero la Iliáda. Comprendo que la Odisea en más novelesca, pero en la Iliáda hay algo épico que no he sentido en ninguna parte». A pesar de su vieja preferencia por la Odisea, Borges trata de darme la razón: dice que Reyes también prefiere la Iliáda; que según Butler la Odisea es la mujer de la Iliáda, que a pesar de la intervención de los dioses, uno siente que los guerreros son valientes (a diferencia de lo que ocurre con los guerreros celtas, en cuyo valor no se cree). BORGES: «Lo que occurre a cada uno es muy importante.» BIOY «Son pocos. No están perdidos en la multitud. El destino de los individuos pesa en las batallas: lo contrario del admirable Verdun de Jules Romains. Realmente los hombres son héroes.” BORGES: «Homero es muy minucioso sobre lo que les pasa; las heridas se detallan: manó la negra sangre. (Pausa) Qué extraña es la literatura. Porque el encabezamiento de la Odisea está en la tradución de Lawrence en líneas de todo el ancho de la página, la impresión es de que uno lee otro libro. Está bien, de parte de Lawrence, el haberse dado cuenta».My translation.
De la Eneida dice que es un libro admirable; que por muchos años la opusieron a la Iliada y a la Odisea, como la obra culta frente a la obra genuina, pero que hay muchas cosas lindísimas en ella. Dice que la tradución española, de Eugenio de Ochoa, que publicó Ureña, es excelente: «Reproduce muy bien los versos latinos.” Comenta también: «Mis sobrinos leyeron todo en esa colección de Ureña: la Odisea, la Iliada y la Eneida. Les gustaron mucho. Traté de entusiasmarlos con Ariosto, pero fracasé. Ven solamente un libro mal hecho. Sin embargo, hay tantas cosas en el Orlando Furioso».
June 15, 1957, Saturday. ‘We talked about the Odyssey and the Iliad. BIOY (to Borges): "You like the Odyssey better. I prefer the Iliad. I understand that the Odyssey is more fantastic, but in the Iliad there is something epic that I don't feel anywhere else”/ In spite his old preference for the Odyssey, Borges tries to take my side: he says that Reyes also prefers the Iliad; that according to Butler the Odyssey is the wife of the Iliad, that despite the intervention of the gods, one feels that the warriors are brave (unlike what happens with the Celtic warriors, in whose courage one doesn’t believe). BORGES: "What happens to each one is very important." BIOY "They are few. They are not lost in the crowd. The fate of the individual hangs in the battles: the opposite of the admirable Verdun of Jules Romains. Truly the men are heroes.” BORGES: “Homer is very meticulous about what happens to them; the wounds are detailed: the black blood gushed. (Pause) How strange literature is. Because the preamble of the Odyssey is in Lawrence's translation in lines the whole width of the page, the impression is that one is reading another book. It is good, on Lawrence's part, to have noticed this.
Of the Aeneid he says that it is an admirable book; that for many years it was set up against the Iliad and the Odyssey, as a cultured work compared to the genuine work, but that there are many beautiful things in it. He says that the Spanish translation, by Eugenio de Ochoa, published by Ureña, is excellent: “It recreates the Latin verses very well.” He also comments, "My nephews read everything in that Ureña collection: the Odyssey, the Iliad and the Aeneid. They liked them so much. I tried to get them excited about Ariosto, but failed. They see only a poorly made book. However, there are so many things in the Orlando Furioso."
A novel should be a book of questions, not a book of answers.Hilary Mantel, 'A question of belief', The Guardian, 28 Jan 2006.
Sloth is the root of much bad opinion.Ezra Pound, ABC of Reading (New York: New Directions, 1960; 1934), p. 99.
Chinese Slug (Meghimatium bilineatum, 双线巨篷蛞蝓).
We are in for week of cold, rain and respiratory illnesses. It will be challenging to take pictures until things improve. In the meantime, there is not much to photograph anyways: a wet piece of wood revealed some woodlice, two lethargic cockroaches and this listless slug.
Professors do not like to be asked to move quickly, and particularly not by a man who is not yet thirty. They can move quickly, or do they imagine, but they do not like to be bossed.Robertson Davies, Cornish Trilogy Omnibus (New York: RosettaBooks, 2019), p. 24 [Rebel Angels; 1988].
Jennifer Ackerman, The Genius of Birds (New York: Penguin Books, 2016), p. 86:
Whether New Caledonian crows have leaps of insight remains to be determined, but these experiments suggest that these birds do have an extraordinary ability to notice the consequences of their own actions, says Taylor, and to pay attention to the way objects interact. These are mighty useful mental tools when it comes to making and using material tools. THE AUCKLAND TEAM IS also attempting to figure out whether the crows understand basic physical principles.A “crow-appropriate paradigm” for this, as Taylor puts it, is an experimental version of the old Aesop’s fable “The Crow and the Pitcher.” In that fable, a thirsty crow comes across a half-filled jug of water. Unable to reach the water to drink, the crow drops pebble after pebble into the pitcher until the water level rises enough for him to drink. As it turns out, this is not just a folktale. New Caledonian crows will do exactly that—drop stones into a water-filled tube to raise the water level. And, as Sarah Jelbert discovered while working with the Auckland team, if given a choice between heavy objects and light ones, solid and hollow ones, the crows will spontaneously pick objects that will sink over those that will float. They know how to pick their materials and will select the right option 90 percent of the time. This suggests that the crows understand water displacement, a fairly sophisticated physical concept, on par with the comprehension of a child five to seven years old. It also suggests that they’re able to grasp the basic physical properties of objects and make inferences about them.