Beautiful Gold-eyes,
While I was in the forest, the family cooked you in a soup. I
couldn't stop them from destroying your lovely body, but, as you
asked, I have put your bones in the pot and buried it.
Ye Xian's story from Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang
by Duan Chengshi, 9th century, CE
Ma chere maman,
I look forward to each day I spend in the forest.
I feel as if I am learning about its breath, its joy at its aliveness.
I believe ecology holds the key to understanding
evolution. Everything in my work with the trees supports this.
Do present evolutionary processes reflect those of the past? How
do organisms participate in creating new environments, developing
space to explore and provide safety for themselves and their symbionts?
How does attention to a concept of history inform a theory of
the ways diversity increases?
It may be that the attraction of particular habitat
offers opportunities for evolutionary transitions. Furthermore,
there is an interesting dynamic within an ecosystem toward increasing
diversity and genetic material at the beginning of an evolutionary
transition.
Today the little woman from the clinics
laboratory showed me pictures of several young men at court. Some
are clever she says, but others care more about reciting their
exploits. One sings love songs to show how sensitive he is: hes
the one who tries to flirt with my stepsister, but shes
not interested. I dont blame her. Ive seen this guy
torturing rose bushes when he thinks no one sees him in the Clouds
Breath Garden. The son of the minister of bucket bottom inspection
practices his protest cheers in the mirror to look good at demonstrations.
His father had been in the ministry of horsebreeding but was demoted
for corruption. It looks as if his son can be tempted by flattery.
I think this woman wants to help me; at the very
least I appreciate her stories and her good sense.