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In a Canadian Canoe, the Nine Muses Minus One, and Other Stories
In a Canadian Canoe the Nine Muses Minus One and Other Stories Author:Barry Pain General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1891 Original Publisher: Henry Subjects: English wit and humor Fiction / Classics History / General Humor / General Literary Collections / General Literary Criticism / General Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a blac... more »k and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: IV. ON REFLECTION ; TO WHICH IS ADDED THE STORY OF THE TIN HEART. I LIKE to watch those trees reflected in the water. They are so suggestive, by reason of their being reflected wrong way up. All objective, outside facts are as trees, and the mind of man is as a river, and he consequently reflects everything in an inverted way. That is the reason why, if I try to guess a coin and say heads, it is always tails. That is the reason why, if I go to get a spoon out of my plate-basket in the dark, I always take out thirteen successive forks before I find one. It explains nearly everything. Probably the correct way to dine is really to begin with the fruit and end with the oysters. Itinerant musicians should begin by making a collection and leave out the other part. Anything that can be done backwards is better done backwards. When I leave for a moment the presence of royalty I am always required to walk backwards. That shows that royalty, together with Her Privy Council, which is the collected wisdom of the nation, thinks that it is best to walk backwards. And so it is. It is not only happier and holier, but it is also more piquant. You can never tell until you've kicked it whether you have backed into a policeman or a lamp-post. Newpossibilities are open to you. Anything may happen, and generally does. So, too, in skating. A good skater told me that the only enjoyable m...« less