Sunday, September 14, 2008

The Sparrow

"I was returning from hunting and walking alone an avenue of the garden, my dog running in front of me.
Suddenly he took shorter steps, and began to steal along as though tracking game.
I looked along the avenue and saw a young sparrow, with yellow about its beak and down on its head. It had fallen out of the nest (the wind was violently shaking the birch trees in the avenue) and sat unable to move, helplessly flapping its half-grown wings.
My dog was slowly approaching it, when, suddenly darting down from a tree close by, an old dark-throated sparrow fell like a stone right before my nose, and all ruffled up, terrified with despairing and pitiful cheeps, it flung itself twice towards the open jaws of shining teeth.
It sprang to save; it cast itself before its nestling, but all its tiny body was shaking with terror; its note was harsh and strange. Swooning with fear, it offered itself up!
What a huge monster must the dog have seemed to it! And yet it could not stay on its high branch out of danger. A force stronger than its will flung it down.
My dog stood still, drew back. Clearly he too recognized this force.
I hastened to call off the disconcerted dog, and I went away, full of reverence.
Love, I thought, is stronger than death or the fear of death. Only by it, by love, life holds together and advances."

Ivan Sergiewich Turgenev, Russian novelist, 1818-1883. - Photo by Liz Bickel

3 comments:

Mel said...

I LOVE this! It reminds me of portions of the books "Fight Like a Girl" and "Le Miserables", both of which I hope to write out for you when I get home tonight (or sometime soon) because I think you'll enjoy them as well.

I hope everything is going well for you!

Mel

FCB said...

Hi Mel,
Nice to see your comments, thought you might like this post..
I'll look for the stories.
God Bless,
Fred

Mel said...

Well, I looked for the part of "Les Miserables" that this post reminded me of, but when I read it, it wasn't quite as I remembered it. But here's the excerpt from the book "Fight Like a Girl" by Lisa Bevere (The two quotes in the beginning are from the movie "The Village"):

" 'How could you have sent her? She's blind.'

" 'She is led by love. The world moves for love; it kneels before it in awe.'

"Oh, that we would know and walk in this truth. It is when we learn to love fearlessly that we will find ourselves loved perfectly. Don't be afraid of my words. Those around you may not magically change, but you will. You will be free again. The world trembles before the woman who chooses to fearlessly love. Love is not only one of the weapons and forces women fight with; love is their domain to protect. Like the Word of God, it is both our sword and our promise."