OUTLOOK TO NATURE I The Realm of the Commonplace [OT long ago, I sat at the window of a hotel chamber, looking down a thoroughfare of a great city. I saw thousands of human beings pouring in and out, up and down, as if moved by some relentless machinery. Most of them were silent and serious and went quickly on. Some sauntered, and returned again and again as if looking for something that they did not expect to find. Carriages went up and down in endless pageant. Trolley-cars rushed by, clanging and grinding as they headlonged into the side streets. Meretricious automobiles with gorgon-eyed drivers whirred into the crowds, scattering the street (1) crossers. Men passed with banners and advertising placards. Women paraded with streaming headgear and tempestuous gowns. A resplendent trumpeter rolled by in a tallyho. A hundred other devices to attract the eye and distract the ear came out and vanished; and yet no one stopped and no one seemed to care. Now and then I saw a knot of men form, as some one fell or as wagons collided; but the knots as quickly dissolved, and I saw that they were made up of the idle who were amused for the moment and then floated on hoping for fresh entertainment. A hurdy-gurdy attracted only a bevy of scurrying children. A little girl with armful of newspapers moved in and out unnoticed. Suddenly a dog leaped down a flight of steps and was followed by two little children laughing and screaming. The dog felt his freedom and the children were in pursuit. The crowd stopped; the stern-faced men with high hats stopped; the well-dressed women stopped. Even a cabby pulled up his horse as the children dashed on the pavement after the escaping dog. Back and forth the children ran. On the far side of the street the people halted and took their hands out of their pockets. The children caught the dog and bundled it lovingly into the house; the crowd applauded, and dispersed. Every person seemed to be surprised that he had stopped. From my height I thought I could discern the reason for this curious phenomenon: in all the blare and blazonry of that tumultuous thoroughfare, this was the only episode of real spontaneous and unaffected human nature. All else was a kind of acting, and every person unconsciously recognized that it was so. I thought how rare |