Page:Winter - from the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau.djvu/300

286 the civilized man, but even many species of insects, such as the black fly and the almost microscopic &quot;No-see-em.&quot; How imperfect a notion have we commonly of what was the actual condition of the place where we dwell, three centuries ago.

Jan. 29, 1858. To Great Meadows at Copan. Found some splendid fungi on old aspens used for a fence; quite firm, reddish white above, and bright vermilion beneath, or perhaps more scarlet, reflecting various shades as it is turned. It is remarkable that the upper side of the fungus, which must, as here, commonly be low on decaying wood, so that we look down on it, is not bright colored nor handsome, and it was only when I had broken it off and turned it over that I was surprised by its brilliant color. This intense vermilion (?) face, which would be known to every boy in the town if it were turned upward, faces the earth, and is discerned only by the curious naturalist. Its ear is turned down listening to the honest praises of the earth. It is like a light red velvet or damask. These silent and motionless fungi with their ears turned ever downward to the earth, revealing their bright color perchance only to the prying naturalist who turns them upward, remind me of the &quot;Hear-all&quot; of the story.