Our cat chose to have her
kittens in my study once, and as I would not have her further disturbed
than to give them another cushion to lie on in place of that which belonged
to my sofa, I had many opportunities of watching them as I wrote, or
prepared my sermons. But I must not talk about the cat and her kittens
now. When parents see their children asleep, especially if they have been
suffering in any way, they breathe more freely; a load is lifted off their
minds; their responsibility seems over; the children have gone back to
their Father, and he alone is looking after them for a while. Now, I had
not been comfortable about Wynnie for some time, and especially during our
journey, and still more especially during the last part of our journey.
There was something amiss with her. She seemed constantly more or less
dejected, as if she had something to think about that was too much for her,
although, to tell the truth, I really believe now that she had not quite
enough to think about. Some people can thrive tolerably without much
thought: at least, they both live comfortably without it, and do not seem
to be capable of effecting it if it were required of them; while for others
a large amount of mental and spiritual operation is necessary for the
health of both body and mind, and when the matter or occasion for so much
is not afforded them, the consequence is analogous to what follows when a
healthy physical system is not supplied with sufficient food: the oxygen,
the source of life, begins to consume the life itself; it tears up the
timbers of the house to burn against the cold.
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