The majority of people, during the period of their innocence and youth,
similarly admire the same type; sweet, regular features, and the fresh
pink and white tints. Only at a later time does their estimate of what
constitutes beauty vary, then it accords with the culture of their
spirit, and especially does it follow in the wake of their developing
intelligence.




CHAPTER XXVII.



I do not exactly remember at what period I started my museum which
absorbed so much of my time. Just above my Aunt Bertha's room there was
a tiny garret-chamber that I had taken possession of; the chief charm of
the place was the window that opened to the west, and commanded a view
of the ramparts and its old trees. The reddish spots in the distance,
that broke the uniform green of the meadows, were herds of wandering
oxen and cows. I had persuaded my mother to paper this attic room, and
she had covered its walls with a pinkish chamois paper which is still
there; she also put a what-not and some glass cases there. In these
latter I placed my butterflies which I looked upon as rare specimens; I
also arranged therein the birds'-nests that I had found in the woods of
Limoise; the shells I had gathered upon the shores of the Island, and
those others (brought from the colonies at an early time by unknown
ancestors) that I had found in the garret at the bottom of old chests
where they had lain for years and years, given over to dust and
darkness.