Another World: Fragments from the Star City of MontalluyahLumley, Benjamin
Science
Another World: Fragments from the Star City of Montalluyah
Lumley, Benjamin
Utopias
No man, however nearly allied to a lady, or however great his cause for
displeasure may be, is allowed to say to her anything unpleasant except
through the medium of flowers.
The only exception is in favour of the husband, whose privilege is
seldom used; not only because it is thought more civilised to use
flowers as the medium on such occasions, but more especially because
marriages are now so well assorted that occasion for complaint scarcely
arises on either side.
At the marriage meetings flowers having the slightest disagreeable words
attached to them are strictly forbidden.
As an example of flowers having a qualified or disagreeable import take
the following:--
Ragopargee.--The white lily.
"Cold but truthful, and as constant as the drops of Mount Isione."
In a small recess of Mount Isione two drops of water, clear as crystal,
constantly fall, having percolated the rock above. As soon as two drops
have fallen two others succeed, two being the invariable number. The
interval between the fall of each pair of drops is equal and scarcely
perceptible.
These drops never cease to fall night or day, and they have already by
this accumulation formed a lake at the base of the mountain.
Voulervole--Convolvulus.
"False allurements!
Thy beauty is to please but for a day,
Like the magnet it attracts us,
And then thou wouldst make us weep
By fading before our eyes.
"Go, fickle flower,
For thou shalt not be mine
Until more lasting; thou canst learn to be."
Mooreska.--Fuchsia.
"Thy beauty is dazzling;
But, alas! its bloom will fade
The nearer we approach.
For thy external attractions find no echo within.
I can never take thee to my bosom."
* * * * *
Romeafee.--The pink lily. This flower is associated with excessive
love of dress, and the language attached to it ends with the words.
"As glaring to the eye as Kiloom."
The gorgeous appearance of sunset is personified in
poetical legends by a master spirit, called "Kiloom."
The colours of sunset are gaudy and vivid beyond
measure, and cast intense hues on all objects. Our
sunsets, though grand, are far from being so agreeably
soothing as those in your planet, but they leave an
after-glow, which gives light during the night when
darkness would otherwise prevail.
* * * * *
Flowers are profusely used in our great festivals. I
collect a fete given to me on the occasion of an anniversary,
when there appeared a cavalcade of one hundred camelopards,
bearing each on its back a kiosk, in which was a beautiful
woman. All the camelopards were united together, as it seemed
to the eye, by wreaths of flowers, though in fact these
concealed strong thongs, with which the animals were really
secured. Each animal was attended by a swarthy native of the
country whence it came.
XXV.
FLOWERS IMPROVED BY ELECTRICITY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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