Three Days to See 英文朗读 part 8

The Second Day

The next day—the second day of sight—I should arise with the dawn and see the thrilling miracle by which night is transformed into day. I should behold with awe the magnificent panorama of light with which the sun awakens the sleeping earth.

This day I should devote to a hasty glimpse of the world,past and present.I should want to see the pageant of man's progress,the kaleidoscope of the ages. How can so much be compressed into one day? Through the museums,of course. Often I have visited the New  York Museum of Natural History to touch with my hands many of the objects there exhibited,but I have longed to see with my eyes the condensed history of the earth and its inhabitants displayed there—animals and the races of men pictured in their native environment; gigantic carcasses of dinosaurs and mastodons which roamed the earth long before man appeared,with his tiny stature and  powerful  brain,to conquer the animal kingdom;realistic presentations of the processes of development in animals,in man,and in the implementswhich man has used to fashion for himself a secure home on this planet;and a thousand and one other aspects of natural history.

I wonder how many readers  of this  article have viewedthispanorama of the face of living things as pictured in that inspiringmuseum.Many,of  course,have   not  had  the   opportunity, but I amsure that many who have had the opportunity have not made use of it. There,indeed,is a place to use your eyes. You who see can spend many fruitful days there,but I with my imaginary three days of sight,could  only take a hasty glimpse,and pass on.