Madam How and Lady Why | Page 6

she will let us see her at her work, and, what
is more, teach us to copy her. But there is another fairy here likewise,
whom we can hardly hope to see. Very thankful should we be if she
lifted even the smallest corner of her veil, and showed us but for a
moment if it were but her finger tip--so beautiful is she, and yet so
awful too. But that sight, I believe, would not make us proud, as if we
had had some great privilege. No, my dear child: it would make us feel
smaller, and meaner, and more stupid and more ignorant than we had
ever felt in our lives before; at the same time it would make us wiser

than ever we were in our lives before- -that one glimpse of the great
glory of her whom we call Lady Why.
But I will say more of her presently. We must talk first with Madam
How, and perhaps she may help us hereafter to see Lady Why. For she
is the servant, and Lady Why is the mistress; though she has a Master
over her again--whose name I leave for you to guess. You have heard it
often already, and you will hear it again, for ever and ever.
But of one thing I must warn you, that you must not confound Madam
How and Lady Why. Many people do it, and fall into great mistakes
thereby,--mistakes that even a little child, if it would think, need not
commit. But really great philosophers sometimes make this mistake
about Why and How; and therefore it is no wonder if other people
make it too, when they write children's books about the wonders of
nature, and call them "Why and Because," or "The Reason Why." The
books are very good books, and you should read and study them: but
they do not tell you really "Why and Because," but only "How and So."
They do not tell you the "Reason Why" things happen, but only "The
Way in which they happen." However, I must not blame these good
folks, for I have made the same mistake myself often, and may do it
again: but all the more shame to me. For see--you know perfectly the
difference between How and Why, when you are talking about yourself.
If I ask you, "Why did we go out to-day?" You would not answer,
"Because we opened the door." That is the answer to "How did we go
out?" The answer to Why did we go out is, "Because we chose to take a
walk." Now when we talk about other things beside ourselves, we must
remember this same difference between How and Why. If I ask you,
"Why does fire burn you?" you would answer, I suppose, being a little
boy, "Because it is hot;" which is all you know about it. But if you were
a great chemist, instead of a little boy, you would be apt to answer me,
I am afraid, "Fire burns because the vibratory motion of the molecules
of the heated substance communicates itself to the molecules of my
skin, and so destroys their tissue;" which is, I dare say, quite true: but it
only tells us how fire burns, the way or means by which it burns; it
does not tell us the reason why it burns.
But you will ask, "If that is not the reason why fire burns, what is?" My
dear child, I do not know. That is Lady Why's business, who is mistress
of Mrs. How, and of you and of me; and, as I think, of all things that

you ever saw, or can see, or even dream. And what her reason for
making fire burn may be I cannot tell. But I believe on excellent
grounds that her reason is a very good one. If I dare to guess, I should
say that one reason, at least, why fire burns, is that you may take care
not to play with it, and so not only scorch your finger, but set your
whole bed on fire, and perhaps the house into the bargain, as you might
be tempted to do if putting your finger in the fire were as pleasant as
putting sugar in your mouth.
My dear child, if I could once get clearly into your head this difference
between Why and How, so that you should remember them steadily in
after life, I should have done you more good than if I had given you a
thousand pounds.
But now that we know that How and Why are two very different
matters, and must not be confounded with each other, let us look for
Madam How, and see her at work making this little glen; for, as I told
you,