The Solitary Summer | Page 4

have more than an inferior
gardener because of his supposed more perfect obedience, and one
assistant, because of my desire to enjoy the garden undisturbed; I had
studied diligently all the gardening books I could lay hands on; I was
under the impression that I am an ordinarily intelligent person, and that
if an ordinarily intelligent person devotes his whole time to studying a
subject he loves, success is very probable; and yet at the end of two
years what was my garden like? The failures of the first two summers
had been regarded with philosophy; but that third summer I used to go
into it sometimes and cry.
As far as I was concerned I had really learned a little, and knew what to
buy, and had fairly correct notions as to when and in what soil to sow
and plant what I had bought; but of what use is it to buy good seeds and
plants and bulbs if you are forced to hand them over to a gardener who
listens with ill-concealed impatience to the careful directions you give
him, says Jawohl a great many times, and then goes off and puts them
in in the way he has always done, which is invariably the wrong way?
My hands were tied because of the unfortunate circumstance of sex, or
I would gladly have changed places with him and requested him to do
the talking while I did the planting, and as he probably would not have
talked much there would have been a distinct gain in the peace of the
world, which would surely be very materially increased if women's
tongues were tied instead of their hands, and those that want to could
work with them without collecting a crowd. And is it not certain that
the more one's body works the fainter grow the waggings of one's
tongue? I sometimes literally ache with envy as I watch the men going
about their pleasant work in the sunshine, turning up the luscious damp
earth, raking, weeding, watering, planting, cutting the grass, pruning
the trees--not a thing that they do from the first uncovering of the roses
in the spring to the November bonfires but fills my soul with longing to
be up and doing it too. A great many things will have to happen,

however, before such a state of popular large-mindedness as will allow
of my digging without creating a sensation is reached, so I have plenty
of time for further grumblings; only I do very much wish that the
tongues inhabiting this apparently lonely and deserted countryside
would restrict their comments to the sins, if any, committed by the
indigenous females (since sins are fair game for comment) and leave
their harmless eccentricities alone. After having driven through vast
tracts of forest and heath for hours, and never meeting a soul or seeing
a house, it is surprising to be told that on such a day you took such a
drive and were at such a spot; yet this has happened to me more than
once. And if even this is watched and noted, with what lightning
rapidity would the news spread that I had been seen stalking down the
garden path with a hoe over my shoulder and a basket in my hand, and
weeding written large on every feature! Yet I should love to weed.
I think it was the way the weeds flourished that put an end at last to my
hesitations about taking an experienced gardener and giving him a
reasonable number of helpers, for I found that much as I enjoyed
privacy, I yet detested nettles more, and the nettles appeared really to
pick out those places to grow in where my sweetest things were planted,
and utterly defied the three meek men when they made periodical and
feeble efforts to get rid of them. I have a large heart in regard to things
that grow, and many a weed that would not be tolerated anywhere else
is allowed to live and multiply undisturbed in my garden. They are
such pretty things, some of them, such charmingly audacious things,
and it is so particularly nice of them to do all their growing, and
flowering, and seed-bearing without any help or any encouragement. I
admit I feel vexed if they are so officious as to push up among my tea
roses and pansies, and I also prefer my paths without them; but on the
grass, for instance, why not let the poor little creatures enjoy
themselves quietly, instead of going out with a dreadful instrument and
viciously digging them up one by one? Once I went into the garden just
as the last of the three inept ones had taken up his stand, armed with
this implement, in the middle of the