want you to know what Papa Corot says, in a letter to a friend, about
himself and his painting. He writes:

"Look you, it is charming, the day of a landscapist. He gets up at
three in the morning, before sunrise, goes and sits under a tree, and
watches and waits. Not much can be seen at first. Nature is behind a
veil. Everything smells sweet.

"Ping! a ray of yellow light shoots up. The veil is torn, and meadow
and valley and hill are peeping through the rent.

"Bing, bing! the sun's first ray--another ray--and the flowers awake
and drink a drop of quivering dew. The leaves feel cold and move to
and fro. Under the leaves unseen birds are singing softly. The flowers
are saying their morning prayers.

"Bam! the sun has risen. Bam! a peasant crosses the field with a cart
and oxen. Ding! ding! says the bell of the ram that leads the flock of
sheep.

"Bam! bam! all bursts--all glitters--all is full of light, blond and
caressing as yet. The flowers raise their heads. It is adorable. I
paint! I paint!

"Boom! boom! boom! The sun aflame burns the earth. Everything becomes
heavy. Let us go home. We see too much now. Let us go home."

You see now why Corot could paint such a lovely picture as "The
Nymphs." He saw these gauzy creatures in the early morning light and
painted them before the sun scattered them to the four winds.

[Illustration: FIG. 37. THE NYMPHS. COROT. LOUVRE, PARIS]

ST. FRANCIS PREACHING TO THE BIRDS

GIOTTO DI BONDONE (1266?-1337)

One time more than six hundred years ago St. Francis preached the
dearest sermon to "My Sisters the Birds" that you ever heard. He said
to them as they lifted their little heads to listen to his words:

"Ye are beholden unto God your Creator, and always and in every place
it is your duty to praise him! Ye are bounden to him for the element
of the air which he has deputed to you forever-more. You sow not,
neither do you reap. God feeds you and gives you the streams and
fountains for your thirst. He gives you the mountains and the valleys
for your refuge, tall trees wherein to make your nests, and inasmuch
as you neither spin nor reap God clothes you and your children, hence
ye should love your Creator greatly, and therefore beware, my sisters,
of the sins of ingratitude, and ever strive to praise God."

St. Francis then made the sign of the Cross and sent the birds north,
south, east, and west to carry the story of the Cross to all mankind.

When Giotto, who