Sermon: The West Wind (Karel Ĉapek)

HOLY Writ declares quite plainly :  “Ac efe a ddwedodd hefyd wrth y bobloedd.  Pan weloch gwmmwl yn codi o’r gorllewin yn y fan y dywedwch.  Y mae cawod yn dyfodd : ac felly y mae”  (Luke xii 54).  Now although the Welsh Bible says this about the west wind, it was in a west wind that I proceeded to Mount Snowdon  or, more correctly, Eryri Y Wyddfa, in order that I might see the whole land of Wales.   

 

Ac felly y mae :  it not only rained, but I found myself amid clouds and in such cold that on the summit of Snowdon I turned aside to a stove ;  for a fire is very beautiful to look upon, and by the glowing coals it is possible to think of a whole lot of the nicest things.  The guide-book praises the beauty and diversity of the view from Mount Snowdon :  I saw white and gray clouds, I even felt them beneath my shirt.     

 

 

It is not exactly ugly to look at, because it is white, but it is not exceedingly varied.  Nevertheless, it was vouchsafed to me to behold Lliwedd and Moel Offrwm and Cwm-y-Llan and Llyn Ffynnon Gwas and Crib-y-ddysgl ; and tell me, are these beautiful names  not worth a little fogginess, tempest, cold and cloud ?

From:  Karel Ĉapek,  "North Wales" in  "Letters from England," translated by Paul Selver, London, Geoffrey Bles, 1925.