Peter Tompkins

Since the publication of The Secret Life of Plants thirty years ago, people continue to tell me how the book has changed their life. I don't always comprehend what they mean, but I can appreciate what they say because it certainly changed my life when I woke up to the fact that all around us there really were the fabled spirits of nature who create the endless beauty of garden, hill, and dale. When I realized that Joan of Arc had been burned not for consorting with her angels, but because she frequented the nature spirits, and was thus considered a witch, I also realized the planet was on the verge of serious trouble. Then I heard that the parish priest had gone to the woods where Joan and her young friends frequented the nymphs and fairies in order to exorcise and banish them. With that, I realized the source of the trouble. Luckily I was guided by Sir George Trevelyan, perhaps the most erudite man I have known, and one of the most charming, to visit a Polish priest in Devonshire, Father Glasevsky, an eminent physicist, reputed to have seen the nymphs. Known fondly to his parishioners as "Father glass-of-whiskey" because of his ever-gracious offer to his guests, he paused for a moment before replying to my question as to what the nymphs were like. Looking out the window he said thoughtfully: "Yes, if the weather is fine, and I am by a stream in the woods, I have seen them." He paused, as if admiring a nymph, then added with a smile: "They have the most beautiful breasts."