VOICES IN THE WOODLANDS - A WARNING, A WELCOME, A FAREWELL?
WHAT FABLES AND LEGENDS STILL EXIST IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF TRADITIONALISTS
"THESE STORIES, HOWEVER, AS I BEFORE OBSERVED, ARE FAST FADING AWAY, AND IN ANOTHER GENERATION OR TWO WILL PROBABLY BE COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN," WROTE AMERICAN AUTHOR, WASHINGTON IRVING, IN HIS BOOK "BRACEBRIDGE HALL," CIRCA 1822. (BRACEBRIDGE, ONTARIO WAS NAMED COURTESY IRVING'S BOOK). IRONICALLY, THERE IS A VENERABLE OLD CROW, ONE OF A HALF DOZEN WHO LIKE TO LODGE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, NOW SITTING IN THE PINE TREE, NEAR MY OFFICE WINDOW, REMINDING ME OF WHAT IRVING MAY HAVE SEEN, IN THE FIELDS AROUND SQUIRE BRACEBRIDGE'S ESTATE IN THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS CAWING ABOUT, BUT IT'S A PERFECT, YET ANNOYING BACKGROUND FOR TODAY'S BLOG.
"THERE IS SOMETHING, HOWEVER, ABOUT THESE RURAL SUPERSTITIONS THAT IS EXTREMELY PLEASING TO THE IMAGINATION; PARTICULARLY THOSE WHICH RELATE TO THE GOOD-HUMOURED RACE OF HOUSEHOLD DEMONS, AND INDEED THE WHOLE FAIRY MYTHOLOGY. THE ENGLISH HAVE GIVEN AN INEXPRESSIBLE CHARM TO THESE SUPERSTITIONS, BY THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY HAVE ASSOCIATED THEM WITH WHATEVER IS MOST HOME-FELT AND DELIGHTFUL IN RUSTIC LIFE, OR REFRESHING AND BEAUTIFUL IN NATURE. I DO NOT KNOW A MORE FASCINATING RACE OF BEINGS THAN THESE LITTLE FABLED PEOPLE THAT HAUNTED THE SOUTHERN SIDES OF HILLS AND MOUNTAINS, LURKED IN FLOWERS AND ABOUT FOUNTAIN HEADS, GLIDED THROUGH KEY-HOLES INTO ANCIENT HALLS, WATCHED OVER FARM HOMES AND DAIRIES, DANCED ON THE GREEN BY SUMMER MOONLIGHT, AND ON THE KITCHEN HEARTH IN WINTER."
IRVING NOTED THAT, "THEY SEEM TO ME TO ACCORD WITH THE NATURE OF ENGLISH HOUSEKEEPING AND ENGLISH SCENERY." HE ADDED, "THEY SUIT THESE SMALL LANDSCAPES, WHICH ARE DIVIDED BY HONEYSUCKLED HEDGES INNTO SHELTERED FIELDS AND MEADOWS, WHERE THE GRASS IS MINGLED WITH DAISIES, BUTTERCUPS AND HARE-BELLS. WHEN I FIRST FOUND MYSELF AMONG ENGLISH SCENERY, I WAS CONTINUALLY REMINDED OF THE SWEET PASTORAL IMAGES WHICH DISTINGUISH THEIR FAIRY MYTHOLOGY; AND WHEN FOR THE FIRST TIME A CIRCLE IN THE GRASS WAS POINTED OUT TO ME, AS ONE OF THE RINGS WHERE THEY WERE FORMERLY SUPPOSED TO HAVE THEIR MOONLIGHT REVELS, IT SEEMED FOR A MOMENT AS IF FAIRY LAND WERE NO LONGER A FABLE. BROWN, IN HIS BRITANNIA'S PASTORALS, GIVES A PICTURE OF THE KIND OF SCENERY TO WHICH I ALLUDE:
"A PLEASANT MEAD; WHERE FAIRIES OFTEN DID THEIR MEASURES TREAD; WHICH IN THE MEADOWS MAKES SUCH CIRCLES GREEN; AS IF WITH GARLAND IT HAD CROWNED BEEN; WITHIN ONE OF THOSE ROUNDS WAS TO BE SEEN; A HILLOCK RISE, WHERE OFT THE FAIRY QUEEN, AT TWILIGHT SAT."
POET BEN JONSON WROTE: "BY WELLS AND RILLS IN THE MEADOWES GREEN, WE NIGHTLY DANCE OUR HEY-DAY GUISE, AND TO OUR FAIRY KING AND QUEEN, WE CHANT OUR MOONLIGHT MINSTRELSIES."
IN THE EARLY DESCRIPTIONS OF MUSKOKA, AS FAR BACK AS THE LATE 1850'S, EVEN FURTHER BACK TO CHAMPLAIN, YOU CAN FIND EVIDENCE THAT THE EARLY TRAVELLERS, EXPLORERS, SURVEYORS, AND SPORTSMEN, FOUND OUR REGION HAD AN INHERENT MYSTICAL QUALITY; AND MANY WRITERS MADE MENTION OF THE SCENERY AS HAVING A "FAIRYLAND" AND "ENCHANTED" LAKELAND. THE SOUTH FALLS, IN THE PIONEER HAMLET OF MUSKOKA FALLS, WAS ROUTINELY NOTED AS A PROFOUNDLY MYSTERIOUS, SPIRITUAL PLACE, WHERE ONE MIGHT SEE THE UNUSUAL, INFREQUENT APPEARANCE OF TWO RAINBOWS IN THE RISING-HEAVENWARD MIST. ITS SPRAY WAS EVEN REFERRED TO AS "VESUVIUS," AFTER THE GREAT VOLCANO. I HAVE SPENT YEARS SEARCHING THROUGH THOUSANDS OF BOOKS, ARTICLES, DIARIES, JOURNALS, AND LETTERS, WRITTEN IN AND ABOUT MUSKOKA, LOOKING FOR HONEST REFERENCES TO THE PARANORMAL, INCLUDING DESCRIPTIONS WITH THE WORDS "MYSTICAL," "ENCHANTED," "HAUNTED," "FAIRYLAND," AND "SUPERSTITION," AND HAVE FOUND ENOUGH EVIDENCE, TO SUPPORT THE THEORY THAT OUR REGION WAS A SOURCE OF BOUNTIFUL INSPIRATION, TO THOSE WHO HELD TRADITIONAL "OLD COUNTRY" BELIEFS, ABOUT STRANGE COUNTRYSIDE HABITATIONS, AND THINGS THAT GO BUMP, DAY OR NIGHT.
THE FACT IS, WHEN ENGLISH, SCOTTISH AND IRISH SETTLERS CAME TO MUSKOKA, THEY WERE QUICK TO ADOPT NAMES FROM THEIR HOMELANDS, TO ATTACH HERE….WITH CONSIDERABLE DISTINCTION. MANY OF OUR COMMUNITIES HAVE NAMESAKES IN BRITAIN AND EUROPE; BUT THEN THE COUNTRYSIDE, IN MANY POCKETS OF OUR HINTERLAND REGION, DID COME TO LOOK LIKE FARMLANDS FROM THE OLD COUNTRY. THUSLY, WHAT WAS A WORTHY SUPERSTITION OVERSEAS, BECAME A TRANSPLANTED SUPERSTITION IN MUSKOKA…….ALONGSIDE THE LEGEND AND LORE OF THE FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE, SPECIFICALLY THE ALQONQUINS, WHO HUNTED AND FISHED ACROSS THE DISTRICT.
THE POINT OF REVISITING THIS MATTER, OF WHICH I HARP ON CONSIDERABLY, IS THAT MUSKOKA WAS GIVEN ITS ADORNMENT OF SUPERSTITIONS, LEGEND AND LORE, BY A HUGELY DIVERSE AND EXPANDING POPULATION OF FIRST NATION PEOPLES, RESIDING IN MUSKOKA, WITH A WIDE HOST OF EUROPEAN TRADITIONS SPREAD OUT WITHIN THE COMMUNITIES, URBAN AND RURAL……. WHICH OF COURSE, WERE TO BECOME MORE CURIOUS AND REVISED, AS TIME WENT ON. LARGELY BECAUSE OF MARRIAGES BETWEEN CULTURES AND RELIGIONS. THIS ISN'T SO PECULIAR THAT IT NEEDS ANY INTENSE STUDY TO BRING FORTH ITS EXTRAVAGANCES ON "WHAT IT MEANS TO BE MUSKOKAN," BUT IT DOES EMPHASIZE THE POINT, THAT WITH WHAT THE REGION OFFERED AS AN ENCHANTED LAKELAND, PERTAINING TO ITS PICTURESQUE NATURE, ADDED UPON, AS A RESULT OF PIONEER IMMIGRATION, IT'S TO BE EXPECTED WE WOULD HAVE A MOST INTERESTING COLLECTION OF FOLK TALES TO PASS ON AND UP THROUGH THE GENERATIONS. INSTEAD, WELL, WE HAVE NEXT TO NOTHING, BECAUSE HISTORIANS THROUGH THE DECADES, FOUND MORE INTEREST IN LOCAL POLITICS AND BUSINESS, THAN WITH THE FRIVOLOUS, OUTDATED, NONSENSE OF SUPERSTITIONS, AND THE ALLEGED PARANORMAL…..ALSO RULE AS POPPYCOCK. AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE IN THIS DISTRICT. LOTS AND LOTS OF COMMUNITY HISTORIES THAT AT BEST, ONLY BRUSH THE WHOLE REALM OF FOLK HISTORY. BERT SHEA AND REDMOND THOMAS ARE TWO EXCEPTIONS WHO COME TO MIND, HAVING DUTIFULLY INCLUDED CHARACTER-FILLED STORIES, IN THEIR HISTORIES, THAT UNCLOAKED THE UNIQUE AND LEGENDARY SITUATIONS, THAT GIVE MUSKOKA ITS TRUE HUMAN-SIDE IDENTITY.
IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN THE VALUE OF FOLK-TALES, AND THINK THAT SUPERSTITIONS ARE IRRELEVANT, THEN WHAT ARE YOU READING THIS FOR? FROM MY CHILDHOOD MEANDERINGS, THROUGH THE WOODLANDS OF MUSKOKA, I HAVE BEEN HEARING VOICES. HONESTLY, THEY'RE NOT IN MY HEAD. I'VE SEEN SHADOWS AND BEAMS OF LIGHT THAT WERE GHOST-LIKE, PASSING, LIKE ME, ALONG FOREST TRAILS, AND DOWN INTO FERN-LADEN LOWLANDS. SUZANNE HAS HEARD CLASSICAL MUSIC BEING PLAYED, IN THE LAKESIDE FORESTS OF LAKE ROSSEAU, AT WINDERMERE, ON REPEATED OCCASIONS, WHEN SHE WAS TRULY ISOLATED, AND THERE WAS NO ONE NEARBY. WE HAVE BOTH WITNESSED GHOSTS, AND WHAT WE BELIEVED TO BE, WAYWARD SPIRITS CROSSING OUR PATHS. WE ARE BOTH SUPERSTITIOUS, AND WE ARE BELIEVERS THAT THOSE WHO HAVE CROSSED OVER, CAN COMMUNICATE WITH THE LIVING. AND WE BOTH PUT ON OUR JEANS ONE LEG AT A TIME, AND IN DAILY CHORES, ALWAYS DOT OUR "i's" AND CROSS OUR "t's". IF YOU LIKE STRANGE PEOPLE AS COMPANY, YOU WOULD NOT LIKE US, BECAUSE WE ARE PRETTY ORDINARY AND CERTAINLY UNREMARKABLE IN OUR HOME AND WORK DEMEANOR. BUT YOU SEE, WE WERE BROUGHT UP BY GRANDPARENTS AND PARENTS, WHO WERE KEENLY AWARE OF SUPERSTITIONS, AND WHO WANTED THEIR CHILDREN TO BE ABLE TO DEVELOP A KEEN AND, YES, OVER-ACTIVE IMAGINATION. THEY DIDN'T TELL US THERE WEREN'T GHOSTS, HOBGOBLINS, OR FAIRIES, AND THEY NEVER GAVE US ANY REASON TO FEAR THEM, IF WE DID CROSS PATHS. IT WAS A SOURCE OF LIFE-LONG WONDERMENT. OUR BOYS WERE BROUGHT UP THE SAME. WE ENCOURAGED THEM TO USE THEIR IMAGINATIONS, AND SEE BEYOND THE OBVIOUS……TO CREATE SCENES THEY THOUGHT EXISTED IN SITUATIONS THEY COULDN'T SEE, OR EXPERIENCE OTHERWISE. AND WHEN I HEAR THE SONGS THEY WRITE THESE DAYS, AND PERFORM IN PUBLIC, SUZANNE AND I ARE BOTH CONVINCED, IT HAS ALL BEEN IN THE SPIRIT OF LEADING A "QUESTING LIFE"…..CHALLENGING STATUS QUO, AND APPRECIATING ALL THE FASCINATING ASPECTS OF EVERYDAY LIFE; AND SEEKING THEM OUT CREATIVELY, AS RESOURCES TO EXPLOIT.
THE VOICES AT THE CATARACT
I WON'T GIVE YOU THE PRECISE RIVERSIDE LOCATION, OF A MOST BEAUTIFUL AND FASCINATING PLACE, WHERE I HAVE MYSELF, HEARD VOICES…..WHILE COMPLETELY ALONE. THE REASON I MUST KEEP THIS PLACE A SECRET, IS THAT IT IS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACES ON THE MUSKOKA WATERSHED. ITS POWERFUL CURRENT AND UNDERTOW, HAVE CLAIMED MANY LIVES, AND IT ALSO ABUTS NUMEROUS RESIDENCES. SO INVITING A CROWD ISN'T A GOOD THING.
WHILE WORKING ON LOCAL FOLK STORIES AND ANYTHING HAVING A PARANORMAL ASPECT TO IT, A FRIEND OF MINE TOOK ME TO A LOCATION ON THE RIVER, WHERE IT IS SAID, THERE IS A FIRST NATIONS BURIAL GROUND, IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE RAPIDS. THE FIRST TIME HE TOOK ME INTO THE WOODLANDS ABOVE THE SMALL CATARACT, HE EXPLAINED HOW MANY LOCALS HAD REPORTED HEARING THE VOICES, AND CRYING, PRESUMABLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE MANY TRAGEDIES WHICH HAD OCCURRED IN THE VICINITY. IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS, IT IS EASY TO GET CARRIED AWAY, AND ACTUALLY START HEARING WHAT YOU WANT TO…….AND THIS IS A CORRUPTING CIRCUMSTANCE. I KNEW I HAD TO GO BACK ON MY OWN, WHICH I DID, ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS. ON MY THIRD VISIT, I DID HEAR SOMETHING I BELIEVE WAS IN KEEPING, WITH WHAT OTHER WITNESSES HAD MENTIONED, AND IT CERTAINLY DID SOUND LIKE LOW SOBBING. I WAS WITH SUZANNE, ON THIS OCCASION, AND I WAS THE ONLY ONE TO HEAR THE MUFFLED CRYING. SHE NOTED THAT WITH THE WASH OF THE RAPIDS OVER THE ROCKS, AND THE CLOSE BORDER OF THICK TREE COVER, THERE WERE MANY STRANGE NOISES AND ECHOING ASSOCIATED. THE FURTHER INTO THE TREE COVER, THE MORE DISTINCT THE CRYING WAS, BUT THEN AGAIN, SUZANNE, NO MATTER WHERE SHE POSITIONED HERSELF, COULDN'T HEAR ANYTHING ABOVE THE WASH OF THE WHITE WATER OVER THE SMOOTH ROCKS. WHAT SHE TOLD ME, THIS MORNING, WHILE WE TALKED ABOUT THE LOCATION, WAS HER FEELING OF BEING "OPPRESSED" THERE, FOR THE ENTIRE TIME, AS IF A PREVAILING SADNESS. DESPITE THE INCREDIBLE BEAUTY OF THE LOCATION, IT HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED MANY TIMES, WITH SUDDEN TRAGEDY. BY THE WAY, THE LEGEND HAS IT, THAT FIRST NATION BOYS, WOULD CHALLENGE THE RAPIDS AND THE UNDERTOW BELOW, TO PROVE THEIR COURAGE……AND IT IS THE VOICES OF THOSE WHO DIDN'T SURVIVE, THAT STILL HAUNT THE UPLANDS; OF THE PLACE THEY HAVE BEEN BURIED. THIS HAS NOT BEEN PROVEN BY ANY HISTORIC MAPPING TO MY KNOWLEDGE.
THERE ARE MANY PLACES WE WANDER, IN OUR HOME REGION, WHERE WE WILL EXPERIENCE A DARK, FORBODDING, AND THREATENING AURA, JUST AS OPPRESSIVE AS IF YOU WERE TO WALK INTO A HAUNTED SCOTTISH CASTLE ABOVE THE MISTY MOORS. THERE ARE PLACES THAT YOU JUST WANT TO LEAVE, QUICKLY, BECAUSE OF THIS OVER-RIDING FEELING OF DREAD, AND SADNESS, BUT YOU HAVE KNOW IDEA WHY. IT IS A SENSORY SITUATION, AND I'M SURE YOU HAVE FELT THIS AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE……OR FREQUENTLY ON YOUR TRAVELS. I WILL DEAL WITH THIS MORE THOROUGHLY IN UPCOMING BLOGS, AS WE HAVE HAD MANY EXPERIENCES LIKE THIS, INDOORS AND OUT, AND WE'RE PRETTY SURE WHY THIS HAPPENS.
SUZANNE AND I, GENERALLY, ARE UNAFRAID OF PARANORMAL ENCOUNTERS. WE'VE HAD ENOUGH THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES, TO CONVINCE OURSELVES GENERALLY, THAT THERE'S MORE TO LIFE THAN THE SPAN OF MORTALITY. BUT THESE SPIRITUAL MESSAGES, RECEIVE VIA A WIDE VARIETY OF FORMS AND INTRUSIONS, DON'T ARRIVE THROUGH HAPPENSTANCE, JUST TO SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF US. IT'S JUST NOT LIKE THAT! WE DO TALK TO DEAD PEOPLE, AND WE DO GET RESPONSES. WE'RE NOT CLAIRVOYANT, AND WE'VE ONLY PLAYED WITH A OUIJI BOARD AS A LARK, WHEN THE KIDS WERE YOUNGER, AND WE HAVE NEVER MADE USE OF A MEDIUM OR A CRYSTAL BALL TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THOSE WHO HAVE CROSSED. WE JUST VALIDATE THEIR EXISTENCE, AS A COMMONPLACE REACTION, AND COMMUNICATE WITH THEM MINDFULLY, AS A COURTESY, WHENEVER WE HAVE REASON TO ASK A QUESTION, MAKE A STATEMENT, OR PASS ON SOME INFORMATION WE THINK IS RELEVANT TO THEM AND US. I WILL WRITE ABOUT THESE EXCHANGES AT A LATER DATE, WHICH ARE ENLIGHTENING IF YOU BELIEVE IT'S POSSIBLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED. WE BOTH SUBSCRIBE TO THE ADVISORIES OF WELL KNOWN MEDIUM, JOHN EDWARD, PARTICULARLY HIS ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE LIVING, TO VALIDATE THOSE WHO HAVE CROSSED OVER. I'VE BEEN DOING IT ALL MY LIFE, BUT IT WAS INTERESTING TO HAVE HIM RE-AFFIRM ITS IMPORTANCE, NONE THE LESS. WE HAVE A STRICT RULE ABOUT SENSIBLE PROPORTION, SO YOU WILL NEVER HEAR OF US CARRYING ANYTHING PARANORMAL TO AN EXTREME. AND WE'RE DEFINITELY NOT CULT MATERIAL. WE TEST OUR RESEARCH FINDINGS CONSTANTLY, AND MAKE SURE WE KEEP OUR FEET PLANTED SECURELY ON THE SIDE OF THE LIVING, UNTIL WE'RE BECKONED TO CROSS OURSELVES. WE CAN'T TELL YOU THERE ARE GHOSTS AND HOBGOBLINS, FAIRIES AND TROLLS OUT THERE IN THE HINTERLAND, BUT WE'RE NOT GOING TO DENY THEIR EXISTENCE……JUST YET. WE'VE GOT A LOT MORE WORK TO DO, BEFORE WE GET ALL DEFINITIVE AND AUTHORITARIAN. THE WAY WE'RE GOING……I THINK IT WILL LIKELY REMAIN AN OPEN BOOK FOR SOME OTHER RESEARCHER WITH A PENCHANT FOR ADVENTURE TO TAKE OVER.
THE OTHER NIGHT, WHEN I FINISHED UP A BLOG, USING THE BOOK WRITTEN BY SUZANNE'S UNCLE BERT SHEA, I SAT DOWN FOR TEA AND COOKIES WITH SUZANNE, IN OUR HISTORY CLUTTERED LIVINGROOM, AND WE TALKED AT SOME LENGTH ABOUT OUR RESPECTIVE FAMILIES, AND THE FOLK STORIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHEAS AND VEITCHES OF THE THREE MILE LAKE / UFFORD AREA OF MUSKOKA. ALL OF A SUDDEN THERE WAS A HUGE CRASH DOWN IN THE FAMILY ROOM, WITH THE SOUND OF BREAKING GLASS. THERE WAS NO ONE DOWNSTAIRS AT THE TIME. WHEN SUZANNE RAN TO CHECK ON THE SUSPECTED CARNAGE, SHE CAME BACK WITH TWO BOOKS LOADED FULL OF CLIPPINGS ABOUT OUR RESPECTIVE FAMILIES……STUFFED INTO A BOOK ABOUT ANCESTRY RESOURCES, AND ANOTHER THE BOOK ENTITLED "CABBAGETOWN," WHERE MY FATHER WAS RAISED IN TORONTO. "I THINK THEY'RE TRYING TO GET A MENTION IN YOUR BLOG," SUZANNE LAUGHED. "HERE'S A PICTURE OF MY DAD (NORMAN STRIPP) WITH THE WINDERMERE AND DISTRICT LIONS CLUB. I HAVEN'T SEEN THIS PHOTOGRAPH IN YEARS. HOW DID IT GET IN THIS BOOK?" ANOTHER BIRCH HOLLOW MYSTERY. COULD IT HAVE BEEN A MANIFESTATION OF UNSTABLE BOOKS FINALLY LETTING LOOSE? A MOUSE KNOCKING THEM OFF THE TOP BOOK SHELF? A TREMOR WE DIDN'T FEEL OTHERWISE? OR WAS IT, AS IS TYPICAL AROUND HERE, THE DEPARTED GETTING IN THEIR TWO CENTS' WORTH, TO MAKE AN ARGUMENT OUT OF CASUAL CONVERSATION.
AS WASHINGTON IRVING ONCE WROTE, DESPITE THE BEST ATTEMPTS OF THE BOTANIST TO DEFINE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF NATURAL EXISTENCE, THERE'S STILL ROOM TO ALLOW THE SUPERNATURAL ITS PLACE IN THE DETERMINATION…… REGARDING, OF COURSE, THE TRUE MEANING OF LIFE.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING ME TODAY. IT HAS BEEN A HUGELY BUSY SEPTEMBER, IN THE BUSINESS SENSE, AND HONESTLY, WE HAVE HAD LITTLE TIME TO SPEND HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW. TODAY HAS BEEN THE EXCEPTION, AND SUZANNE HAS JUST BEGUN THE ALCHEMY OF THE "SUNDAY DINNER," COMPLETE WITH A ROAST BEAST. HOW PLEASANT, TO SEE A CANDLELIT TABLE, A GLOW FROM THE HEARTH, AND INHALE SUCH A WONDEROUS AROMA, AS PREVAILS UPON THE KITCHEN VOYEUR; WATCHING THE GLORIOUS PREPARATIONS OF THE FAMILY DINNER…….WHICH ALAS, HAS BECOME A TRADITION OF THE PAST THIS YEAR….DUE, IN PART, TO A BUSINESS SUCCESS. I LIKE SUCCESS, BUT TRADITION A BIT MORE!
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