Chapter 1 "A Fable for Tomorrow" Summary

Carson describes a beautiful American town where townsfolk and farmers and wildlife all live in harmony with each other. Farms and orchards are interspersed with maple, birch, and pine trees. Foxes and deer live and romp in the misty woods. The roadsides are lush with trees, ferns, and wildflowers. Birds are numerous both in kind and in sheer quantity. In winter, migratory birds are so numerous that tourists come to see them. Trout is plentiful in the streams, which have been good fishing spots since early settler times. Then a mysterious blight strikes the area, and wildlifeand farm animals die. People become ill, puzzling the doctors. The birds disappear. There are no bees to pollinate plants and trees, so there is no fruit in the orchards. The vegetation dies. The fish die. A...