Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC) logo

Mont Saint-Hilaire Biosphere Reserve

back button
Section icon

Explore The clever old lady

  • Drawing of an old woman discovering the electronic system of a computer
  • Drawing of an audience applauding during a presentation of the “Beau Mont” website
Bouton fleche gauche Bouton fleche droit

Drawing: Marie-Hélène Saint-Martin

Drawing: Marie-Hélène Saint-Martin

image icon de la section

Explore THE CLEVER OLD LADY

One day a solemn reception was held in the auditorium of Incredibilis University. Some dozen researchers surrounded by higher authorities were seated at a long table, all dressed in evening clothes. At the front of the room was a small table upon which sat two gold cassettes and a computer.

Nearby was a curious exhibit of worn-out hiking boots and dirty caps. The room was full of notable invitees who were chatting sedately and looking with admiration or with envy at the experts before them.

This was a day of great joy and relief for the scholars of the university. After ten years of research and ramblings the team of ten had succeeded in compiling a complete inventory of all that breathed or existed on Mont St-Hilaire.

The pile of boots bore witness to years of exhausting exploration of the trails, the peaks and the most secret hollows of the mountain. Fair weather or foul the ten had walked, observed, examined, listened, compared, probed, photographed, made notes and described the trees. the shrubs, the plants, the bushes and even the smallest blade of grass. They had identified and counted birds, logged the mammals, examined the frogs and salamanders. Even the rocks, minerals and soil of the forest had had their complete attention. In addition they uncovered the strengths, weaknesses and secrets of the mountain.

After ten years of investigation they knew the mountain like the palm of one's hand in their notebooks and collections of drawings and photographs. Once this inventory was completed all of them entered their data onto two gold cassettes destined for the university's master computer which in turn would allow people to make thousands of discoveries on their own personal computers. The two gold cassettes in the front of the auditorium would henceforth illustrate all the mountain had to offer.

Soon the university would make this available to everyone. Incredibilis University wanting to serve the citizenry had created an impressive web site called "Beau Mont". Anyone would be able to discover the riches of the mountain, look at the superb photos of the plants and animals, admire the rare minerals hidden underground or listen to the bird songs. What a treat! The Chancellor of the university rose to speak. With justifiable pride he congratulated the ten researchers amongst whom were four women for their magnificant work. The guests applauded enthusiastically when he pointed to the computer installed in the front of the room and pronounced the phrase soon to be famous:
  • "Henceforth we will no longer go to the mountain - it will come to us".


The Chancellor's words were music to the ears of the researchers. The exhausting excursions, the climbing, the sweating, the cold, the sprains, the scratches, the heavy backpacks were over. They had captured the mountain and put it all into the main computer's data base where everyone would now be able to access it.

The day after the reception the newspapers printed flattering articles on the work. The investigators made TV appearances where they explained in detail the obstacles they had to overcome. Then they left for a well earned holiday on a sunny island.

While the researchers were working on their tans folks headed for their computers to have a look at the famous site "Beau Mont". What a marvel of science and technology! Everything was there. With a simple click one could learn all about the scarlet tanager, listen to the croaking of the frogs of the forest and peer at the unique crystal formations found only on Mont St-Hilaire. True to the banner of the home page "Henceforth we will no longer have to go to the mountain for the mountain will come to us". Unnecessary to get tired out, be bitten by mosquitoes, soaked by rain or sweat under a blazing sun one only had to type on the keyboard and lo and behold, there was the mountain in one's home.

"Beau Mont" was a huge success. Seated before their computers young and old replaced their hiking boots with slippers and their mountain by the screens of their computers.

Bernadette bore her 80 years well and still had a firm step. She went to the mountain at least three times a week to breathe the pure air and contemplate the lake surrounded by the verdant hills. She also loved to talk to visitors. Since she was elderly, this was her main contact with people. When Bernadette read the newspaper articles about the work of the researchers she was heard to say "well, well - the university staff works harder than I thought". She found that famous phrase "the mountain which comes to us" somewhat exaggerated until the day when she was forced to admit to her great dismay that she was meeting fewer and fewer visitors. Without a doubt it was a boon to the animals but for people to lose contact with nature was a serious loss. She questioned Carole at the Visitors Pavillion.

"It seems these days people are visiting the mountain on their computers as they find it less tiring and less expensive" she explained.

Bernadette didn't understand. One couldn't possibly replace the mountain with texts and pictures anymore than one could replace Christmas dinner with a recipe book, however beautifully illustrated. The mountain simply could not be merely in one's head but also had to touch the heart and soul. She made up her mind to get the local folk back on the mountain one day, somehow.

During one of her sleepless nights (a nuisance of old age) the weary old lady had a brilliant idea - shut down the web site! She decided to take a computer course at Incredibilis University. Although it would be a troublesome, demanding effort the mountain deserved it. Every morning she climbed on the bus, her books neatly packed in a little wheeled cart. In class the students were surprised to see an old woman, smiling and very attentive, taking a difficult computer course. She used the keyboard with ease and observed with a keen eye the circuitry of the computers themselves. She was studious and seemed particularly interested in the complexity of "Beau Mont". She struck up a friendship with a noticeably bright young fellow who helped her do her projects and to investigate the computer's secret inner workings.

After long months of work, numerous questions and explanations Bernadette realized she knew enough to put her plan into action. St. Valentine's Day eve, while lovers cooed, Bernadette crept discretely into the room housing the university's main frame computer. She quivered with excitement. Donning gloves so as not to leave finger prints she knew exactly which panel to open, which wire to handle, which cassettes to remove. After an hour's work the computer had lost part of its brain, the very part which imprisoned the mountain, and the site "Beau Mont" became empty. Bernadette had even taken care to lock up the two cassettes in her rolling cart.

While Bernadette dozed content on the seat of the bus taking her home, telephones didn't stop ringing at the university. Researchers were tearing their hair out. What a disaster! What happened? Throughout the following weeks police searched for the culprit and the disheartened researchers answered the questions of the journalists.

The visitors quietly returned to the mountain. They had no choice. Since it no longer came to them via the internet technology, they had to go there in person. The security guard was smiling broadly. Carole at the reception desk of the Nature Centre witnessed comings and goings like the old days and the mountain rang anew with human voices and the shouts of happy children. For the visitors their return was not without surprises. They had a less firm footing on the trails than before and one's heart beat more forcefully on the climbs. But the air was fresh and wonderfully perfumed. The woods were denser and more chaotic than on the "Beau Mont" site where everything was orderly and tidy. The birds would sing all at the same time and one couldn't find deer or tanagers on a screen. To be sure the trees and flowers were not as perfect and well shaped as those on "Beau Mont" but one could touch them, smell them and hear the wind rustling the leaves. And that says nothing about the energy which emanated from the mountain itself.

After several weeks of rambling the visitors found the mountain to be every bit as rich and vibrant as on their computer screens and, moreover, it was a lot less lonely. They asked themselves if the vandal who had dared to tamper with the main frame's brain had not indeed rendered a fine service. It certainly had brought people back to reality. Meanwhile it seemed that the experts at the university had succeeded to their great delight in restoring the "Beau Mont" site. The police on the other hand had not identified the culprit but according to the Chief, it was thought to be one of the young hackers who took pleasure in making life miserable for others. The computer students had their own suspicions of the elderly lady who had ceased to take any additional courses.

Today the "Beau Mont" site remains a rich source of information and people look at it in great numbers but the visitors who rediscover the mountain prefer the open air and the marvelous disorder of the forest to the precision of the computer screen. Bernadette is radiant and continues to tramp the trails and gossip with the visitors. If you feel your computer has made you its prisoner and you have become too attached to things virtual, then go and look for a while at the freedom and truth to be seen in nature. It's the clever old lady hacker who so advises you.

Kees Vanderheyden

téléchargerDownload text