The Life of the Spider 



uses naught but exquisite silk. She works for 

 herself; the other works for us, who are 

 hardly worth the trouble. 



Would we make her acquaintance? On the 

 rocky slopes in the oliveland, scorched and 

 blistered by the sun, turn over the flat stones, 

 those of a fair size; search, above all, the piles 

 which the shepherds set up for a seat whence 

 to watch the sheep browsing amongst the 

 lavender below. Do not be too easily dis- 

 heartened : the Clotho is rare ; not every spot 

 suits her. If fortune smile at last upon our 

 perseverance, we shall see, clinging to the 

 lower surface of the stone which we have 

 lifted, an edifice of a weatherbeaten aspect, 

 shaped like an overturned cupola and about 

 the size of half a tangerine orange. The out- 

 side is encrusted or hung with small shells, 

 particles of earth and, especially, dried insects. 



The edge of the cupola is scalloped into a 

 dozen angular lobes, the points of which 

 spread and are fixed to the stone. In between 

 these straps is the same number of spacious 

 inverted arches. The whole represents the 

 Ishmaelite's camel-hair tent, but upside down. 

 A flat roof, stretched between the straps, 

 closes the top of the dwelling. 



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