CHAPTER IX 



the spiders 



The Narbonne Lycosa, or Black-bellied 

 Tarantula 



The Burrow 



Michelet ^ has told us how, as a printer's apprentice 

 in a cellar, he established amicable relations with a Spider. 

 At a certain hour of the day, a ray of sunlight would 

 glint through the window of the gloomy workshop and 

 light up the little compositor's case. Then his eight- 

 legged neighbor would come from her web and on the 

 edge of the case take her share of the sunshine. The 

 boy did not interfere with her; he welcomed the trust- 

 ing visitor as a friend and as a pleasant diversion from 

 the long monotony. When we lack the society of our 

 fellowmen, we take refuge in that of animals, without 

 always losing by the change. 



I do not, thank God, suffer from the melancholy of a 

 cellar: my solitude is gay with light and verdure; I at- 

 tend, whenever I please, the fields' high festival, the 

 Thrushes' concert, the Crickets' symphony; and yet my 

 friendly commerce with the Spider is marked by an even 



1 Jules Michelet (1798-1874), author of L'Oiseau and L'Insecte, 

 in addition to the historical works for which he is chiefly known. 

 As a lad, he helped his father, a printer by trade, in setting type.— 

 Translator's Note. \ 



142 



