More Beetles 



which Panurge complained, curbs my desire 

 for apparatus. I allowed myself two and 

 no more. 



When they were stocked, I kept them 

 during the winter in a small green-house, for 

 fear of frost in a mass of earth of no great 

 volume. At the bottom of his natural gal- 

 lery, the Minotaur need not dread the severe 

 cold: he is protected by a wall of unlimited 

 thickness. In the narrow quarters of my 

 divlsioning, he would have undergone the 

 sorest trials. 



When the warm weather had come, I set 

 up my two columns In the open air, and a 

 few steps from my door. Standing side by 

 side, they form a sort of pylon, of a strange 

 order of architecture. Not a member of the 

 household passes them without a glance. 

 My own visits are assiduous, especially in the 

 evening and the morning, when the night 

 work begins and when it is finished. What 

 happy moments I have spent, on the lookout 

 near my pylon, watching and meditating! 



Here are the facts: about the middle of 

 December, I install In each of my two appli- 

 ances a female, selected from among those 

 which best lend themselves to my designs. 

 At this time of the year, the sexes remain 

 134 



