More Beetles 



and we cannot help it. It Is the taint of the 

 belly, that inexhaustible source of brutality. 



The intestine rules the world. In the 

 midst of our gravest affairs the question of 

 bread and butter rises imperious. So long 

 as there are stomachs that digest — and as yet 

 we see no possibility of dispensing with them 

 — we must have the wherewithal to satisfy 

 them and the strong will live by the misfor- 

 tunes of the weak. Life is an abyss which 

 only death can fill. Hence endless butch- 

 eries, on which man. Gold-beetles and others 

 feed; hence the perpetual massacres that 

 have made of the world a slaughter-house 

 beside which those of Chicago hardly count. 



But the feasters are legion and the victuals 

 are not abundant in proportion. Those who 

 have not envy those who have ; the famished 

 show their teeth to the sated. Then fol- 

 lows the battle for the right of possession, 

 Man raises armies to defend his harvests, 

 his cellars, his granaries; and this is war. 

 Shall we ever see the end of it? Alas and 

 seven times alas! So long as there are 

 Wolves in the world, there must be Sheep- 

 dogs to defend the flock! 



Carried away by our thoughts, we have 

 left our Beetles far behind. Let us hurry 

 284 



