The Sacred Beetle and Others 



that enormous burden, is painfully hoisted, 

 step by step, with infinite precautions, to 

 a certain height, always backwards. We 

 wonder by what miracle of statics a mass of 

 this size can be kept upon the slope. Oh ! 

 An ill-advised movement frustrates all this 

 toil: the ball rolls down, dragging the 

 Beetle with it. Once more the heights are 

 scaled and another fall is the sequel. The 

 attempt is renewed, with greater skill this 

 time at the difficult points; a wretched grass- 

 root, the cause of the previous falls, is care- 

 fully got over. We are almost there; but 

 steady now, steady! It is a dangerous 

 ascent and the merest trifle may yet ruin 

 everything. For see, a leg slips on a smooth 

 bit of gravel! Down come ball and Beetle, 

 all mixed up together. And the insect begins 

 over again, with indefatigable obstinacy. 

 Ten times, twenty times, he will attempt the 

 hopeless ascent, until his persistence van- 

 quishes all obstacles, or until, wisely recogni- 

 zing the futility of his efforts, he adopts the 

 level road. 



The Scarab does not always push his 

 precious ball alone : sometimes he takes a 

 partner; or, to be accurate, the partner takes 

 him. This is the way in which things usu- 



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