The Gymnopleuri 



lost. What win the mother do in this grave 

 emergency? 



She does nothing at all. She does not 

 even seem to perceive the presence of the 

 object which was so precious to her yester- 

 day, when the egg was not yet laid. Zealous 

 to excess before the laying is over, she is in- 

 different afterwards. The finished work, no 

 longer concerns her. Imagine a pebble in 

 the place of the ovoid or pear: the mother 

 would treat it no better and no worse. One 

 sole preoccupation urges her: to get away. 

 I can see that by the manner in which she 

 paces the enclosure that keeps her prisoner. 



That is instinct's way: it buries persever- 

 ingly the lifeless lump and leaves the quick- 

 ened lump to perish on the surface. The 

 work to be done is everything; the work done 

 no longer counts. Instinct sees the future 

 and knows nothing of the past. 



183 



