The Bison Onitis 



some fruits of a hot-house civiHzation, 

 honour rustic frugahty once again and re- 

 main on the land, where we shall find the soil 

 bountiful enough to satisfy us if we moderate 

 our desires. Then and not till then will the 

 family flourish once more; then will the 

 peasant, delivered from the town and its 

 temptations, be our salvation. 



The third Dung-beetle that has shown me 

 the gift of paternal instinct is likewise a 

 stranger. He comes to me from near 

 Montpellier. He is the Bison Onitis, or, 

 according to others, the Bison Bubas. Tak- 

 ing no interest in nomenclative subtleties, I 

 shall not choose between the two generic 

 names, but will retain the specific denomina- 

 tion of Bison, which has the sound which 

 Linnaeus wanted. I made his acquaintance 

 many years ago In the country around 

 Ajaccio,^ among the saffrons and cyclamens 

 that bloom so sweetly under the shade of 

 the myrtles. Come hither and let me admire 

 you yet once again, O beauteous insect ! 

 You recall my youthful enthusiasm on the 

 shores of the glorious gulf, so rich in shell- 

 fish. Far was I from suspecting at the time 



1 For the author's stay at Ajaccio, where he was a 

 schoolmaster in his youth, cf. The Life of the Fly: chap, 

 vi. — Translator's Note. 



369 



