The Life of the Weevil 



seeds, even as the silly Sheep would shortly 

 disappear were there no sheepfolds. 



They are our work, but not always our 

 exclusive property. Wherever food is 

 amassed, consumers flock from the four 

 corners of the sky; they invite themselves to 

 the copious feast; and, the richer the vict- 

 uals, the greater their numbers. Man, who 

 alone is capable of provoking agrarian lux- 

 uriance, becomes by this very fact the giver 

 of an immense banquet whereat legions of 

 guests take their places. By creating more 

 palatable and more generous victuals, he 

 willy-nilly summons to his granaries thou- 

 sands and thousands of famished creatures 

 against whose teeth his prohibitions battle 

 in vain. The more he produces, the larger 

 tribute he has to pay. Big crops and sump- 

 tuous hoards favour the insects, our rivals 

 as consumers. 



It is the prevailing law. Nature offers 

 her mighty breast with equal zeal to all her 

 children, to those who live by others' goods 

 no less than to the producers. For us who 

 plough and sow and reap, wearing ourselves 

 out with toil, she ripens the wheat; she 

 ripens it also for the little Corn-weevil, 

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