The Life of the Weevil 



'then the placenta, their common support, 

 which is likewise fleshy and highly flavoured. 

 It is pleasant to live under such conditions, 

 motionless and devoting one's self entirely to 

 the joys of the stomach. 



It would take a cataclysm to upset the 

 smug hermit. This cataclysm I bring about 

 by opening the cell. Then and there, the 

 grub begins to twist and wriggle desperately, 

 hating any exposure to the air and light. It 

 takes more than an hour to recover from its 

 excitement. Here assuredly is a grub that 

 will never be tempted to leave its home and 

 go wandering about like the Cionus' larva. 

 It is most highly domestic by inheritance and 

 domestic it will remain. 



It refuses even to go next door. In the 

 same capsule, on the other side of the par- 

 tition, a neighbour is nibbling away. Never 

 does it pay the neighbour a visit, though it 

 could easily do so by perforating the par- 

 tition, which at this moment is an actual sort 

 of cake, no less tender than the seeds and 

 the placenta. Each holds the other's share 

 of the capsule inviolable. On the one hand 

 is one grub; on the other hand is another; 

 and never do the two hold the least communi- 

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