286 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD 



a pity ; for during the frugal meal we might have learned 

 in a more explicit fashion that the shepherds of the 

 ancient world were not acquainted with the haricot. 



Ovid tells us, in a delightful passage, of the manner in 

 which Philemon and Baucis received the gods unawares 

 as guests in their humble cottage. On the three-legged 

 table, which was levelled by means of a potsherd under 

 one of the legs, they served cabbage soup, rusty bacon, 

 eggs poached for a minute in the hot cinders, cornel- 

 berries pickled in brine, honey, and fruits. In this rustic 

 abundance one dish was lacking ; an essential dish, which 

 the Baucis of our country-side would never forget. 

 After bacon soup would follow the obligatory plate of 

 haricots. Why did Ovid, so prodigal of detail, neglect 

 to mention a dish so appropriate to the occasion ? The 

 reply is the same as before : because he did not know 

 of it. 



In vain have I recapitulated all that my reading has 

 taught me concerning the rustic dietary of ancient times ; 

 I can recollect no mention of the haricot. The worker 

 in the vineyard and the harvester have their lupins, 

 broad beans, peas, and lentils, but never the bean of 

 beans, the haricot. 



The haricot has a reputation of another kind. It is a 

 source of flatulence ; you eat it, as the saying is, and then 

 you take a walk. It lends itself to the gross pleasantries 

 loved of the populace ; especially when they are formu- 

 lated by the shameless genius of an Aristophanes or a 

 Plautus. What merriment over a simple allusion to the 

 sonorous bean, what guffaws from the throats of 

 Athenian sailors or Roman porters ! Did the two 

 masters, in the unfettered gaiety of a language less 



