The Processionary: the Procession 



plete. Every evening, when the weather per- 

 mits, the building has to be strengthened and 

 enlarged. It is indispensable, therefore, that 

 the corporation of workers should not be dis- 

 solved while the stormy season continues and 

 the insects are still in the caterpillar stage. 

 But, without special arrangements, each noc- 

 turnal expedition at grazing-time would be a 

 cause of separation. At that moment of ap- 

 petite for food there is a return to indi- 

 vidualism. The caterpillars become more or 

 less scattered, settling singly on the branches 

 around; each browses his pine-needle sepa- 

 rately. How are they to find one another 

 afterwards and become a community again? 



The several threads left on the road make 

 this easy. With that guide, every caterpillar, 

 however far he may be, comes back to his 

 companions without ever missing the way. 

 They come hurrying from a host of twigs, 

 from here, from there, from above, from be- 

 low; and soon the scattered legion reforms 

 into a group. The silk thread is something 

 more than a road-making expedient : it is the 

 social bond, the system that keeps the mem- 

 bers of the community indissolubly united. 



At the head of every procession, long or 



65 



