The Life of the Caterpillar 



arel On my word of honour as a Dog, 

 there's a truffle here." 



And it speaks the truth. The master digs 

 at the point indicated. If the trowel goes 

 astray, the Dog shows the man how to put it 

 right by sniffing at the bottom of the hole. 

 Do not be afraid of the stones and roots in 

 between: despite the depth and intervening 

 obstacles, the tuber will come. A Dog's nose 

 cannot lie. 



"Subtlety of smell," you say. 



I have no objection, if by that you mean 

 that the animal's nasal passages are the or- 

 gan of perception; but is the thing perceived 

 always a mere smell, in the ordinary accept- 

 ation of the word, an effluvium such as our 

 own senses understand it? I have some rea- 

 son to doubt this. Let us set the matter 

 forth. 



I have had the good fortune on several oc- 

 casions to accompany a Dog who was a great 

 expert at his trade. Certainly he was nothing 

 to look at, this artist whom I was so anxi- 

 ous to see at work: just a Dog, placid and de- 

 liberate in his ways, ugly, unkempt; the sort 

 of Dog that you would never admit to your 

 fireside. Talent and poverty often go hand 

 in hand. 



302 



