1616 THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE 



carefully protected themselves against the external 

 cold by closing up the passage with stones and calk- 

 ing the interstices with grass and moss. 



In solitary woods or roads the badger (Meles), 

 who does not like noise, prepares for himself a peace- 

 ful retreat, clean and well ventilated, composed of 

 a vast chamber situated about a metre and a half be- 

 neath the surface. He spares no pains over it, and 

 makes it communicate with the external world by 

 seven or eight very long passages, so that the points 

 where they open are about thirty paces distant from 

 one another. In this way, if an enemy discovers one 

 of them and introduces himself into the badger's 

 home, the badger can still take flight through one 

 of the other passages. In ordinary times they serve 

 for the aeration of the central room. The animal 

 attaches considerable importance to this. He is also 

 very clean in his habits, and every day may be seen 

 coming out for little walks, having an object of an 

 opposite nature to the search' for food. This praise- 

 worthy habit is, as we shall see, exploited by the fox 

 in an unworthy manner. 



The fox has many misdeeds on his conscience, but 

 his conduct toward the badger is peculiarly indeli- 

 cate. The fox is a skilful digger, and when he can 

 not avoid it, he can hollow out a house with several 

 rooms. The dwelling has numerous openings, both 

 as a measure of prudence and of hygiene, for this 

 arrangement enables the air to be renewed. He pre- 

 pares several chambers side by side, one of which 

 he uses for observation and to take his siesta in; a 

 second as a sort of larder in which he piles up what 



