More Beetles 



above an,d violet underneath, they belong to 

 the species C. metallica, fab. I provide 

 them, according to the resources of the day, 

 with pears, plums, melon or grapes. 



It is a joy to see them feast. Once at 

 table they do not budge. Not a movement, 

 not even a shifting of the feet. With their 

 heads in the fruit-pulp, often with their bod- 

 ies completely submerged, they sip and swal- 

 low night and day, in the darkness, in the 

 sunlight, without a break. Surfeited with 

 sweets, the guzzlers hold on. Collapsing 

 under the table, that is to say, under the deli- 

 quescent fruit, they still lick their lips, in the 

 blissful drowsiness of a child that drops 

 asleep with its slice of bread and jam at its 

 lips. 



There is no sportiveness in their orgy, 

 even when the sun shines fiercely into the 

 cage. All activity is suspended; the time is 

 wholly devoted to the joys of the stomach. 

 In this torrid heat it is so pleasant to lie 

 under the greengage, oozing with juice! 

 With such good things at hand, why go fly- 

 ing across the fields where everything is 

 parched? None dreams of such a thing. 

 There is no scaling of the walls of the cage, 

 8 



