Morality 



matured by time, ripen into more considered 

 actions. Necessity is the supreme inspirer 

 of the instincts. Spurred by necessity, the 

 animal is its own artisan; by its own energies 

 it has made itself as we know it, with its im- 

 plements and its trade. Its habits, its capa- 

 city and dexterity are integrals of infinite mi- 

 nuteness acquired on the illimitable path of 

 time. 



Such is the argument of the theorists, an 

 argument sufficiently imposing to allure any 

 independent mind, did not the empty reso- 

 nance of words usurp the full sonority of 

 reality. Let us question the Minotaur about 

 all this. To be sure, he will not reveal to 

 us the origin of instinct; he will leave the 

 problem as obscure as ever; but he will at 

 least be able to cast a glimmer Into some 

 little corner; and any light, however faint, 

 even the flickering light of a taper, must be 

 welcome in the dark tavern into which the 

 animal leads us. 



The Minotaur works exclusively with 

 Sheep-droppings; for the purposes of his 

 family, he needs them dry, toughened to the 

 consistency of horn by long exposure to the 

 sun. This choice seems very strange, when 

 we remember that other stercoral collectors 

 155 



