The Life of Jean Henri Fabre 



aspects, we shudder at the violence of the 

 battles fought for the triumph of his ideal 

 and his vocation; considering the second, we 

 are filled with delighted admiration by the 

 fascinating and triumphant results achieved 

 by this ideal; I mean the marvels and allure- 

 ments of entomology. 



Under the clear gaze of this observer of 

 genius, as at the bidding of a magic ring, a 

 whole world of tiny creatures rises and 

 moves before him, recalling the world of Lil- 

 liput, but still more marvellous, and more 

 fertile in dramatic incident of every kind. 

 " No romance of Jules Verne's or Fenimore 

 Cooper's is more exciting." * 



Fabre is the first of writers to be con- 

 quered by the spectacle that unfolds itself 

 before his eyes; conquered in the whole of 

 his activities, in his imagination and sensi- 

 bility, and in his style, which quite naturally 

 adorns itself with the colours of his insects; 

 and no less naturally quivers and vibrates 

 with their emotions. Others before him had 

 studied the life of insects. " But no one 

 had put so much persevering perspicacity into 

 his study of them; no one above all had 

 spoken with such enthusiasm, with such po- 

 etical feeling, of the wonders of which it is 



1 E. Perrier, Revue hebdomadaire, October 22, 1910. 

 254 



