The Processionary : the Hatching 



tains the bulk of a hazel-nut and in a couple 

 of weeks that of an apple. Nevertheless, it 

 is not the nucleus of the great establishment 

 in which the winter is to be spent. It is a 

 provisional shelter, very light and inexpensive 

 in materials. The mildness of the season 

 makes anything else unnecessary. The young 

 caterpillars freely gnaw the logs, the poles be- 

 tween which the threads are stretched, that is 

 to say, the leaves contained within the silken 

 tent. Their house supplies them at the same 

 time with board and lodging. This excellent ar- 

 rangement saves them from having to go out, 

 a dangerous proceeding at their age. For these 

 puny ones, the hammock is also the larder. 

 Nibbled down to their veins, the supporting 

 leaves wither and easily come unfastened from 

 the branches; and the silken globe becomes a 

 hovel that crumbles with the first gust of 

 wind. The family then moves on and goes 

 elsewhere to erect a new tent, lasting no longer 

 than the first. Even so does the Arab move 

 on, as the pastures around his camel-hide 

 dwelling become exhausted. These temporary 

 establishments are renewed several times over, 

 always at greater heights than the last, so 

 much so that the tribe, which was hatched on 



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