The Life of the Caterpillar 



the vase, not nine inches away, there lay a 

 bunch of pine-needles which I had placed 

 there with the object of enticing the hungry 

 ones. Smell and sight told them nothing. 

 Near as they were to the goal, they went up 

 again. 



No matter, the endeavour has its uses. 

 Threads were laid on the way and will serve 

 as a lure to further enterprise. The road of 

 deliverance has its first landmarks. And two 

 days later, on the eighth day of the experi- 

 ment, the caterpillars — now singly, anon in 

 small groups, then again in strings of some 

 length — come down from the ledge by 

 following the staked-out path. At sun- 

 set the last of the laggards is back in the 

 nest. 



Now for a little arithmetic. For seven 

 times twenty-four hours the caterpillars have 

 remained on the ledge of the vase. To make 

 an ample allowance for stops due to the weari- 

 ness of this one or that and above all for the 

 rest taken during the colder hours of the night, 

 we will deduct one-half of the time. This 

 leaves eighty-four hours' walking. The 

 average pace is nine centimetres^ a minute. 



^SVz inches. — Translator's Note. 



86 



