The Psyches: the Cases 



the rest of the body. This was very prob- 

 ably a sign of a less dense and less tough 

 texture than elsewhere. The sign is not mis- 

 leading. The dry gourd to which the mother 

 is now reduced has for a neck those diapha- 

 nous rings, which, as they withered, became 

 extremely fragile. Does this neck, this oper- 

 culum fall of its own accord, or is it pushed 

 off by the pigmies impatient to get away? 

 I do not know for certain. This, however, 

 I can say, that blowing on it is enough to 

 make it drop off. 



In anticipation therefore of the emergence, 

 an exceedingly easy and perhaps even spon- 

 taneous method of decapitation is prepared in 

 the mother's lifetime. To manufacture a 

 delicate neck for yourself so that you may be 

 easily beheaded at the proper time and thus 

 leave the way free to the youngsters is an 

 act of devotion in which the most unconscious 

 maternal affection stands sublimely revealed. 

 That miserable maggot, that sausage Moth, 

 scarce able to crawl and yet so clear-sighted 

 where the future is concerned, staggers the 

 mind of any one who knows how to think. 



The brood emerge from the natal wallet 

 through the window just opened by the fall of 



219 



