The Great Peacock 



strayed into the kitchen, the nursery and the 

 other rooms of the house; and the total of 

 those who have arrived from the outside can- 

 not fall far short of forty. As I said, it was a 

 memorable evening, this Great Peacock even- 

 ing. Coming from every direction and ap- 

 prised I know not how, here are forty lovers 

 eager to pay their respects to the marriage- 

 able bride born that morning amid the mys- 

 teries of my study. 



For the moment let us disturb the swarm 

 of wooers no further. The flame of the 

 candle is a danger to the visitors, who fling 

 themselves into it madly and singe their 

 wings. We will resume the observation to- 

 morrow with an experimental interrogatory 

 thought out beforehand. 



But first let us clear the ground and speak 

 of what happens every night during the week 

 that my observation lasts. Each time it is 

 pitch dark, between eight and ten o'clock, 

 when the Moths arrive one by one. It is 

 stormy weather, the sky is very much over- 

 cast and the darkness is so profound that even 

 in the open air, in the garden, far from the 

 shadow of the trees, it is hardly possible to 

 see one's hand before one's face. 



249 



