The Harmas 



me to add yet a few seemly pages to your 

 history ? Will my strength not cheat my good 

 intentions? Why, indeed, did I forsake you 

 so long? Friends have reproached me for 

 it. Ah, tell them, tell those friends, who 

 are yours as well as mine, tell them that 

 it was not forgetfulness on my part, not weari- 

 ness, nor neglect : I thought of you ; I was con- 

 vinced that the Cerceris 1 cave had more fair 

 secrets to reveal to us, that the chase of the 

 Sphex held fresh surprises in store. But time 

 failed me; I was alone, deserted, struggling 

 against misfortune. Before philosophizing, 

 one had to live. Tell them that ; and they will 

 pardon me. 



Others again have reproached me with my 

 style, which has not the solemnity, nay, better, 

 the dryness of the schools. They fear lest a 

 page that is read without fatigue should not al- 

 ways be the expression of the truth. Were I to 

 take their word for it, we are profound only 

 on condition of being obscure. Come here, one 

 and all of you — you, the sting-bearers, and 

 you, the wing-cased armour-clads — take up my 

 defence and bear witness in my favour. Tell 

 of the intimate terms on which I live with you, 

 of the patience with which I observe you, of 



\A species of Digger Wasp. Cf. Insect Life: chaps vi to 

 xii and xvi. — Translator's Note. 



13 



