The Life of the Grasshopper 



covers superb notes in it and then becomes 

 refined and acquires, outside the realities of 

 sound, that sense of order which is the first 

 condition of beauty. 



Now this sweet ringing of bells between 

 hiding-place and hiding-place is the matri- 

 monial oratorio, the discreet summons which 

 every Jack issues to his Jill. The sequel to 

 the concert may be guessed without further 

 enquiry; but what it would be impossible to 

 foresee is the strange finale of the wedding. 

 Behold the father, in this case a real pater- 

 familias, in the noblest sense of the word, 

 coming out of his retreat one day in an un- 

 recognizable state. He is carrying the 

 future, tight-packed around his hind-legs; he 

 is changing houses laden with a cluster of 

 eggs the size of pepper-corns. His calves 

 are girt, his thighs are sheathed with the 

 bulky burden; and it covers his back like a 

 beggar's wallet, completely deforming him. 



Whither is he going, dragging himself 

 along, incapable of jumping, thanks to the 

 weight of his load? He is going, the fond 

 parent, where the mother refuses to go; he 

 is on his way to the nearest pond, whose 

 warm waters are indispensable to the tad- 

 poles' hatching and existence. When the 



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