Chapter ii 



THE BANDED EPEIRA 



In the inclement season of the year, when the 

 insect has nothing to do and retires to winter 

 quarters, the observer profits by the mildness 

 of the sunny nooks and grubs in the sand, 

 lifts the stones, searches the brushwood ; and 

 often he is stirred with a pleasurable excite- 

 ment, when he lights upon some ingenious work 

 of art, discovered unawares. Happy are the 

 simple of heart whose ambition is satisfied 

 with such treasure-trove ! I wish them all the 

 joys which it has brought me and which it will 

 continue to bring me, despite the vexations of 

 life, which grow ever more bitter as the years 

 follow their swift downward course. 



Should the seekers rummage among the wild 

 grasses in the osier-beds and copses, I wish 

 them the dehght of finding the wonderful object 

 that, at this moment, lies before my eyes. It 



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