184 The Life of the Spider 



the cruel vampire become a model of devotion 

 where her family is concerned. 



The ogre loved his children ; he ate the 

 children of others. Under the tyranny of the 

 stomach, we are all of us, beasts and men 

 alike, ogres. The dignity of labour, the 

 joy of life, maternal affection, the terrors of 

 death : all these do not count, in others ; 

 the main point is that the morsel be tender 

 and savoury. 



According to the etymology of her name — 

 6(ofiLyi, a cord — the Thomisus should be like 

 the ancient lictor, who bound the sufferer to the 

 stake. The comparison is not inappropriate 

 as regards many Spiders who tie their prey with 

 a thread to subdue it and consume it at their 

 ease ; but it just happens that the Thomisus is 

 at variance with her label. She does not fasten 

 her Bee, who, dying suddenly of a bite in the 

 neck, offers no resistance to her consumer. 

 Carried away by his recollection of the regular 

 tactics, our Spider's godfather overlooked the 

 exception ; he did not know of the perfidious 

 mode of attack which renders the use of a bow- 

 string superfluous. 



