Chapter x 



THE GARDEN SPIDERS: MY NEIGHBOUR 



Age does not modify the Epeira's talent in any 

 essential feature. As the young worked, so 

 do the old, the richer by a year's experience. 

 There are no masters nor apprentices in their 

 guild ; all know their craft from the moment 

 that the first thread is laid. We have learnt 

 something from the novices : let us now look 

 into the matter of their elders and see what 

 additional task the needs of age impose upon 

 them. 



July comes and gives me exactly what I wish 

 for. While the new inhabitants are twisting 

 their ropes on the rosemaries in the enclosure, 

 one evening, by the last gleams of twilight, I 

 discover a splendid Spider, with a mighty belly, 

 just outside my door. This one is a matron ; 

 she dates back to last year ; her majestic 

 corpulence, so exceptional at this season, pro- 



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