The Life of Jean Henri Fabre 



transformation and progress, which forms 

 such a striking contrast with the rigid immu- 

 tability of instinct which is barely suscep- 

 tible of the slightest variation. 



But for all this Fabre still bears the stamp 

 of the soil and of his ancestry, and I am 

 certain that the pages of the banks of the 

 Viaur, were they to descend to the banks of 

 the Aygues to visit the hermit of Serignan, 

 would recognise by more than one charac- 

 teristic the child of their native soil and their 

 own race. Under his wide felt hat, " in his 

 linen jacket " * and his heavy shoes, with a 

 face like theirs in its simplicity and good na- 

 ture, he would see almost one of them- 

 selves. And if, after entering his home, they 

 were to follow him into the enclosure, among 

 his crops and his appliances, if they were to 

 see him valiantly digging up the soil of the 

 harmas in search of fresh burrows of the 

 Scarabaei, or assembling a few thick planks 

 to contrive some new entomological appa- 

 ratus, or simply beating the brushwood over 

 his inverted umbrella in search of insects, 

 they would certainly be tempted to join in 

 and lend him a hand as though dealing with 

 a fellow-labourer. 



Others may be surprised to find in the 



1 Fabre had a sort of natural horror of luxury. 



23O 



