THE PSYCHES 71 



from their mother. Here there is more room, and more 

 comfort too, than in the bag whence they came ; and while 

 some take a rest, others bustle about and exercise them- 

 selves in walking. They are all picking up strength before 

 leaving the outer case. 



They do not stay long amid this luxury. Gradually, as 

 they gain vigour, they come out and spread over the surface 

 of the case. Work begins at once, a very urgent work that 

 of dressing themselves. By and by they will think of food : 

 at present nothing is of any importance but clothes. 



Montaigne, when putting on a cloak which his father had 

 worn before him, used to say, ' I dress myself in my father.' 

 Well, the young Psyches in the same way dress themselves 

 in their mother. (In the same way, it must be remembered ; 

 not in her skin, but in her clothes.) From the outer case 

 of sticks, which I have sometimes described as a house and 

 sometimes as a garment, they scrape the material to make 

 themselves a frock. The stuff they use is the pith of the 

 little stalks, especially of the pieces that are split lengthwise, 

 because the contents are more easily taken from these. 



The manner of beginning the garment is worth noting. 

 The tiny creature employs a method as ingenious as any 

 that we could hope to discover. The wadding is collected 

 in pellets of infinitesimal size. How are these little pellets 

 to be fixed and joined together ? The manufacturer needs a 

 support, a base ; and this support cannot be obtained on the 

 Caterpillar's own body. The difficulty is overcome very 

 cleverly. The pellets are gathered together, and by degrees 

 fastened to one another with threads of silk for the Cater- 

 pillar, as you know, can spin silk from his own body as the 

 Spider spins her web. In this way a sort of garland is formed, 

 with the pellets or particles swinging in a row from the same 

 rope. When it is long enough this garland is passed round 

 the waist of the little creature, in such a way as to leave its 

 six legs free. Then it ties the ends together with a bit of silk, 

 so that it forms a girdle round the grub's body. 



