THE SISYPHUS 137 



are accustomed to help in the burden of housekeeping, and 

 know the value of working in double harness. The Geotrupes 

 couple, for instance, prepare their larva's food together : the 

 father lends his mate the assistance of his powerful press in 

 the manufacture of the tightly packed sausage-shaped ration. 

 He is a splendid example of domestic habits, and one extremely 

 surprising amid the general egoism. 



To this example my constant studies of the subject have 

 enabled me to add three others, all furnished by the Guild 

 of Scavengers. 



One of them is the Sisyphus, the smallest and most zealous 

 of all our pill-rollers. He is the liveliest and most agile of 

 them all, and recks nothing of awkward somersaults and head- 

 long falls on the impossible roads to which his obstinacy 

 brings him back again and again. It was in reference to these 

 wild gymnastics that Latreille gave him the name of Sisyphus. 



As you know, that unhappy wretch of classical fame had 

 a terrible task. He was forced to roll a huge stone uphill ; 

 and each time he succeeded in toiling to the top of the moun- 

 tain the stone slipped from his grasp and rolled to the bottom. 

 I like this myth. It is the history of a good many of us. So 

 far as I am concerned, for half a century and more I have 

 painfully climbed the steep ascent, spending my strength 

 recklessly in the struggle to hoist up to safety that crushing 

 burden, my daily bread. Hardly is the loaf balanced when 

 it slips off, slides down, and is lost in the abyss. 



The Sisyphus with whom we are now concerned knows 

 none of these bitter trials. Untroubled by the steep slopes 

 he gaily trundles his load, at one time bread for himself, at 

 another bread for his children. He is very scarce in these 

 parts ; and I should never have managed to secure a suitable 

 number of subjects for my studies had it not been for an 

 assistant whom I have already mentioned more than once. 



I speak of my little son Paul, aged seven. He is my 

 enthusiastic companion on my hunting expeditions, and knows 

 better than any one of his age the secrets of the Cicada, the 

 Locust, the Cricket, and especially the Scavenger Beetle. 



