THE LANGUEDOCIAN SCORPION 237 



they have the moon, that incomparable lamp, to light 

 them. 



20 May. The sight of the first invitation to a stroll is 

 not an event upon which we can count every evening. 

 Several emerge from under their stones already linked 

 in couples. In this concatenation of clasped fingers, they 

 have passed the whole day, motionless, one in front of 

 the other and meditating. When night comes, they 

 resume, without separating for a moment, the walk 

 around the glass begun on the evening before, or even 

 earlier. No one knows when or how the junction was 

 effected. Others meet unawares in sequestered passages 

 difficult of inspection. By the time that I see them, it 

 is too late : the equipage is on the way. 



To-day, chance favours me. The acquaintance is made 

 before my eyes, in the full light of the lantern. A frisky, 

 sprightly male, in his hurried rush through the crowd, sud- 

 denly finds himself face to face with a passer-by who takes 

 his fancy. She does not say no ; and things go quickly. 



The foreheads touch, the claws work ; the tails swing 

 with a wide movement : they stand up vertically, hook 

 together at the tips and softly stroke each other with a 

 slow caress. The two animals perform the acrobat's 

 k ' straight bend," in the manner already described. Soon, 

 the raised bodies collapse ; fingers are clasped and the 

 couple starts on its stroll without more ado. The pyra- 

 midal pose, therefore, is really the prelude to the har- 

 nessing. The pose, it is true, is not rare between two 

 individuals of the same sex who meet ; but it is then 

 less correct and, above all, less marked by ceremony. 

 At such times, we find movements of impatience, instead 

 of friendly excitations ; the tails strike in lieu of caressing 

 each other. 



