The Black-Bellied Tarantula 



like diamonds, the four great eyes, the four 

 telescopes, of the hermit. The four others, 

 which are much smaller, are not visible at that 

 depth. 



Would I have greater riches, I have but 

 to walk a hundred yards from my house, on 

 the neighbouring plateau, once a shady forest, 

 to-day a dreary solitude where the Cricket 

 browses and the Wheat-ear flits from stone 

 to stone. The love of lucre has laid waste 

 the land. Because wine paid handsomely, 

 they pulled up the forest to plant the vine. 

 Then came the Phylloxera, the vine-stocks 

 perished and the once green table-land is now 

 no more than a desolate stretch where a few 

 tufts of hardy grasses sprout among the 

 pebbles. This waste-land is the Lycosa's 

 paradise; in an hour's time, if need were, I 

 should discover a hundred burrows within a 

 limited range. 



These dwellings are pits about a foot deep, 

 perpendicular at first and then bent elbow- 

 wise. The average diameter is an inch. On 

 the edge of the hole stands a kerb, formed of 

 straw, bits and scraps of all sorts and even 

 small pebbles, the size of a hazel-nut. The 

 whole is kept in place and cemented with silk. 

 53 



