The Life of the Grasshopper 



the poet for these blunders, which were ge- 

 nerally believed at the time and perpetuated 

 for very long after, until the observer's 

 searching eyes were opened. Besides, it 

 does not do to look so closely at verses whose 

 chief merit lies in harmony and rhythm. 



Even in our own days, the Provengal 

 poets, who are at least as familiar with the 

 Cicada as Anacreon was, are not so very 

 careful of the truth in celebrating the insect 

 which they take as an emblem. One of my 

 friends, a fervent observer and a scrupulous 

 realist, escapes this reproach. He has 

 authorized me to take from his unpublished 

 verse the following Provencal ballad, which 

 depicts the relations between the Cicada and 

 the Ant with strictly scientific accuracy. I 

 leave to him the responsibility for his poetic 

 images and his moral views, delicate flowers 

 outside my province as a naturalist; but I 

 can vouch for the truth of his story, which 

 tallies with what I see every summer on the 

 lilac-trees in my garden. 



