The Locusts: their Function 



the terrible ravagers who form the scourge 

 of Africa and the east. 



The ill repute of those voracious eaters 

 has left its mark on you all, though I look 

 upon you as much more useful than injuri- 

 ous. Never, so far as I know, have our 

 peasants complained of you. What damage 

 could they lay to your charge ? 



You nibble the tops of the tough grasses 

 which the Sheep refuses to touch; you prefer 

 the lean swards to the fat pastures; you 

 browse on sterile land where none but you 

 would find the wherewithal to feed himself; 

 you live upon what could never be used 

 without the aid of your healthy stomach. 



Besides, by the time that you frequent the 

 fields, the only thing that might tempt you, 

 the green wheat, has long since yielded its 

 grain and disappeared. If you happen to 

 get into the kitchen-gardens and levy toll on 

 them to some slight extent, it is not a rank 

 offence. A man can console himself for a 

 piece bitten out of a leaf or two of salad. 



To measure the importance of things by 

 the foot-rule of one's own turnip-patch is a 

 horrible method, which makes us forget the 

 essential for the sake of a trivial detail. The 

 short-sighted man would upset the order of 

 357 



