The Odyneri 



mains to be seen and without delay. Not 

 one of the ingenious constructors of 

 guilloche porticoes shows herself, not one 

 arrives; I must wait. I take up my position 

 close by, to watch the homing insects. 



Ah, how long the hours seem, spent mo- 

 tionless, under a burning sun, at the foot 

 of a declivity which sends the heat of an 

 oven beating down upon you! Bull, my 

 inseparable companion, has retired some 

 distance into the shade, under a clump of 

 evergreen oaks. He has found a layer of 

 sand whose depths still retain some traces 

 of the last shower. He digs himself a bed; 

 and in the cool furrow the sybarite stretches 

 himself flat upon his belly. Lolling his 

 tongue and thrashing the boughs with his 

 tail, he keeps his soft, deep gaze fixed upon 

 me: 



" What are you doing over there, you 

 booby, baking in the heat? Come here, 

 under the foliage; see how comfortable I 

 am!" 



That is what I seem to read in my com- 

 panion's eyes. 



" Oh, my Dog, my friend," I should 

 answer, if you could only understand, " man 

 is tormented by a desire for knowledge, 

 whereas your torments are confined to a de- 



33 



