The Oiant Scarites 



the Pimelia, sometimes the Half-spotted 

 Scarab. 1 The find is not consumed on the 

 spot. To enjoy it at his ease, he needs the 

 peaceful darkness of the underground manor; 

 and so the captive, seized by one leg with 

 the pincers, is forcibly dragged along the 

 ground. 



If no precautions were taken, the intro- 

 duction of the victim into the burrow would 

 be impracticable, with a huge quarry offering 

 a desperate resistance. But the entrance to 

 the tunnel is a wide crater, with crumbling 

 walls. However large he be, the captive, 

 tugged from below, enters and tumbles into 

 the pit. The crumbling rubbish immediately 

 buries him and paralyses his movements. 

 The thing is done. The bandit now pro- 

 ceeds to close his door and empty his prey's 

 belly. 



1 Cf. The Sacred Beetle and Others: chaps, ii. and vii. 

 Translator's Note. 



369 



