The Sacred Beetle and Others 



compared the outside of the pear, which, 

 when pressed and dried, becomes a stout 

 shell, with a jar containing fresh food. In 

 the course of my excavations, sometimes 

 made on difficult soil, I have happened 

 occasionally to break this jar with an ill- 

 directed blow of my trowel. I have 

 collected the potsherds, pieced them to- 

 gether, after restoring the grub to its place, 

 and kept the whole thing united by wrapping 

 it in a scrap of newspaper. 



On reaching home, I have found the pear 

 put out of shape, no doubt, and seamed with 

 scars, but just as solid as ever. During the 

 walk, the grub had restored its ruined 

 dwelling to condition. Cement injected into 

 the cracks joined the pieces; inside, a thick 

 plastering strengthened the inner wall, so 

 much so that the repaired shell was quite as 

 good as the untouched shell, except for the 

 irregularity of the outside. In its artist- 

 ically-mended stronghold, the grub found the 

 peace essential to its existence. 



The time has come to ask ourselves the 

 reason for this plasterer's craft. Destined 

 to live in complete darkness, does the larva 

 stop the cracks made in its house in order 

 to avoid the unwelcome intrusion of the 

 light? But it is blind. There is no trace 



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