The Sacred Beetle and Others 



thing; never do I catch her looking as though 

 she wanted to turn the block. It is clear as 

 daylight: rolling has nothing whatever to do 

 with the matter. 



The dough-maker's assiduity, her patient 

 care make me suspect an industrial detail 

 whereof I was far from dreaming. Why 

 so many aftertouches to the mass, why so 

 long a wait beforef making use of it? It is, 

 in fact, a week or more before the insect, still 

 busy with its pressing and polishing, makes 

 up its mind to do something with its hoard. 



When the baker has kneaded his dough 

 to the requisite extent, he collects it into a 

 single lump in a corner of the kneading- 

 trough. The leaven will work better in the 

 depths of the voluminous mass. The Copris 

 knows this bakehouse secret. She heaps to- 

 gether all that she has collected in her 

 foraging; she carefully kneads the whole into 

 a provisional loaf and allows it time to im- 

 prove by virtue of an Internal process that 

 gives flavour to the paste and makes it of the 

 right consistency for subsequent manipula- 

 tions. As long as this chemical process 

 remains unfinished, both the baker and the 

 Copris wait. In the case of the insect, it 

 goes on for some time, a week at least. 



At last it is ready. The baker's man 



196 



