Onthophagi and Oniticelli 



gules." ^ I know some who are all scrubby 

 with shock-headed wigs and whiskers and 

 Imperials In which every hairy drollery seems 

 to be epitomized; and yet there is not a doubt 

 that noses " like the beak of a limbeck " and 

 bristly faces are highly admired In the simian 

 clan. There is no boundary between the 

 fashionable and the grotesque. It all de- 

 pends upon the appraiser. 



If the grub with the outrageous hump were 

 to show Itself In public, It would doubtless re- 

 present the supreme expression of the beauti- 

 ful in the eyes of the Onitlcellus and the 

 Onthophagus. Because it Is a recluse, no- 

 body sees it. Its charms would remain un- 

 known but for the philosophical observer, 

 who says to himself: 



" Everything Is good that harmonizes with 

 the functions to be fulfilled. The grub re- 

 quires a cement-bag to safeguard Its pro- 

 visions against desiccation; It Is born with a 

 knapsack on its back so that It may live." 



Thus Is the hump excused and abundantly 

 justified. 



Its usefulness Is displayed from another 

 point of view. The thimble Is of such a 

 niggardly size that the grub consumes It al- 



1 Pantagruel: chap. i. ; Sir Thomas Urquhart's transla- 

 tion. — Translator's Note. 



261 



