The Life of the Grasshopper 



delicious morsel. Selfishness reigns every- 

 where. When she has eaten her fill, she 

 makes way for another, who in her turn 

 becomes intolerant. One after the other, all 

 the inmates of the menagerie come and re- 

 fresh themselves. After cramming their 

 crops, they scratch the soles of their feet 

 a little with their mandibles, polish up their 

 forehead and eyes with a leg moistened with 

 spittle and then, hanging to the trelliswork 

 or lying on the sand in a posture of con- 

 templation, blissfully they digest and slum- 

 ber most of the day, especially during the 

 hottest part of it. 



It is in the evening, after sunset, that the 

 troop becomes lively. By nine o'clock the 

 animation is at its height. With sudden 

 rushes they clamber to the top of the dome, 

 to descend as hurriedly and climb up once 

 more. They come and go tumultuously, run 

 and hop around the circular track and, with- 

 out stopping, nibble at the good things on 

 the way. 



The males are stridulating by themselves, 

 here and there, teasing the passing fair with 

 their antennae. The future mothers stroll 

 about gravely, with their sabre half-raised. 

 The agitation and feverish excitement means 



