The Life of the Grasshopper 



" Grasshoppers * are of good nourishment 

 for men and Camels. Their claws, wings 

 and head are taken away and they are 

 eaten fresh or dried, either roast or boiled 

 and served with flesh, flour and herbs. 



" When dried in the sun, they are ground 

 to powder and mixed with milk or kneaded 

 with flour; and they are then cooked with 

 fat or with butter and salt. 



" Camels eat them greedily and are given 

 them dried or roast, heaped in a hollow be- 

 tween two layers of charcoal. Thus also do 

 the Nubians eat them. 



"When Miriam 2 prayed God that she 

 might eat flesh unpolluted by blood, God 

 sent her Grasshoppers. 



" When the wives of the Prophet were 

 sent Grasshoppers as a gift, they placed some 

 of these in baskets and sent them to other 

 women. 



" Once, when the Caliph Omar was asked 

 if it were lawful to eat Grasshoppers, he 

 made answer : 



" * Would that I had a basket of them to 

 eat!' 



1 More correctly the Locust, not to be confused with 

 the true Grasshopper, who carries a sabre. Author's 

 Note. 



2 The Blessed Virgin Mary. Author's Note. 



362 



