Preface 



sting, the prick of which is extremely dan- 

 gerous. They have a prelude to the festival 

 in the shape of a sentimental stroll, claw in 

 claw; then, motionless, with fingers still 

 gripped, they contemplate each other bliss- 

 fully, interminably: day and night pass over 

 their ecstasy while they remain face to 

 face, petrified with admiration. Next, the 

 foreheads come together and touch; the 

 mouths — if we can give the name of mouth 

 to the monstrous orifice that opens between 

 the claws — are joined in a sort of kiss; after 

 which the union is accomplished, the male is 

 transfixed with a mortal sting and the ter- 

 rible spouse crunches and gobbles him up with 

 gusto. 



But the Mantis, the ecstatic insect with the 

 arms always raised in an attitude of supreme 

 Invocation, the horrible Mantis religiosa or 

 Praying Mantis, does better still: she eats 

 her husbands (for the insatiable creature 

 sometimes consumes seven or eight in succes- 

 sion), while they strain her passionately to 

 their heart. Her inconceivable kisses devour, 

 not metaphorically, but in an appallingly real 

 fashion, the ill-fated choice of her soul or 

 her stomach. She begins with the head, 

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