THE FOUNDATION OF THE CITY 99 



herself from the mass and climb over the backs of the passive 

 crowd till she reach the inner pinnacle of the cupola. To 

 this she will fix herself solidly, dislodging, with repeated blows 

 of her head, such of her neighbours as may seem to hamper 

 her movements. Then, with her mouth and claws, she will 

 seize one of the eight scales that hang from her abdomen, 

 and at once proceed to clip it and plane it, extend it, knead 

 it with her saliva, bend it and flatten it, roll it and straighten 

 it, with the skill of a carpenter handling a pliable panel. When 

 at last the substance, thus treated, appears to her to possess 

 the required dimensions and consistency, she will attach it 

 to the highest point of the dome, thus laying the first, or 

 rather the keystone, of the new town ; for we have here an 

 inverted city, hanging down from the sky, and not rising from 

 the bosom of earth like a city of men. 



To this keystone, depending in the void, she will add 

 other fragments of wax that she takes in succession from 

 beneath her rings of horn ; and finally, with one last lick 

 of the tongue, one last wave of antennas, she will go, as sud- 

 denly as she came, and disappear in the crowd. Another will 

 at once take her place, continue the work at the point where 

 the first one has left it, add on her own, change and adjust 

 whatever may seem to offend the ideal plan of the tribe, then 

 vanish in her turn, to be succeeded by a third, a foui'th, and 

 a fifth, all appearing unexpectedly, suddenly, one after the 

 other, none completing the work, but each bringing her share 

 to the task in which all combine. 



