THE PIG. 215 



that it can only be prevented, even in a well-fed 

 hog-, by piercing; his nose with an iron ring, and 

 the fierce eagerness with which he devours the 

 coarsest food put before him, show that strenuous 

 and unfailing attention to the main business of 

 life (which with him, as with all of us, is to avoid 

 extinction) was forced upon him by circumstances. 

 When the autumn came and the acorns and 

 beech-mast tell he revelled in plenty. Moreover, 

 at this season many of his enemies, such as the 

 bears, were feasting on the ripe berries and nuts, 

 so that he was left in comparative peace. The 

 result was that in the few weeks between the fall 

 of the mast and the first severe weather he filled 

 out amazingly. Then came the winter, during 

 which he had to face the cold and find what food 

 he could beneath the snow or on the surface of 

 the hard frozen ground. Towards the end of the 

 cold season commenced the most tr)-ing time of 

 all : the ground was still hard with frost, so that 

 even a hog's indomitable snout, with the pig- 

 headed resolution behind it to " root or die," 

 could not unearth anjthing of value. B)- this 

 time, also, ever)' nut or acorn in the forest had 

 been picked up by the thousands of hungry 

 searchers. The pig was no longer tat ; his in- 



