CHAPTER VI 
THE NUT-WEEVIL 
[F a peaceful home, a good stomach and a 
secure livelihood are enough to bring 
happiness, then the Nut-Weevil is truly a 
happy creature, more so even than the fa- 
mous Rat who retired into a Dutch cheese. 
The hermit of the fabulist* had kept up 
certain relations with the world, the source 
of all his troubles. One day, a deputation 
from the Rat folk came to ask him for a 
trifling alms. The recluse listened to their 
complaints with an unwilling ear; he told 
them that he could not help them, promised 
to pray for them and shut the door without 
further ado. 
Hard though he was upon the needs of 
others, this visit of famished beggars must 
have disturbed his digestion somewhat: 
history does not tell us so, but we are at 
liberty to believe it. The hermit of the 
1 Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695).—Translator’s Note. 
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