Other Leaf-Rollers 
Now here is something far better, ye 
snobbish upholders of abstinence! A trivial 
beastie, not celebrated by the newspapers, 
a grub born the day before yesterday, takes 
a few mouthfuls; then, finding its victuals 
too dry, it eats no more for four months or 
longer. And this is not the result of sickly 
languor: the creature fasts in spite of the 
extreme appetite of youth, when, more than 
ever, the stomach demands a copious diet. 
The Rotifer,1 which for a whole season lies 
lifeless and desiccated in the mosses of 
its home, begins to whirl round again when 
placed in a drop of water. The grub of 
the Attelabus, lying near to death for four or 
five months, recovers its liveliness and eats 
like a glutton if I moisten its bread for it. 
What can life be, capable of such inter- 
missions ? 
1 Or Wheel Animalcule.—Translator’s Note. 
195 
