The Life of the Weevil 
seeds, even as the silly Sheep would shortly 
disappear were there no sheepfolds. 
They are our work, but not always our 
exclusive property. Wherever food is 
amassed, consumers flock from the four 
corners of the sky; they invite themselves to 
the copious feast; and, the richer the vict- 
uals, the greater their numbers. Man, who 
alone is capable of provoking agrarian lux- 
uriance, becomes by this very fact the giver 
of an immense banquet whereat legions of 
guests take their places. By creating more 
palatable and more generous victuals, he 
willy-nilly summons to his granaries thou- 
sands and thousands of famished creatures 
against whose teeth his prohibitions battle 
in vain. The more he produces, the larger 
tribute he has to pay. Big crops and sump- 
tuous hoards favour the insects, our rivals 
as consumers. 
It is the prevailing law. Nature offers 
her mighty breast with equal zeal to all her 
children, to those who live by others’ goods 
no less than to the producers. For us who 
plough and sow and reap, wearing ourselves 
out with toil, she ripens the wheat; she 
ripens it also for the little Corn-weevil, 
232 
