The Life of the Weevil 
then the placenta, their common support, 
which is likewise fleshy and highly flavoured. 
It is pleasant to live under such conditions, 
motionless and devoting one’s self entirely to 
the joys of the stomach. 
It would take a cataclysm to upset the 
smug hermit. This cataclysm I bring about 
by opening the cell. Then and there, the 
grub begins to twist and wriggle desperately, 
hating any exposure to the air and light. It 
takes more than an hour to recover from its 
excitement. Here assuredly is a grub that 
will never be tempted to leave its home and 
go wandering about like the Cionus’ larva. 
It is most highly domestic by inheritance and 
domestic it will remain. 
It refuses even to go next door. In the 
same capsule, on the other side of the par- 
tition, a neighbour is nibbling away. Never 
does it pay the neighbour a visit, though it 
could easily do so by perforating the par- 
tition, which at this moment is an actual sort 
of cake, no less tender than the seeds and 
the placenta. Each holds the other’s share 
of the capsule inviolable. On the one hand 
is one grub; on the other hand is another; 
and never do the two hold the least communi- 
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