AT THE FARM 



103 



sixty would have been a great shock to her. I 

 supposed that my measure would be over a hundred ; 

 but as I hoped that I had no immediate need of 

 a shroud or shrouds, I did not offer myself for 

 measurement. I am not one of those uneasy folk 

 who like to buy their coffin and keep it ready in 

 the house in case of accidents. 



I suppose that the idea of being eaten, especially 

 by beetles, is rather horrible to you, but we are so 

 used to the thought of being eaten by something 

 eventually, if not sooner, that I think that we 

 should regard it as somewhat of a dishonour to be 

 just left to lie about anyhow, and refused a place at 

 the hospitable board of everybody. It would mean 

 that there was something extraordinarily nasty 

 about us, and that is a much more horrible 

 thought to my mind than the idea of making a 

 pleasant and healthy meal, even for a beetle. They 

 do bury us first, at any rate. And when it comes 

 to being eaten by man, that, of course, is a pretty 

 high honour, which we should recognise by adding 

 letters to our names if only the letters could ever 

 be used. But when you are eaten it is just too late. 

 Your name has vanished, and you cannot add any- 

 thing, even letters, to nothing. You see, we do not 

 employ tombstones to record our virtues and titles. 



