THE GRASSHOPPER 
35 
“I have seen grasshoppers pile up against walls and 
fences like snowdrifts in winter. Once in a western 
city I saw them piled waist high on downtown side¬ 
walks, where they had hit the sides of skyscrapers 
and fallen there in an ugly, writhing mass. I have 
seen them so thick that their greasy bodies made rails 
slippery and stopped trains. Even now, it would be 
unsafe to drive on this pavement, because they are 
so numerous our tires would skid on them. 
“I am glad you are having this experience, sad as it 
is for our farmer folk and our flower gardeners near¬ 
by. Not many people know that grasshoppers can 
come in such numbers. A grasshopper usually is re¬ 
garded as a creature in a fairy tale, a friendly old fel¬ 
low who loafs and plays the fiddle all day. Some of 
them, with their wings spread, are beautiful enough 
to be in fairyland; but generally they are just destruc¬ 
tive pests. In a little while we can drive on. The sky 
is much lighter now, and the swarm is moving. But 
you have seen something important today.” 
