《fabre, poet of science》

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fabre, poet of science- 第15部分


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less; he still exercised his vocation as teacher; for neither pure science

nor poetry was sufficient to nourish his mind; and he was still Professor

Fabre; untiringly pursuing his programme of education; although no longer

applying himself thereto exclusively。



This long active period was also the most silent period of his life;

although not an hour; not a minute of his many days was left unoccupied。



In the first few months at his new home he resumed his hymn to labour。



〃You will learn in your turn;〃 he writes to his son émile; 〃you will learn;

I hope; that we are never so happy as when work does not leave us a

moment's repose。 To act is to live。〃 (6/7。)



The better to belong to himself; he eluded all invitations; even those from

his nearest or most intimate friends; he hated to go away even for a few

hours; preferring to enjoy in his own house their presence amidst his

habitual and delightful surroundings。 Everything in this still unexplored

country was new to him。 What would he do elsewhere; even in his beloved

Carpentras; whither his faithful friend and pupil Devillario; who had

formerly followed him in his walks around Avignon; would endeavour from

time to time to draw him? Devillario was a magistrate; a collector and

palaeontologist; his simple tastes; his wide culture; and his passion for

natural history would surely have decided Fabre to accept his invitations;

but that he forbade himself the pleasure。 〃I am afraid the hospitable

cutlet that awaits me at your table will have time to grow cold; I am up to

the neck in my work (6/8。)。。。But you; when you can; escape from your

courts; and we will philosophize at random; as is our custom when we can

manage to pass a few hours together。 As for me; it is very doubtful whether

the temptation will seize me to come to Carpentras。 A hermit of the Theba?d

was no more diligent in his cell than I in my village home。〃 (6/9。)





CHAPTER 7。 THE INTERPRETATION OF NATURE。



Was there not indeed a sufficiency of captivating matters all about him;

and beneath his very feet?



In his deep; sunny garden a thousand insects fly; creep; crawl; and hum;

and each relates its history to him。 A golden gardener…beetle trots along

the path。 Rose…beetles pass; in snoring flight; on every hand; the gold and

emerald of their elytra gleaming; now and again one of them alights for a

moment on the flowering head of a thistle; he seizes it carefully with the

tips of his nervous; pointed fingers; seems to caress it; speaks to it; and

then suddenly restores it to freedom。



Wasps are pillaging the centauries。 On the blossoms of the camomile the

larvae of the Melo? are waiting for the Anthophorae to carry them off to

their cells; while around them roam the Cicindelae; their green bodies

〃spotted with points of amaranth。〃 At the bottom of the walls 〃the chilly

Psyche creeps slowly along under her cloak of tiny twigs。〃 In the dead

bough of a lilac…tree the dark…hued Xylocopa; the wood…boring bee; is busy

tunnelling her gallery。 In the shade of the rushes the Praying Mantis;

rustling the floating robe of her long tender green wings; 〃gazes alertly;

on the watch; her arms folded on her breast; her appearance that of one

praying;〃 and paralyses the great grey locust; nailed to its place by fear。



Nothing here is insignificant; what the world would smile at or deride will

provide the sage with food for thought and reflection。 〃Nothing is trivial

in the majestic problem of nature; our laboratory acquaria are of less

value than the imprint which the shoe of a mule has left in the clay; when

the rain has filled the primitive basin; and life has peopled it with

marvels〃; and the least fact offered us by chance on the most thoroughly

beaten track may possibly open prospects as vast as all the starry sky。



Tell yourself that everything in nature is a symbol of something like a

specimen of an abstruse cryptogram; all the characters of which conceal

some meaning。 But when we have succeeded in deciphering these living texts;

and have grasped the allusion; when; beside the symbol; we have succeeded

in finding the commentary; then the most desolate corner of the earth

appears to the solitary seeker as a gallery full of the masterpieces of an

unsuspected art。 Fabre puts into our hands the golden key which opens the

doors of this marvellous museum。



Let us consider the terebinth louse; it is just a little yellow mite; but

is it nothing else? Its genealogical history teaches us 〃by what amazing

essays of passion and variety the universal law which rules the

transmission of life is evolved。 Here is neither father nor eggs; all these

mites are mothers; and the young are born living; just like their mothers。〃

To this end 〃almost the whole of the maternal substance is disintegrated

and renewed and conglobated to form the ovarium。。。the whole creature has

become an egg; which has; for its shell; the dry skin of the tiny creature;

and the microscope will show a whole world in formation。。。a nebulosity as

of white of egg; in which fresh centres of life are forming; as the suns

are condensed in the nebulae of the heavens。〃 (7/1。)



What is this fleck of foam; like a drop of saliva; which we see in

springtime on the weeds of the meadows; among others on the spurge; when

its stems begin to shoot; and its sombre flowers open in the sunlight? 〃It

is the work of an insect。 It is the shelter in which the Cicadellina

deposits her eggs。 What a miraculous chemist! Her stiletto excels the

finest craft of the botanical anatomist〃 by its sovereign art of separating

the acrid poison which flows with the sap in the veins of the most venomous

plants; and extracting therefrom only an inoffensive fluid。 (7/2。)



At every step the insects set us problems equally varied。 The other

creatures are nearer to us; they resemble us in many respects。 But insects;

almost the first…born of creation; form a world apart; and contain; in

their tiny bodies; as Réaumur has admirably said; 〃more parts than the most

gigantic animals。〃 They have senses and faculties of their own; which

enable them to accomplish actions; which are doubtless very simply related

in reality; but which seem; to our minds; as extraordinary as the habits of

the inhabitants of Mars might; if by chance they were to descend in our

midst。 We do not know how they hear; nor how they see through their

compound eyes; and our ignorance concerning the majority of their senses

still further increases the difficulty; which so often arrests us; of

interpreting their actions。



The tubercled Cerceris 〃finds by the hundred〃 and almost immediately a

species of weevil; the Cleona ophthalmica; on which it feeds its larvae;

and which the human eye; though it searches for hours; can scarcely find

anywhere。 The eyes of the Cerceris are like magnifying glasses; veritable

microscopes; which immediately distinguish; in the vast field of nature; an

object that human vision is powerless to discover。 (7/3。)



How does the Ammophila; hovering over the turf and investigating it far and

wide; in its search for a grey grub; contrive to discern the precise point

in the depth of the subsoil where the larva is slumbering in immobility?

〃Neither touch nor sight can come into play; for the grub is sealed up in

its burrow at a depth of several inches; nor the scent; since it is

absolutely inodorous; nor the hearing; since its immobility is absolute

during the daytime。〃 (7/4。)



The Processional caterpillar of the pine…trees; 〃endowed with an exquisite

hygrometric sensibility;〃 is a barometer more infallible than that of the

physicists。 〃It foresees the tempests preparing afar; at enormous

distances; almost in the other hemisphere;〃 and announces them several days

before the least sign of them appears on the horizon。 (7/5。)



A wild bee; the Chalicodoma; and a wasp; the Cerceris; carried in the dark

far from their familiar pastures; to a distance of several miles; and

released in spots which they have never seen; cross vast and unknown spaces

with absolute certainty; and regain their nests; even after long absence;

and in spite of contrary winds and the most unexpected obstacles。 It is not

memory that guides them; but a special faculty whose astonishing results we

must admit without attempting to explain them; so far removed are they from

our own psychology。 (7/6。) But here is another example: 



The Greater Peacock moths cross hills and valleys in the darkness; with a

heavy flight of wings spotted with inexplicable hieroglyphics。 They hasten

from the remotest depths of the horizon to find their 〃sleeping beauties;〃

drawn thereto by unknown odours; inappreciable by our senses; yet so

penetrating that the branch of almond on which the female has perched; and

which she has impregnated with her effluvium; exerts the same extraordinary

attraction。 (7/7。)



Considering these creatures; we end by discovering more things than are

contained in all the philosophies。。。if we know how to look for them。



Among so many unimaginable phenomena; which bewilder us; 〃because there is

nothing analogous in us;〃 we succeed in perceiving; here and there; a few

glimpses of day; which suddenly throw a singular light upon this black

labyrinth; in which the least secret we can surprise 〃enters perhaps more

directly into the profound enigma of our ends and our origins than the

secret of the most urgent and most closely studied of our passions。〃 (7/8。)



Fabre explains by hypnosis one of those curious facts which have hitherto

been so poorly interpreted。 When surprised by abnormal conditions; we see

insects suddenly fall over; drop to the ground; and lie as though struck by

lightning; gathering their limbs under their bodies。 A shock; an unexpected

odour; a loud noise; plunges them instantly into a sort of lethargy; more

or less prolonged。 The insect 〃feigns death;〃 not because it simulates

death; but in reality 
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