昆虫记

章节摘录

　　In the uninterrupted circular procession there is no longer a leader， Eachcaterpillar is preceded by another on whose heels he follows guided by thesil.k track， the work of the whole party; he again has a companion closebehind him， following lum in the same orderly way， And this is repeatedwithout variation throughout the length of the chain， None commands， orrather none modifies the trail according to his fancy; all obey， trusting in theguide who ought normally to lead the march and who in reality has beenabolished by my trickery.From the first circuit ofthe edge ofthe tub the rail of silk has been laid inposition and is soon tumed into a narrow ribbon by the procession， whichnever ceases dribbling its thread as it goes. The rail is simply doubled andhas no branches anywhere， for my brush has destroyed them all. What willthe caterpillars do on this deceptive， closed path? Will they walk endlesslyround and round until their strength gives out entirely?The old schoolmen were fond of quoting Buridan's Ass， that famousDonkey who， when placed between two bundles of hay， starved to deathbecause he was unable to decide in favour of either by breaking theequilibrium between two equal but opposite attractions. 　　They slandered theworthy animal. The Ass， who is no more foolish than any one else， wouldreply to the logical snare by feasting offboth bundles. Will my caterpillarsshow a little of his mother wit? Will they， after many attempts， be able tobreak the equilibrium of their closed circuit， which keeps them on a roadwithout a turning? Will they make up their minds to swerve to this side orthat， which is the only method of reaching their bundle of hay， the greenbranch yonder， quite near， not two feet off?I thought that they would and I was wrong. I said to myself:"The procession will go on tuming for some time， for an hour， two hours，perhaps; then the caterpillars will perceive their mistake. They will abandonthe deceptive road and make their descent somewhere or other."That they should remain up there， hard pressed by hunger and the lack ofcover， when nothing prevented them from going away， seemed to meinconceivable imbecility. Facts， however， forced me to accept the incredible.　　　Let us describe them in detail.The circular procession begins， as I have said， on the 30th of January，about midday， in splendid weather. The caterpillars march at an even pace，each touching the stem of the one in front of him.　The unbroken -chaineliminates the leader with his changes of direction; and all followmechanically， as faithful to their circle as are the hands of a watch. Theheadless file has no liberty left no will; it has become mere clockwork. Andthis continues for hours and hours. My success goes far beyond my wildestsuspicions. 　　I stand amazed at it， or rather I am stupefied.Meanwhile， the multiplied circuits change the original rail into a superbribbon a twelfth of an inch broad. I can easily see it glittering on the redground of the pot. The day is drawing to a close and no alteration has yettaken place in the position of the trail. A striking proof confirms this.The trajectory is not a plane curve， but one which， at a certain point，deviates and goes down a little way to the lower surface of the cornice，retuming to the top some eight inches farther. I marked these two points ofdeviation in pencil on the vase at the outset. Well， all that aftemoon and，more conclusive still， on the following days， right to the end of this maddance，l see the string ofcaterpillars dip under the ledge at the first point andcome to the top again at the second. Once the first thread is laid， the road tobe pursued is permanently established.If the road does not vary， the speed does. 　　I measure nine centimetresl　aminute as the average distance covered. But there are more or less lengthyhalts; the pace slackens at times， especially when the temperature falls. Atten o'clock in the evening the walk is little more than a lazy swaying of thebody. I foresee an early halt， in consequence of the cold， of fatigue anddoubtless also of hunger.Grazing-time has arrived. The caterpillars have come crowding from all. the nests in the greenhouse to browse upon the pine-branches planted bymyself beside the silken purses. Those in the garden do the same， for thetemperature is mild. The others，'lined up along the earthenware cornice.　　……

书籍目录

THE WONDERS OF INSTINCT
  CHAPTER 1
  CHAPTER 2
  CHAPTER 3
  CHAPTER 4
  CHAPTER 5
  CHAPTER 6
  CHAPTER 7
  CHAPTER 8
  CHAPTER 9
  CHAPTER 10
  CHAPTER 11
  CHAPTER 12
  CHAPTER 13
  CHAPTER 14
THE LIFE OF THE FLY
  CHAPTER 1
  CHAPTER 2
  CHAPTER 3
  CHAPTER 4
  CHAPTER 5
  CHAPTER 6
  CHAPTER 7
  CHAPTER 8
  CHAPTER 9
  CHAPTER 10
  CHAPTER 11
  CHAPTER 12
  CHAPTER 13
  CHAPTER 14
  CHAPTER 15
  CHAPTER 16
  CHAPTER 17
  CHAPTER 18
  CHAPTER 19
  CHAPTER 20

作者简介

《昆虫记》，本书不仅是一部研究昆虫的科学巨著，同时也是一部讴歌自然与生命的宏伟诗篇。因此，本书被誉为“昆虫的史诗”，法布尔也由此获得了“科学诗人”、“昆虫荷马”、“昆虫世界的维吉尔”等桂冠。

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