登陆注册
15485200000008

第8章 CHAPTER II THE ANTHRAX(4)

But at this hour all danger has disappeared. Enclosed in its silken tent, the larva is seized with the lethargy that precedes the metamorphosis. Its condition is not death, but neither is it life. It is an intermediary condition; it is almost the latent vitality of grain or egg. Therefore there is no sign of irritation on the larva's part under the needle with which I stir it and still less under the sucker of the Anthrax grub, which is able to drain the affluent breast in perfect safety.

This lack of resistance, induced by the torpor of the transformation, appears to me necessary, in view of the weakness of the nursling as it leaves the egg, whenever the mother is herself incapable of depriving the victim of the power of self defense. And so the nonparalyzed larvae are attacked during the period of the nymphosis. We shall soon see other instances of this.

Motionless though it be, the Chalicodoma grub is none the less alive. The primrose tint and the glossy skin are unequivocal signs of health: Were it really dead, it would, in less than twenty-four hours, turn a dirty brown and, soon after, decompose into a fluid putrescence. Now here is the marvelous thing: during the fortnight, roughly, that the Anthrax' meal lasts, the butter color of the larva, an unfailing symptom of the presence of life, continues unaltered and does not change into brown, the sign of putrefaction, until hardly anything remains; and even then the brown hue is often absent. As a rule, the look of live flesh is preserved until the final pellet, formed of the skin, the sole residue, makes its appearance. This pellet is white, with not a speck of tainted matter, proving that life persists until the body is reduced to nothing.

We here witness the transfusion of one animal into another, the change of Chalicodoma substance into Anthrax substance; and, as long as the transfusion is not complete, as long as the eaten has not disappeared altogether and become the eater, the ruined organism fights against destruction. What manner of life is this, which may be compared with the life of a night light whose extinction is not accomplished until the last drop of oil has burnt away? How is any creature able to fight against the final tragedy of corruption up to the last moment in which a nucleus of matter remains as the seat of vital energy? The forces of the living creature are here dissipated not through any disturbance of the equilibrium of those forces, but for the want of any point of application for them: the larva dies because materially there is no more of it.

Can we be in the presence of the diffusive life of the plant, a life which persists in a fragment? By no means: the grub is a more delicate organic structure. There is unity between the several parts; and none of them can be jeopardized without involving the ruin of the others. If I myself give the larva a wound, if I bruise it, the whole body very soon turns brown and begins to rot. It dies and decomposes by the mere prick of a needle; it keeps alive, or at least preserves the freshness of the live tissues, so long as it is not entirely emptied by the Anthrax' sucker. A nothing kills it; an atrocious wasting does not. No, I fail to understand the problem; and I bequeath it to others.

All that I can see by way of a glimpse--and even then I put forward my suspicions with extreme reserve--all that I am permitted to surmise is reduced to this: the substance of the sleeping larva as yet has no very definite static existence; it is like the raw materials collected for a building; it is waiting for the elaboration that is to make a bee of it. To mould those shapeless lumps of the future insect, the air, that prime adjuster of living things, circulates among them, passing through a network of ducts. To organize them, to direct the placing of them, the nervous system, the embryo of the animal, distributes its ramifications over them. Nerve and air duct, therefore, are the essentials; the rest is so much material in reserve for the process of the metamorphosis. As long as that material is not employed, as long as it has not acquired its final equilibrium, it can grow less and less; and life, though languishing, will continue all the same on the express condition that the respiratory organs and the nervous filaments be respected. It is as it were the flame of the lamp, which, whether full or empty, continues to give light so long as the wick is soaked in oil.

Nothing but fluids, the plastic materials held in reserve, can be distilled by the Anthrax' sucker through the unpierced skin of the grub; no part of the respiratory and nervous systems passes. As the two essential functions remain unscathed, life goes on until exhaustion is completed. On the other hand, if I myself injure the larva, I disturb the nervous or air conducting filaments; and the bruised part spreads a taint, followed by putrefaction, all over the body.

I have elsewhere, speaking of the Scolia [a digger wasp] devouring the Cetonia grub, enlarged upon this refined art of eating which consists in consuming the prey while killing it only at the last mouthfuls. The Anthrax has the same requirements as his competitors who dine off fresh viands. He needs meat of that day, taken from a single joint that has to last a fortnight without going bad. His method of consuming reaches the highest level of art: he does not cut into his prey, he sips it little by little through his sucker. In this way, any dangerous risk is averted.

Whether he imbibe at this spot or at that, even if he abandon the sucking process and resume it later, by no accident can he ever attack that which it is incumbent upon him to respect lest corruption supervene. The others have a fixed position on the victim, a place at which their mandibles have to bite and enter.

If they move away from it, if they miss the appointed path, they imperil their existence. The Anthrax, more highly favored, puts his mouth where it suits him; he leaves off when he pleases and when he pleases starts again.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 阴阳驱鬼师

    阴阳驱鬼师

    一觉醒来,沐瑾便发现失去两年记忆。醒来这天半夜,邻居老王敲门,说他外出,让他的萝莉女儿借住一晚,看她那么清纯可爱,就决定当一次好人,谁知道她……她说沐瑾天生阴阳体,魑魅魍魉,邪魔恶灵,通通都能镇压。于是,沐瑾左手画阴阳,右手掌八卦。红衣女鬼,深山古尸,荒庙禁地,阴兵借墓……一个个离奇怪事渐渐出现在他的身边。
  • 融化吧:冰山捉鬼师

    融化吧:冰山捉鬼师

    世界之大,无奇不有。就比如她,不过不是奇迹,是奇葩。她一个小小的餐馆老板,出门买药时遇到混混抢劫,他出手救了她【并不】、帮她赶走鬼怪。天!这家伙不仅别扭傲娇还腹黑!赖在她家蹭吃蹭喝。从此,她又有了一条谋生之路——哪里出了灵异事件,哪里就是金钱的来源!妖魔鬼怪什么的,听话的留下打工,不听话的……哼哼,洛邪全部要搞定哟!式神是服务生、狐妖是收银的、精灵是厨师、厉鬼是保镖……没事和洛邪拌拌嘴,尝尝美食。高富帅是美男的,白富美是千金的,本姑娘才是绝世女王!【蠢萌奸商女X腹黑冰山男】【史上最蠢捉鬼搭档】
  • 上神请归位

    上神请归位

    情不知所起,一往情深深几许?他所有的心思,都是为了能一直留她在身边。哪怕,用尽所有的谎言与心机。“我说,死狐狸,你别靠近我!”“嗯,我允许你靠近……”——苏陌“仙又如何?妖又怎样?没有你,我宁愿不要这无穷岁月。”“拜见上神,只此一别,后会无期。”——白起几场瑰丽的梦,几番难寻的你。这个世界,与你何故?与我何处?--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 好孕临门

    好孕临门

    2009年最温暖最爆笑的怀孕小说。 经过七八年的丁克婚姻,李享在丈夫出国工作的前夕,突然发现自己怀孕了。 她知道,如果不生下这个孩子,以后她可能会没有勇气再要一个孩子了。 身边和她一样的丁克朋友们、远在国外的丈夫,都殷切地盼望着她能生下这个宝贝来。 无奈中,心怀胆怯惶恐地,李享接受了怀孕的事实。十月怀胎的过程中,她经历了很多事情:对小孩子一直心存恐惧,可不得不做一段时间的临时“妈妈”;挺着走样的身材,去面对曾经的仰慕者;男同事看她的眼神,也有了微妙的变化……
  • 轮回劫:千古遗恋

    轮回劫:千古遗恋

    每一个时代都是有着自己的英雄,自己的神话,而见证这次人又是什么呢?天道使者,继承天命,见证一个个朝代的崛起、落幕,见证一个个英雄神话的演绎,而这一次的故事却是发生在见证者的身上……这也算是一个神话,一个不为人知的传说,当那眼眸睁开之时一滴泪水滑落,我的记忆去了何处,我又是谁!当记忆的一幕幕开始翻起之时,我又是该何去何从,当天地大战再次开启之时,一切的选择都是在自己的手中……
  • 武极云巅

    武极云巅

    一个少年,孤身踏入天索山。从此走上一条不回头的路,开启了一个新的传说!打算写够一千万字,不知道要写多少年········
  • 家庭教师之卢卡迪风

    家庭教师之卢卡迪风

    卢卡迪风,又名卢风,是南京市一所二流大学的三流学生,没有什么心思上课,却异常喜欢家庭教师里面的阿纲,因为觉得自己跟这里面的阿纲很像,都是废柴级别.在一次偶然情况之下,卢风穿越到了阿纲的时代,他的人生会变得如何呢?敬请期待~
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 穿越战国之美人泪

    穿越战国之美人泪

    一觉醒来,意外得知未婚夫要结婚了,新娘还不是她!为了找回未婚夫,漂洋过海,不幸空难。她以为必死无疑,却不料穿越到了战国,还成了魏国公主!从此展开绚烂的生活:宫斗,修仙,捉妖降魔……
  • 我无敌天下

    我无敌天下

    天空大陆里谁是王者,圣域强者才是强者,看胡闯一步步走上圣域之路吧