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whether natural history is not my favourite science。〃 (3/12。)



》From that time forward he began to collect not only dead; inert; or

dessicated forms; mere material for study; with the aim of satisfying his

curiosity; he began to dissect with ardour; a thing he had never done

before。 He housed his tiny guests in his cupboard; and occupied himself; as

he was always to do in the future; with the smaller living creatures only。



〃I am dissecting the infinitely little; my scalpels are tiny daggers which

I make myself out of fine needles; my marble slab is the bottom of a

saucer; my prisoners are lodged by the dozen in old match…boxes; maxime

miranda in minimis。〃 (3/13。)



Roaming at night along the marshy beaches; he contracted fever; and several

terrible attacks; accompanied by alarming tremors; left him so bloodless

and feeble that; much against his will; he had to beg for relief; and even

insist upon his prompt return to the mainland。 in the meantime he obtained

sick…leave; and returned to Provence after a terrible crossing which lasted

no less than three days and two nights; on a sea so furious that he gave

himself up for lost。 (3/14。)



Slowly he recovered his health; and after a second but brief stay at

Ajaccio he received the news of his appointment to the lycée of Avignon。

(3/15。)



He returned with his imagination enriched and his mind expanded; with

settled ideas; and thoroughly ripe for his task。





CHAPTER 4。 AT AVIGNON。



The resolute worker resumed his indefatigable labours with an ardour

greater than ever; for now he was haunted by a noble ambition; that of

becoming a teacher of the superior grade; and of 〃talking plants and

animals〃 in a chair of the faculty。 With this end in view he added to his

two diplomasthose of mathematics and physicsa third certificate; that

of natural sciences。 His success was triumphant。



Already tenacious and fearless in affirming what he believed to be the

truth; he astonished and bewildered the professors of Toulouse。 Among the

subjects touched upon by the examiners was the famous question of

spontaneous generation; which was then so vital; and which gave rise to so

many impassioned discussions。 The examiner; as it chanced; was one of the

leading apostles of this doctrine。 The future adversary of Darwin; at the

risk of failure; did not scruple to argue with him; and to put forward his

personal convictions and his own arguments。 He decided the vexed question

in his own way; on his own responsibility。 A personality already so

striking was regarded with admiration; a candidate so far out of the

ordinary was welcomed with enthusiasm; and but for the insufficiency of the

budget which so scantily met the needs of public instruction his

examination fees would have been returned。 (4/1。)



Why; after this brilliant success; was Fabre not tempted to enter himself

for a fellowship; which would later in his career have averted so many

disappointments? It was doubtless because he felt; obscurely; that his

ideal future lay along other lines; and that he would have been taking a

wrong turning。 Despite all the solicitations which were addressed to him he

would think of nothing but 〃his beloved studies in natural history〃 (4/2。);

he feared to lose precious time in preparing himself for a competitive

examination; 〃to compromise by such labour; which he felt would be

fruitless〃 (4/3。); the studies which he had already commenced; and the

inquiries already carried out in Corsica。 He was busy with his first

original labours; the theses which he was preparing with a view to his

doctorate in natural science; 〃which might one day open the doors of a

faculty for him; far more easily than would a fellowship and its

mathematics。〃 (4/4。)



At heart he was utterly careless of dignities and degrees。 He worked only

to learn; not to attain and follow up a settled calling。 What he hoped

above all was to succeed in devoting all his leisure to those marvellous

natural sciences in which he could vaguely foresee studies full of

interest; something animated and vital; a thousand fascinating themes; and

an atmosphere of poetry。



His genius; as yet invisible; was ripening in obscurity; but was ready to

come forth; he lacked only the propitious circumstance which would allow

him to unfold his wings。



He was seeking them in vain when a volume by Léon Dufour; the famous

entomologist; who then lived in the depths of the Landes; fell by chance

into his hands; and lit the first spark of that beacon which was presently

to decide the definite trend of his ideas。



It was this incident which then and there developed the germs already

latent within him。 These had only awaited such an occasion as that which so

fortunately came to pass one evening of the winter of 1854。



Fabre offers yet another example of the part so often played by chance in

the manifestations of talent。 How many have suddenly felt the unexpected

awakening of gifts which they did not suspect; as a result of some unusual

circumstance!



Was it not simply as a result of having read a note by the Russian chemist

Mitscherlich on the comparison of the specific characteristics of certain

crystals that Pasteur so enthusiastically took up his researches into

molecular asymmetry which were the starting…point of so many wonderful

discoveries?



Again; we need only recall the case of Brother Huber; the celebrated

observer of the bee; who; having out of simple curiosity undertaken to

verify certain experiments of Réaumur's; was so completely and immediately

fascinated by the subject that it became the object of the rest of his

life。



Again; we may ask what Claude Bernard would have been had he not met

Magendie? Similarly Léon Dufour's little work was to Fabre the road to

Damascus; the electric impulse which decided his vocation。



It dealt with a very singular fact concerning the manners of one of the

hymenoptera; a wasp; a Cerceris; in whose nest Dufour had found small

coleoptera of the genus Buprestis; which; under all the appearances of

death; retained intact for an incredible time their sumptuous costume;

gleaming with gold; copper; and emerald; while the tissues remained

perfectly fresh。 In a word; the victims of Cerceris; far from being

desiccated or putrefied; were found in a state of integrity which was

altogether paradoxical。



Dufour merely believed that the Buprestes were dead; and he gave an

attempted explanation of the phenomenon。



Fabre; his curiosity and interest aroused; wished to observe the facts for

himself; and; to his great surprise; he discovered how incomplete and

insufficiently verified were the observations of the man who was at that

time known as 〃the patriarch of entomologists。〃



》From that moment he saw his way ahead; he suspected that there was still

much to discover and much to revise in this vast department of nature; and

conceived the idea of resuming the work so splendidly outlined by Réaumur

and the two Hubers; but almost completely neglected since the days of those

illustrious masters。 He divined that here were fresh pastures; a vast

unexplored country to be opened up; an entire unimagined science to be

founded; wonderful secrets to be discovered; magnificent problems to be

solved; and he dreamed of consecrating himself unreservedly; of employing

his whole life in the pursuit of this object; that long life whose fruitful

activity was to extend over nearly ninety years; and which was to be so

〃representative〃 by the dignity of the man; the probity of the expert; the

genius of the observer; and the originality of the writer。



The year 1855 saw the first appearance; in the 〃Annales des sciences

naturelles;〃 of the famous memoir which marked the beginning of his fame:

the history; which might well be called marvellous and incredible; of the

great Cerceris; a giant wasp and 〃the finest of the Hymenoptera which hunt

for booty at the foot of Mont Ventoux。〃 (4/5。)



Fabre was now thirty…two years old; and his situation as assistant…

professor of physics was somewhat precarious。 From the 72 pounds sterling

which he drew at Ajaccio; an overseas post; his salary was reduced; on his

return to the mainland; to 64 pounds sterling; and during the whole of his

stay at Avignon he obtained neither promotion nor the smallest increase of

pay; excepting a few additional profits which were unconnected with his

habitual duties。 When he left the university after twenty well…filled

years; he left as he had entered; with the same title; rank; and salary of

a mere assistant…professor。



Yet all about him 〃everywhere and for every one; all was black indeed〃: his

family had increased and therewith his expenses; there were now seven at

table every day。 Very shortly his modest salary would no longer suffice; he

was obliged to supplement it by all sorts of hack…workclasses;

〃repetitions;〃 private lessons; tasks which repelled him; for

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