“The ants would be the most to be pitied,” said Emile.
“The round earth would continue to turn just the same, even when the last plant-louse was dying on its leaf; but it is not, in truth, an idle question to ask if ten plant-lice suffice to preserve the race; for science has no higher object than the quest of providential means for maintaining everything in a just measure of prosperity.
“Well, ten plant-lice coming from one would be far too many if we did not have to take account of destructive agencies. One replacing one, the population remains2 the same; ten replacing one, in a short time the number increases beyond all possible limits. Think of the dervish’s grain of wheat doubled sixty-four times, so that it becomes a bed of wheat of a finger’s depth over the whole earth. What would it be if it had been multiplied ten times instead of doubled! In like manner, after a few years, the descendants of a first plant-louse, continually multiplied tenfold, would be in straitened circumstances in this world. But there is the great reaper3, death, which puts an invincible4 obstacle to overcrowding, counterbalances life in its overgrowing fecundity5, and, in partnership6 with it, keeps all things in a perpetual youth. On a rosebush apparently7 most peaceful there is death every minute. But the small, the humble8, and weak, are the habitual9 pasture, the daily bread, of the large eaters. To how many dangers is not the plant-louse exposed, so tiny, so weak, and without any means of defense10! No sooner does a little bird, hardly out of the shell, discover with its piercing eyes a spot haunted by the plant-lice, than, merely as an appetizer11, it will swallow hundreds. And if a worm, far more rapacious12, a horrible worm expressly created and put into the world to eat you alive, joins in, ah! my poor plant-lice, may God, the good God of little creatures, protect you; for your race is indeed in peril13.
“This devourer15 is of a delicate green with a white stripe on its back. It is tapering16 in front, swollen17 at the back. When it doubles itself up it takes the shape of a tear-drop. They call it the ants’ lion because of the ravages18 it makes in the stupid herd19. It establishes itself among them. With its pointed20 mouth, it seizes one, the biggest, the plumpest; it sucks it and throws away the skin, which is too hard for it. Its pointed head is lowered again, a second plant-louse seized, raised from the leaf, and sucked. Then another and another, a twentieth, a hundredth. The foolish herd, whose ranks are thinning, do not even seem to perceive what is going on. The trapped plant-louse kicks between the lion’s fangs21; the others, as if nothing were happening, continue to feed peacefully. It would take a good deal more than that to spoil their appetite! They eat while they are waiting to be eaten. The lion has had enough. He squats22 amidst the herd to digest at his ease. But digestion23 is soon over and already the greedy worm has its eye on those that he will soon crunch24. After two weeks of continual feasting, after having browsed25 as it were on whole herds26 of plant-lice, the worm turns into an elegant little dragon-fly with eyes as bright as gold, and known as the hemerobius.
Ladybug
(a) larva (b) pupa (c) first joint28 of larva
“Is that all? Oh, no. Here is the lady-bug27, the good God’s bug. It is round and red, with black spots. It is very pleasing; it has an innocent air. Who would take it also to be a devourer, filling its stomach with plant-lice? Look at it closely on the rosebush, and you will see it at its ferocious29 feasting. It is very pretty and innocent-looking; but it is a glutton30, there is no denying the fact, so fond is it of plant-lice.
“Is that all? Oh, no. Those poor plant-lice are manna, the regular diet of all sorts of ravagers. Young birds eat them, the hemerobius eats them, lady-birds eat them, gluttons31 of all kinds eat them; and still there are always plant-lice. Ah! that is where, in the fight between fecundity which repairs and the rough battle of life which destroys, the weak excel by opposing legions and legions to the chances of annihilation. In vain the devourers come from all sides and pounce32 upon their prey33; the devoured34 survive by sacrificing a million to preserve one. The weaker they are, the more fruitful they are.
“The herring, cod35, and sardine36 are given over as pasturage for the devourers of the sea, earth, and sky. When they undertake long voyages to graze in favorable spots, their extermination37 is imminent38. The hungry ones of the sea surround the school of fish; the famished39 ones of the sky hover40 over their route; those of the earth await them on the shore. Man hastens to lend a strong hand to the killing41 and to take his share of the sea food. He equips fleets, goes to the fish with naval42 armies in which all nations are represented; he dries in the sun, salts, smokes, packs. But there is no perceptible diminution43 in the supply; for him the weak are infinite in number. One cod lays nine million eggs! Where are the devourers that will see the end of such a family?”
“Nine million eggs!” exclaimed Emile. “Is that a great many?”
“Just to count them, one by one, would take nearly a year of ten working hours each day.”
“Whoever counted them had lots of patience,” was Emile’s comment.
“They are not counted,” replied Uncle Paul; “they are weighed, which is quickly done; and from the weight the number is deduced.
“Like the cod in the sea, the plant-lice are exposed on their rosebushes and alders44 to numerous chances of destruction. I have told you that they are the daily bread of a multitude of eaters. So, to increase their legions, they have rapid means that are not found in other insects. Instead of laying eggs, very slow in developing, they bring forth45 living plant-lice, which all, absolutely all, in two weeks have obtained their growth and begin to produce another generation. This is repeated all through the season, that is to say at least half the year, so that the number of generations succeeding one another during this period cannot be less than a dozen. Let us say that one plant-louse produces ten, which is certainly below the actual number. Each of these ten plant-lice borne by the first one bears ten more, making one hundred in all; each of these hundred bears ten, in all one thousand; each of the thousand bears ten, in all ten thousand; and so on, multiplying always by ten, eleven times. Here is the same calculation as the dervish’s grain of wheat, which grew with such astonishing rapidity when they multiplied it by two. For the family of the plant-lice the increase is much more rapid, as the multiplication46 is made by ten. It is true that the calculation stops at the twelfth instead of going on to the sixty-fourth. No matter, the result would stupefy you; it is equal to a hundred thousand millions. To count a cod’s eggs, one by one, would take nearly a year; to count the descendants of one plant-louse for six months would take ten thousand years! Where are the devourers that would see the end of the miserable47 louse? Guess how much space these plant-lice would cover, as closely packed as they are on the elder branch.”
“Perhaps as large a place as our garden,” suggested Claire.
“More than that; the garden is a hundred meters long and the same in width. Well, the family of that one plant-louse would cover a surface ten times larger; that is to say, ten hectares. What do you say to that? Is it not necessary that the young birds, little lady-bugs, and the dragon-fly with the golden eyes should work hard in the extermination of the louse, which if unhindered would in a few years overrun the world?
“In spite of the hungry ones which devour14 them, the plant-lice seriously alarm mankind. Winged plant-lice have been seen flying in clouds thick enough to obscure the daylight. Their black legions went from one canton to another, alighted on the fruit trees, and ravaged48 them. Ah! when God wishes to try us, the elements are not always unchained. He sends against us in our pride the paltriest49 of creatures. The invisible mower50, the feeble plant-louse, comes, and man is filled with fear; for the good things of the earth are in great peril.
“Man, so powerful, can do nothing against these little creatures, invincible in their multitude.”
Uncle Paul finished the story of the ants and their cows. Several times since, Emile, Jules, and Claire have talked of the prodigious51 families of the plant-louse and the cod, but rather lost themselves in the millions and thousand millions. Their uncle was right: his stories interested them much more than Mother Ambroisine’s tales.
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1
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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reaper
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| n.收割者，收割机 | |
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invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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fecundity
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| n.生产力；丰富 | |
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partnership
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| n.合作关系，伙伴关系 | |
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7
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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8
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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9
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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10
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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appetizer
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| n.小吃，开胃品 | |
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rapacious
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| adj.贪婪的，强夺的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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15
devourer
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| 吞噬者 | |
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tapering
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| adj.尖端细的 | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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18
ravages
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| 劫掠后的残迹，破坏的结果，毁坏后的残迹 | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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squats
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| n.蹲坐，蹲姿( squat的名词复数 )；被擅自占用的建筑物v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的第三人称单数 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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23
digestion
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| n.消化，吸收 | |
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crunch
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| n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声 | |
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25
browsed
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| v.吃草( browse的过去式和过去分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息 | |
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26
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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bug
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| n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器 | |
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28
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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30
glutton
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| n.贪食者，好食者 | |
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31
gluttons
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| 贪食者( glutton的名词复数 )； 贪图者； 酷爱…的人； 狼獾 | |
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32
pounce
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| n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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34
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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cod
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| n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗 | |
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sardine
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| n.[C]沙丁鱼 | |
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37
extermination
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| n.消灭，根绝 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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40
hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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41
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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42
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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43
diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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44
alders
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| n.桤木( alder的名词复数 ) | |
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45
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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multiplication
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| n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法 | |
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47
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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48
ravaged
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| 毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫 | |
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49
paltriest
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| paltry（微小的）的最高级形式 | |
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50
mower
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| n.割草机 | |
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51
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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