Piccolissima | Page 9

retain mine.
Ignorant as she was, the little girl had not yet heard of the gummy
liquid which the wise ones had at one time supposed to be placed in the
sponges of the flies, nor of the vacuum, by means of which the learned
of the present day suppose these little cushions can adhere to the most
polished surfaces; and she had not yet seen flies enough to form any
opinion for herself.
"I see," said the little girl, in a small flute voice, "that you know much
more than I; do not refuse, then, to instruct me. I cannot explain how it
is you speak and breathe. Since you have kept your trunk in its case, I
perceive above it your lips closed, and I do not see them move."
Piccolissima, fearing she might be laughed at, did not dare to add, that
she had supposed that the voice of the fly came from under his wings.
"I speak as all well-formed people speak," answered the haughty insect,
"with four voices;" and four puffs of air issued from the oval breathing
holes on both sides of his breast, giving a tremulous motion to his two
little egg-shell wings, his two balance wings, and the roots of his two
other wings. "I breathe through these openings of my corselet, and I
have, in order to enable me to take in the inspiring air which was
created to bear me up, as many mouths as rings to my corselet."
He then swelled out with a proud air his brown abdomen, which
seemed formed of rings of shell; and while he was indulging in the
admiration of himself and his powers, the sharp eyes of Piccolissima
discovered that these circles were not, as we should say, soldered
together, but were lying on a flexible membrane, or thin skin, which
held them in their place, and which was folded up or extended at the
will of the insect. On either side, between each ring, there was in this

membrane a little oval hole, smaller than those which, near the cavities
of the corselet, emitted and modulated the buzzing sound which
Piccolissima had just heard; these openings enabled the insect to
breathe.
"You have many ways of speaking," the little girl said at last, with a
sigh; "but covered as you are all over with brilliant armor, how can you
touch any thing?"
The fly, who was at this moment digesting his dinner, and who did not
like any interruption in any of his affairs, put forth his trunk without
making any reply, shook a little the small beard that grew upon it, did
the same with his antennae, rounded at the ends like little cushions, and
furnished with feathery hair; then stretched forth his legs, as if yawning.
Piccolissima comprehended that the two little cushions which
ornamented the extreme end of the foot of the fly, in which she counted
five joints, might easily possess the sense of touch, and that this also
rendered them more useful for motion, and for the toilet; it was like so
many intelligent brushes, all ready to perceive and sweep away the
least grain of dust. The little beards she also thought might have the
power of taste, like the antennae, at the same time that they listened to
sounds.
"This young fly is doubtless your son," said Piccolissima to the insect
which had taken his place on her neck, in order that the warmth might
help digestion, without asking whether or not his nails might tickle the
little girl.
"What! hast thou not seen directly that we were not relations? but I see
how it is; I pity you, poor imperfect being with only two eyes and one
mouth, and no trunk," answered the fly. "It is natural that thou hast only
a superficial knowledge. This little upstart who devours the sugar as if
he did not mean to leave any of it for any one else, this little person,
who has but a few minutes ago escaped from his shell, yet hanging to a
dead rose leaf long since forgotten as it lay there on the window, has
not, as I have, four beautiful black streaks on his corselet. The white
spots on his back offend the eye; I prefer the modest color of my brown
rings, and the soft shade of the color of the faded leaf on a portion of
my wings does not contribute less to the majesty of my aspect than the
colored feathers which ornament my antennae. As for me, I am the
domestic fly."

"I was wrong not to have remarked the differences which strike me
now," said the child; "but what does this young scapegrace mean by
what he says of metamorphoses, and countless legs?"
"Yes, yes; that is