The World of the Great Forest

A big yellow and black spotted iboboti, with a body as large as a sparrow's egg, and with very strong long legs, who was much given to philosophic reflection, said one day to himself: "Our kin is very numerous. We spiders are of many kinds, of different shapes and sizes, and of varied colors. We also lead different lives. Some of us like to live in the sun, others in the shade; some in the forest, others in houses of human beings. Strange to say, there are some of us who live in burrows. Some of our kin are day spiders; others belong to the night. Some make webs to entrap their prey; others do not. Some have short legs, others very long ones; the latter spin webs. We are all very voracious and spring upon our prey with great fury. We are brave; if we were not, we should starve."

Then, looking at his web, the iboboti said: "I do not wonder that I have been starving for the last few days, and that my victims-the flies and other insects-have escaped from my meshes. My web has become dilapidated. It is full of holes. I am tired of repairing it. Time, rain, and the sun have done their mischievous work. The threads have become brittle. It is time for me to leave this spot and the old web, which I have spun and constructed with so much care and ingenuity, and go to some other place and spin a new one.