Note 12 — Chapter XVII · THE COLLABORATORS

Of all children Fabre must have had a weakness for the most rustic specimens; for those who, by virtue of their situation and by inclination, lived more nearly in contact with Nature and the animal creation. If they are ever so little wide-awake, they are at once, for him, friends whose society he seeks and helpers whose assistance he appreciates. Such is the “young shepherd, a friend of the household,” who is without a peer in catching the pill-rolling beetles,12 so greatly does he excel in profiting by the truly exceptional advantages which the pastoral calling offers from this point of view.