The mysteries of mimicry
had
a special attraction for me. Its
phenomena
showed
an
artistic perfection usually associated
with man-wrThe mysteries of mimicry
ought
had
a special attraction for me. Its
phenomena
showed
an
artistic perfection usually associated
with man-wrought
things. Consider theimitation
of
oozing poison
by
bubblelike macules on a
wing
(complete withpseudo-refraction)
or by
yellow knobs
on
a chrysalis ("Don't eat me-I havealready been squashed,
sampled
and
rejected"). Consider
the
tricks of
an
acrobatic caterpillar (of the Lobster Moth) which in infancy looks like
bird's
dung,
but
after moulting develops scrabbly hymenopteroid
appendages
and
baroque characteristics, allowing the extraordinary fellow to
play
two
parts
at
once (like the actor in oriental
shows
who
becomes
a
pair
of
intertwistedwrestlers):
that
of a writhing larva
and
that of a big
ant
seemingly
harrowing
it.When a certain
moth
resembles a certain
wasp
in
shape
and
colour, it also walks
and
shakes its antennae in a waspish unmothlike manner. When a butterfly
has
to look like a leaf,
not
only are all
the
details of a leaf beautifully rendered
but
markings mimicking grub-bored holes are generously
thrown
in.
Natural
selection", in the Darwinian sense, could
not
explain
the
miraculous coincidenceof imitative aspect
and
imitative behaviour,
nor
could
one
appeal to
the
theory
of
"the struggle for life"
when
a protective device
was
carried to a
point of
mimeticsubtlety, exuberance
and
luxury far in excess
of
a
predator's
power
of
appreciation. I discovered in
nature
the
nonutilitarian delights
that
I
sought
inart. Both were a form
of
magic, both were a game of intricate enchantment
and
deception.
1
Kaufmann
(1968)
Der Wille zur Macht
818
7N
2
(1951),
124-
25
Vladimir N abokov
Speak,
Memory
2
things. Consider theimitation
of
oozing poison
by
bubblelike macules on a
wing
(complete withpseudo-refraction)
or by
yellow knobs
on
a chrysalis ("Don't eat me-I havealready been squashed,
sampled
and
rejected"). Consider
the
tricks of
an
acrobatic caterpillar (of the Lobster Moth) which in infancy looks like
bird's
dung,
but
after moulting develops scrabbly hymenopteroid
appendages
and
baroque characteristics, allowing the extraordinary fellow to
play
two
parts
at
once (like the actor in oriental
shows
who
becomes
a
pair
of
intertwistedwrestlers):
that
of a writhing larva
and
that of a big
ant
seemingly
harrowing
it.When a certain
moth
resembles a certain
wasp
in
shape
and
colour, it also walks
and
shakes its antennae in a waspish unmothlike manner. When a butterfly
has
to look like a leaf,
not
only are all
the
details of a leaf beautifully rendered
but
markings mimicking grub-bored holes are generously
thrown
in.
Natural
selection", in the Darwinian sense, could
not
explain
the
miraculous coincidenceof imitative aspect
and
imitative behaviour,
nor
could
one
appeal to
the
theory
of
"the struggle for life"
when
a protective device
was
carried to a
point of
mimeticsubtlety, exuberance
and
luxury far in excess
of
a
predator's
power
of
appreciation. I discovered in
nature
the
nonutilitarian delights
that
I
sought
inart. Both were a form
of
magic, both were a game of intricate enchantment
and
deception.
1
Kaufmann
(1968)
Der Wille zur Macht
818
7N
2
(1951),
124-
25
Vladimir N abokov
Speak,
Memory
2
