Microsoft Word KoboAbe-WomanInTheDunes doc

Cicindela japonica
Motschulsky). It is common 
knowledge, of course, that the garden beetle presents many variations 
in color and design. But the form of the front legs, on the other hand, 
varies very little. In fact, the front legs of the sheath-wing beetle 
constitute an important criterion for its classification. And the second 
joint on the front legs of the insect that had caught the man's eye did 
indeed have striking characteristics. 
Generally speaking, the front legs of the beetle family are black, 
slender, and agile. However, the front legs of this one seemed to be 
covered with a stout sheath; they were round, almost chubby, and 
cream-colored. Of course, they may have been smeared with pollen. 
One might even assume some sort of condition—the presence of hair, 
for example—which would cause the pollen to adhere to the legs. If his 

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observations were correct he had certainly made a most important 
discovery. 
But unfortunately he had let it escape. He had been too excited, and 
besides the beetle's pattern of flight was confusing. It flew away, and 
then as if to say "Catch me!" it turned and waited. When he 
approached it cautiously it flew away again, turned around, and 
waited. Mercilessly tantalizing, its course had at last led it to a clump of 
grass into which it disappeared. 
The man was completely captivated by the beetle with the yellowish 
front legs. 
When he had observed the sandy soil, it seemed to him that his guess 
was correct. Actually, the beetle family is representative of desert 
insects. According to one theory, their strange pattern of flight is a snare 
for the purpose of enticing small animals away from their nests. Prey 
such as mice and lizards are lured out in spite of themselves, wander 
into the desert, and collapse from hunger and fatigue. Their bodies then 
become the beetles' food. These beetles have the elegant Japanese 
name of "letter-bearer" and present graceful features, but actually they 
have sharp jaws and are ferocious and cannibalistic by nature. But 
whether or not his theory was correct, the man was unquestionably 
beguiled by the mysterious pattern of the beetle's flight. 
And his interest in sand, which was the condition for the beetle's 
existence, could not help but grow. He began to read everything he 
could about it. And as his research progressed he realized that sand 
was a very interesting substance. For example, opening to the article on 
sand in the encyclopedia, he found the following: 
SAND: an aggregate of rock fragments. Sometimes including loadstone, 
tinstone, and more rarely gold dust. Diameter: 2 to 1/16 mm. 
A very clear definition indeed. In short, then, sand came from 
fragmented rock and was intermediate between clay and pebbles. But 
simply calling it an intermediate substance did not provide a really 
satisfactory explanation. Why was it that isolated deserts and sandy 
terrain came into existence through the sifting out of only the sand from 
soil in which clay, sand, and stones were thoroughly mixed together? If 

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a true intermediate substance were involved, the erosive action of wind 
and water would necessarily produce any number of intermingling 
intermediate forms in the range between rock and clay. However, there 
are in fact only three forms that can be clearly distinguished from one 
another: stones, sand, and clay. Furthermore, sand is sand wherever it 
is; strangely enough, there is almost no difference in the size of the 
grains whether they come from the Gobi Desert or from the beach at 
Eno-shima. The size of the grains shows very little variation and follows 
a Gaussian distribution curve with a true mean of 1/8 mm. 
One commentary gave a very simple explanation of the decomposition 
of land through the erosive action of wind and water: the lighter