So the sparrow-hawk pursues the skylark in the open sky.

But the bird of prey is less ferocious than the insect; it pursues a creature smaller than itself.

The locust, on the contrary, assails a colossus, far larger and far more vigorous than its enemy; yet the result is a foregone conclusion, in spite of this disproportion.

With its powerful mandibles, like pincers of steel, the grasshopper rarely fails to eviscerate its captive, which, being weaponless, can only shriek and struggle.
The Cigale is an easy prey during its hours of somnolence.

Every Cigale encountered by the ferocious grasshopper on its nocturnal round must miserably perish.