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Symbology: Moths

"Boquichicos, Peru
"November 1997

"...attracted by the lamplight that seeped through the louvers, a mamoth moth beat against the shutters like a storm  Switters watched it with some fascination as he watied for the boys to bring his luggage up from the river.  That moth was no butterfly, that was certain.  It was a night animal, and it had a night animal's mystery.

"Butterflies were delicate and gossamer, but this moth possessed strength and weight.  Its heavy wings were powdered like the face of an old actress.  Butterflies were presumed to be carefree, moths were slaves to a fiery obsession.  Butterflies seemed innocuous, moths somehow... erotic.  The dust of the moth was  a sexual dust.  The twitch of the moth was a sexual twitch.  Suddenly Switters touched his throat and moaned.  He moaned because it occurred to him how much the moth resembled a clitoris with wings.

"Vivid.

"There were grunts on the path behind him, and Inti emerged from the forest bearing, somewhat apprehensively, Switter's crocodile-skin valise.  In a moment the other two boys appeared with the rest of his gear.  It was time to review accommodations in the Hotel Boquichicos.  He dreaded what he might find behind its shuttered windows, its double-screened doors, but he motioned for the boys to follow him in.  'Let's go.  This insect--' He nodded at the great moth that, fan though it might, was unable to stir the steaming green broth that in the Amazon often substitutes for air.  'This insect is making me feel--' Switters hesitated to utter the word, even though he knew Inti could understand no more than a dozen simple syllables of English.  'This insect is making me feel libidinous.'"

- From Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates, by Tom Robbins.

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