Staring Down the Beast
close encounters of the adorable kind
by Joe Váradi
What must it be like to come face to face with an otherworldly creature? To stare down a mythical beast in an epic test of courage and strength?
As Theseus must have done in the moments before he vanquished the Minotaur of Crete in his labyrinthine lair.
As Beowulf must have locked eyes with the fearsome Grendel at the gates of the mead-hall Heorot.
As Belle must have struggled to fend off the wolf pack before the Beast came to her rescue. Wolves are very much real, but in that blinding blizzard they must have seemed like arctic cousins of the rabid three-headed guardian of the underworld Cerberus.
What must it be like?
Glad you asked. As it happens, I recently witnessed such an encounter.
I woke up from a late afternoon nap, still jet-lagged after the long-haul flight from the Eastern United States to Taiwan. I staggered into the living room, to find my daughter Abi up close and personal with an imposing specimen of the family Acrididae, suborder Caelifera.
The vividly colored, six-inch locust, perched on the branch on which Abi collected it and transported it back to her grandparents’ home, appeared well-fed and in no mood…
