(PORTUGUÊS) (NEDERLANDS)
A very long time ago when Paris was still a treat to visit, I ended up at the Zoo du Jardin des Plantes in the Bois de Vincennes. It is now called Parc Zoologique de Paris. That was because of Loppo. I was visiting with my two children, then aged five and seven, friend Marion and her boyfriend and he had come up with this. Fun for the boys and for me because he knew I loved visiting zoos in metropolises. That was a regular thing. Maybe a little strange habit and I thought it contributed to my knowledge of the country's inhabitants because how well they take care of their animals and how beautiful are the zoo buildings. Those old zoos had those lovely shelters for the monkeys and reptiles, insects and yes even the spiders.
Like most people, my flight and fight system turns on when I see a spider. It is a primal fear humans have, just like for snakes. I stiffen when I encounter one. These days it's not so bad, because you get used to everything. I have lived on the campo for years and there snakes and spiders don't care about my territory which I have marked out myself. My Portuguese help always gets furious when she discovers one in the house and kills the intruder violently and instantly. I don't do that. I catch the spider under a glass, slide a postcard under it and take it to its own territory. Because you can't kill a spider according to ancient Indonesian superstition. I do feel that primal fear and control myself because how stupid is it that you can't just catch a spider.
In the clammy heat of the reptile house, a man in a wheelchair was there drawing. I went over and saw that he was immortalising on paper the tarantula he was sitting across from. He was talented. Face to face with the tarantula, my neck hairs stood straight up. The man was calm as if in meditation. Despite the fear that took possession of me, my curiosity won out because why does someone do such a thing? On each hand I had a son and I believe I squeezed hard. The man greeted us extremely friendly. I asked him what his fascination was with insects. No, he had no fascination with insects and he did have a fascination with the tarantula. I looked at him questioningly.
He smiled with one corner of his mouth lingering down. He put down his pencil and started telling me that he was a biologist researching the tarantula. For years. Until he was bitten by one. From that he sustained paralysis, including in his face. Working in his field as he liked to, was then no longer possible so he chose this second best workplace in the world where he made a daily portrait of the tarantula. According to him, the most beautiful spider species in the world.
I translated for the boys. They said nothing and looked from the man to the drawing to the spider and back to the man again. So did I. My hair still stood on end and I told him so. Again his half, wistful smile appeared.
He looked at me and said: It is good to be vigilant. Not just for spiders, but especially for people. He spoke that last sentence slowly, looked at me to see if it had dawned on me, picked up his pencil again and quietly continued drawing.
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