At the moment, three stinkbugs are swimming in my toilet. Unable to clamber up the slippery porcelain walls of the bowl, they keep paddling hither and thither for hours. When they meet, sometimes all three of them at once, they do their best to climb on top of each other, but to no avail. Each of them takes a dip in turn. The moral dilemma I am now facing is when to flush. Should I do it now, or should I wait for a few more buggers to land under the lamp on my dining-room table, where I am doing my best to read in peace? For water is sacred.

Addendum (November 5, 2007)

For the record, I flushed at five stinkbugs. By the time the last one ended up in the toilet, one of them was paddling no longer. Its legs were tucked in already. It must have drowned in the meanwhile. At any rate, the moral dilemma is well behind me. Five stinkbugs per flush now strikes me as the right ratio. Water is sacred, but so are the little buggers, I guess.