Linguet's 'La Pierre Philosophale': An enlightenment fable of the sparrows and the caterpillars

The short text 'La Pierre Philosophale' was written by Simon-Nicolas-Henri Linguet (1736-1794), writer, lawyer and journalist, in 1768. The name refers to the classical expression the 'Philosopher's Stone', the legendary alchemical quest to turn base metal into gold, or the recipe for achieving immortality. Authors such as Albertus Magnus, and Thomas Aquinas (in the theological field of Patristics), the later Hermeticists and Rosicrucians, Paracelsus (in the medical field) and more recent writers (on psychoanalysis) sought an 'elixir of life', not to mention Rowling's work in the Harry Potter series.