Parasites or, how to flype a metaphor

Lifted out of their hiding places, parasites may look strange and monstrous, but only as strange and monstrous as organisms which make it their business to organise dependency in such a way as to present it as a strength. The host is substance and nutriment; his inner dark is burrowed into and fed on; the parasite thrives and grows; and what results is a spectacular triumph existing by means of its attachment. In fact, it is in the nature of things that this attachment offers the host a means of protection against the parasite. Soon the host is innocently whistling again, happy in the conviction that the microworld of parasites he can't see but has just counted coincides in every detail with the macroworld made squeaky clean by such essential gadgets as bars of soap and vacuum cleaners.