Page:Insect Literature by Lafcadio Hearn.djvu/100

Rh faithfully worshipped; and I have now come to prove to you that your devotion has not been in vain.……… Are you acquainted with the language of Ants? ”The worshipper replied: “I am only a low-born and ignorant person, — not a scholar; and even of the language of superior men I know nothing.” At these words the goddess smiled, and drew from her bosom a little box, shaped like an incense box. She opened the box, dipped a linger into it, and took therefrom some kind of ointment with which she anointed the ears of the man. “Now," she said to him, “try to find some Ants, and when you find any, stoop down, and listen carefully to their talk. You will be able to understand it; and you will hear of something to your advantage.……… Only remember that you must not frighten or vex the Ants.” Then the goddess vanished away.

The man immediately went out to look for some Ants. He had scarcely crossed the threshold of his door when he perceived two Ants upon a stone supporting one of the house-pillars. He stooped over them, and listened; and he was astonished to find that he could hear them talking, and could understand what they said. “Let us try to find a warmer place,” proposed one of the Ants. “Why a warmer place?” asked the other; — “what is the matter with this place?” “It is too damp and cold below,”