Page:Kwaidan; Stories and Studies of Strange Things - Hearn - 1904.djvu/179

 most surprising way, by a prodigious colony of ants. The ants had furthermore built inside their excavations; and their tiny constructions of straw, clay, and stems bore an odd resemblance to miniature towns. In the middle of a structure considerably larger than the rest there was a marvelous swarming of small ants around the body of one very big ant, which had yellowish wings and a long black head.

&quot;Why, there is the King of my dream!&quot; cried Akinosuké; &quot;and there is the palace of Tokoyo! … How extraordinary! … Raishū ought to lie somewhere southwest of it—to the left of that big root. … Yes! here it is! … How very strange! Now I am sure that I can find the mountain of Hanryōkō, and the grave of the princess.&quot; …

In the wreck of the nest he searched and searched, and at last discovered a tiny mound, on the top of which was fixed a water-worn pebble, in shape resembling a Buddhist monument. Underneath it he found—embedded in clay—the dead body of a female ant. 155