Page:On the Coromandel Coast.djvu/293

Rh content. Alarmed for the consequences, he issued a proclamation and sent heralds round his kingdom in search of artificers. He offered money and land; but in vain. His subjects were all agriculturists, and knew nothing of the handling of chisel, saw, or forge. He persevered, his throne being at stake, and bethought himself of a device. He sent a crier out with a branch of scarlet coral. Running through the coral there was a tiny passage crooked and sinuous in its course. Anyone who could thread this piece of coral with a fine strand of silk should receive a large reward. Many tried, but they could only push the silk in a short way. They abandoned the task in despair, saying that their hands were accustomed to hold the plough and to milk the cattle; they were not suited for such delicate work.

A woman buying rice in the bazaar heard the proclamation. She asked the crier if she might take the piece of coral to her house. She had a son who was clever with his fingers; perhaps he might be able to accomplish it. The coral was given to her with the promise that if the boy succeeded he would certainly be rewarded. On her return home she called him and bade him thread the coral with a fine piece of silk which she gave him. For some time he tried to thrust the thread through the narrow, tortuous passage, but without success. Finally he gave it up, and sat silent and thoughtful with his eyes upon the warm sunlit sand, where the ants toiled ceaselessly at their self-imposed tasks. They lifted and dragged all kinds of objects always in one direction–towards the entrance of their nest. A tiny ant, so small as to be scarcely visible, fastened its nippers on to a fine shred of cocoanut fibre that had dropped from a sugar bag and was impregnated with saccharine. Gradually the strand was drawn to the hole of the nest, down which it slowly disappeared.