“ ‘He’⁠—turning to Tsi-puff⁠—‘love remember words. Remember wonderful more than any. Think no, draw no⁠—remember. Say’⁠—here he referred to his gifted assistant for a word⁠—‘histories⁠—all things. He hear once⁠—say ever.’

“It is more wonderful to me than I dreamt that anything ever could be again, to hear, in this perpetual obscurity, these extraordinary creatures⁠—for even familiarity fails to weaken the inhuman effect of their appearance⁠—continually piping a nearer approach to coherent earthly speech⁠—asking questions, giving answers. I feel that I am casting back to the fable-hearing period of childhood again, when the ant and the grasshopper talked together and the bee judged between them.⁠ ⁠…”