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CHAPTER XXIV.

The White Ant.

HEN the parrot had finished his speech, the King looked towards the congregation of Jins and men, and said "How is it that the white ant, although he has no hands or feet, takes up earth and builds his vaulted habitation over his body? Explain the facts of this to me." A person out of the Hebrew party said " The Jins raise the earth for this insect, because these (insects) did for them the great service of eating up the staff of Solomon. He fell down, and then the Jins perceiving he was dead, fled from thence, and obtained release from their troubles and hardships."

The King inquired of the Jin sages whether they knew anything about the matter which this person had spoken of, and they all replied, "How can we say that the Jins take up the earth and water, and give them to this insect? For even if this insect did show the Jins that kindness which this person

1 This requires explanation. Solomon, by his supernatural power, forced the Jins to labour in the construction of the Temple. Advised of his approaching dissolution, and aware that the Jins would, after his death, cease to labour, he prayed that his decease might be concealed from them. A staff was miraculously provided for him, leaning upon which, and praying in his private cell in the Temple, he died. The staff supported him, and the Jins went on working. A white ant, meanwhile, kept devouring the staff; but as the wood was very stout and strong, it endured for a year. When it was eaten through, Solomon's body fell down, and his death was discovered: but the Jins had accomplished their work, and the Temple was finished.-Kurán, Súrat xxxiv. ; Tabaré, chap. xcvii.

has stated, they are still liable to that work and labour, and have not been delivered from it; for Solomon used to make them raise earth and water and build houses, and did not trouble them in any other way."

A Greek sage said to the King, "One reason for this is known to me." The King told him to explain, and he said— "The structure of the white ant is wonderful and marvellous; its temperament is very cold, the articulations and pores of its whole body are constantly open. The air which enters into its body is condensed by the great degree of cold, and becomes water; this exudes on the surface of its body, and the dirt which falls on its body being formed into mud, coagulates. Having collected this, it builds the house over its body for its protection, so that it may be safe from every danger. Its two lips are very sharp, with which it bites fruit, leaves, and wood, and bores holes into bricks and stones."

The King said to the locust-" The white ant belongs to the insects, and you are the representative of the insects; explain then what this Greek doctor has said." The locust replied—“ He has spoken the truth, but he has not given a complete description of the ant; there is something yet left." The King desired him to explain it fully, and he then said— "When God Almighty made all His creatures, and bestowed His blessings upon each one of them, in His wisdom and justice He kept them all equal. To some He gave a body and figure large and heavy, but He made their spirit very mean and despicable. To others He gave forms small and frail, but He made their intelligence acute and wise; thus the excess and deficiency of one side or the other was rectified. For instance, there is the elephant, who, in spite of his huge form, is so mean-spirited that he is obedient to a child, who mounts upon his shoulders and drives him whither he will. And there is the camel, who, although his neck and figure are

very long, is yet such a fool that he follows the lead of whosoever seizes his nose-cord; even a mouse might drive him if it liked. Then there is the scorpion, who is small in size, but still when he stings the elephant, he kills him. In the same way, this insect which they call the white ant, although it is very diminutive in size and very feeble, still it is very strong-willed. In fine, all those insects which are small are acute and wise.

The King asked the reason why all the large-bodied animals were stupid, and the little creatures sharp. Where," said he, "is the divine wisdom in this?" The locust replied —“The Creator, by His omniscience, perceived that animals of large body were capable of (inflicting) pain and trouble, and so if a high spirit had been given to them, they would never have submitted to any one; and if the little creatures had not been acute and wise, they would always have been in trouble and difficulty. Therefore He gave to the former an abject spirit, and to these a sagacious intelligence." The King directed him to explain this more fully, and he replied

“The (chief) excellence of every art is this, that the art of the artist and his mode of procedure should not be known to any one. Thus, there is the bee,1 who in her house constructs all kinds of angles and circles without ruler or compasses, and nobody knows how she does it, or from whence she brings the wax and honey. If her body had been large, this art of hers must have been disclosed.

Then, again, there is the silk-worm, whose method of spinning and weaving no one has discovered. It is the same case with the white ant, for the exact way in which she builds her house has never been disclosed, nor is it even known how she lifts the dirt and works. Doctors of philosophy deny that the existence of the world is possible without matter. God Almighty has made the art of the bee a proof (in refutation) 1 Lit. "fly."

of this, because she, without matter, builds her house of wax and collects her food from honey. If it is their opinion that she gathers it from the flowers and leaves, then why do not they also collect some, and make something? If she gathers it from the midst of the water or the air, then if they are sharp-sighted, why do they not find out how she collects it, and build dwellings for themselves?

"In the same way God has made creatures of little bodies, to serve as proofs of his power and skill to tyrannical kings who have rebelled and turned away from Him. For instance, a gnat killed Nimrod, although the gnat is the smallest of all insects. When Pharaoh chose a wicked course, and rebelled against the patriarch Moses, God Almighty sent an army of locusts, which went (to his) country, and brought great distress on him. So when God bestowed on Solomon the royal and the prophetic office, and made all the Jins and all mankind subject to him, there were some evil persons who doubted his prophetic dignity, and declared that he had obtained his sovereignty by fraud and artifice. Although Solomon told them that God, in His grace and bounty, had conferred on him this distinction, still the doubt was not banished from their hearts. At length God sent the white ant, who went and ate up the staff of Solomon; he then fell down in his cell, but neither man nor Jin had the hardihood to face him. This (exercise of the) divine power was exhibited as a warning to those persons who glory in their size and dignity. For although they see all His arts and all His powers, still they take no warning from them, and boast about those kings who are powerless against the smallest of our worms.

"The shell (pearl-oyster) in which pearls are produced is smaller in bulk and more feeble than any aquatic creature, but in wisdom and knowledge she is wiser and more sensible than they all. Obtaining her food and sustenance in the depths of the sea, she dwells there; but on rainy days she

comes up from the bottom, and places herself upon the surface of the water. She has two large ears which she opens out, and when a drop of rain falls into one, she instantly closes it, so that the salt water may not mix with the rain-drop. Afterwards she goes back to the bottom of the sea, and for a period keeps the two drops of rain shut up until the water is decomposed,1 and becomes a pearl. Well, where is such

science to be found in man?

"God has implanted in the hearts of mankind a love for brocades and silks, and these are produced from the mucus of those little worms. They consider honey a most delicious food, and that is produced by bees. In their assemblies they illuminate with wax candles; for these also they are indebted to the bees. The most exquisite of all their decorations is the pearl, and this is produced by the skill of that little creature of whom a description has just been given. God has produced from those creatures such excellent things that men might see them and acknowledge His art and power. But although they behold all His powers and all His arts, they are still regardless; they waste their days in wickedness and infidelity, and they show no gratitude for His blessings, but practise violence and oppression towards his poor and helpless servants."

When the locust had finished this speech, the King asked the men if they had anything else left to say. They replied, "There are yet many excellent qualities in us by which it is proved that we are the masters and they our slaves." The King directed them to set them forth, and a certain man said, “Our forms are identical, their forms and shapes are diverse, and this proves us to be masters and them to be slaves; because (identity of figure) is proper for rule and mastery, and diversity is indicative of slavery." The King asked the animals what answer they could give to this? and they all remained for an hour pensive and downcast.

1 Lit. "cooked."