"We yamam'ba are very good with trees," she said, climbing steadily. "Don't climb any higher. It will only make you tired and sweaty and bitter to the taste. Say prayers instead and become calm and delicious." "I hope I burn your tongue if you have one in there," said Goro, a little beside himself. "And try not to be such a chatterbox. You're making my head buzz." He _did_ hear a distinct buzzing, a small roaring right by his head where he was holding on to a thin branch. He tried to move his hand away from the sound. Something small sat down on his thumb and set it on fire. "Ya-yowch!" he said, loudly. "Tee-hee-hee!" went the yamam'ba, coming up with an intimate rustling of leaves. Goro sucked his thumb which had swollen surprisingly and stared at the ball-like thing hanging only an arm's length away. The buzzing came from it. Very carefully he reached out to see if he would be able to grab it instantly. He thought the size would be about right. A hard, scaly hand with claws came groping through the branches. He moved his foot out of the way and waited for the head. It appeared, the top mouth gaping. "Tee-hee-hee," said the yamam'ba, using both mouths. "Tee-hee-hee yourself," said Goro. "Have a goody." And into the top of her head he dropped the buzzing ball. "Whatever it was, it had a bad taste and your blood will wash it away," said the yamam'ba but just then the hornets woke up, highly irritated from lack of sleep. They flew 'round and 'round inside the yamam'ba. A few of them tickled. Most of them stung. And all of them together worked a havoc in the delicate equipment that makes up the yamam'ba interior. The yamam'ba made a noise like a frying and a noise like a boiling, and a noise like nameless things running through the night with their ears on fire. She tumbled from the tree, into the tub waiting below and bounced about inside it making unpleasant sounds too numerous to mention. * * * * * Goro followed, but more slowly. He arrived in time to see the tub skipping and hopping at the edge of the road which at that point was quite narrow. It teetered for a moment and then sailed out in a gracious curve, trailing its uproar behind it. Goro kneeled and peered down. It was very dark. From far below came a soft boompety-boomp. Then a mere whisper of a crash. Goro got up, shaking his head. He dusted his knees and went away down the road, growing smaller in the cold, lonely night.