350 THE STORY-BOOK OF SC'IKM'K 



Will turn to horns, I fear; 



Anil were they shorter than a bird's, 



I fear the ert'ect of words. 

 These horns! the cricket answered ; why. 

 God made them ears; who can deny.' 

 Yes, said the coward, still they '11 make them horns, 

 And horns, perhaps, of unicorns! 

 In vain shall I protest. 1 



"This hare evidently exaggerated things. Its 

 ears have remained ears, to all observers. We do 

 not know whether the snail exiled himself in these 

 circumstances; man is almost unanimous in regard- 

 ing as horns what the snail bears on its forehead. 

 'You call those horns!' the cricket would have ex- 

 claimed, being better advised than man; 'you must 

 take me for a fool. ' ' ' 



"Then they are not horns?" asked Jules. 



"No, my dear. They are at once hands, eyes, 

 nose, and a cane for the blind. They are called ten- 

 tacles. There are two pairs of unequal length. The 

 upper pair is the longer and more remarkable. 



"Eight at the end of each long tentacle you see a 

 little black point. It is an eye as complete as that 

 of the horse and ox, in spite of its minute dimen- 

 sions. What is necessary for making an eye, you 

 are far from suspecting. It is so complicated I will 

 not try to tell you. And yet it is all to be found 

 in that little black point that is scarcely visible. 

 That is not all: beside the eye is a nose, that is 

 to say an organ especially sensitive to odors. The 



i The translation is that of Elizur Wright, Jr., published by James 

 Miller, New York, 1879. 



