KINGS 139 



crater. Why, kings can't even engage in battle for pas- 

 time. 



KENNETH. I'd as leave be a jail bird as either an ant 

 king or queen. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, and shut up 

 in a cell room much of the time. I'd rather raise beans. 



FLORENCE. You've forgotten that the mother of a new 

 colony is builder, feeder, nurse, warrior, and everything 

 else until her first children grow up. She works hard 

 enough to suit anybody. 



ALBERT. But I fear it's all in your mind about queens 

 governing. Very nice to think about, that's all. They 

 just lay eggs. The colony governs itself. Our President 

 has much more to do with ruling than a queen has. 



FLORENCE. I guess you boys don't know that all 

 worker ants are also females. Don't they make a success 

 of everything? No tramps, no spendthrifts, no misers, no 

 rich, no poor good home makers, good nurses, good pro- 

 viders, and good defenders of home. 



DOROTHY. This shows that females can govern, raise 

 a family, fight, and do all the work besides, and make a 

 success of it all. 



FLORENCE. Can you imagine a lazy, brainless king 

 taking care of eggs and babies? Why, he's as helpless as 

 a baby himself. 



KENNETH. How do you know that a worker is a kind 

 of queen? 



FLORENCE. Because it is. Workers lay eggs, too, 

 once in a while, but often the eggs don't amount to much. 

 Some think that kings are hatched from worker eggs 

 even think that the smallest workers of a colony are 

 hatched from the eggs of workers. Now, what have you 

 got to say? 



