62 UNDER THE PLANTAIN LEAP 
of these troublesome creatures for 
the butcher, I also took—for toll, 
as it were—a few bits of the nice 
red meat. This made the selfish 
butcher so angry that he tried to 
kill me, quite overlooking the good 
turn I had done him in ridding his 
shop of so many miserable flies. 
But that is the way with humans; 
they never know their friends/’ 
“ That is true,” assented the ant. 
“Is it not strange that creatures so 
wise as humans do not understand 
how much help we little beings are 
to them?” 
“They are good to me,” said the 
bee modestly. 
“ Certainly,” assented the wasp. 
“They will not kill one of your fam- 
