Page 35 - Fables volume 1
P. 35
How Ten Thousand Termites Escaped from Captivity
Homer again twisted his sunburned neck, and this time caught a
tiny glint of sunlight off the windscreen of the CDI Land Crusher. It
seemed to be pointing in a different direction than when they had
started out on foot. “Are we going in a circle?” he asked suspiciously.
“Eh, you are very observant today, Chief. No, we merely describe
an arc of roughly one hundred degrees. This is the only trail.”
“Well, why don’t they make another one cutting straight across this
field? Surely the people have some occasion to get to and from the
highway.”
“Ah, yes.” Amadou inclined his head slightly. “Surely they must.
But this field is used for grazing livestock, and we Forolonkolans are
usually not so pressed for time as you Americans.”
Homer Henry grunted. He had to make a report to CDI
headquarters in Langley, Virginia by the end of the week. Thus far he
had nothing to show but expenses. Transfer to a more desirable post
depended on results; Homer’s willingness to make a field trip before
the cooler, drier months was a measure of his desperation. Somewhere
in this god-forsaken countryside lay his salvation.
At last they entered the precincts of Sirabana. Small children ran
toward them; goats and chickens ran away. Women within low-walled
compounds paused in their pounding of grain to laugh and stare at the
visitors. In the center of the village stood a gigantic baobab tree.
Around it the elders were taking a siesta. Homer held back while
Amadou approached the recumbent group of bald and white-haired
old men.
Someone, giggling, put a rough wooden stool next to Homer. He
sat down and maintained his white man’s dignity by folding his arms
and acknowledging nothing. For a few minutes he watched his
assistant go through the elaborate greetings required by tradition in
rural Forolonkolo. Luckily for outsiders, it was also considered
necessary to have a spokesman intercede in meetings of this type.
Homer fretted, but was happy enough to wait in the background.
Perhaps these people had discovered some simple but ingenious
method of conserving firewood or catching rainwater or threshing
millet. And, perhaps, if he were patient enough, they would show it to
him.
34