They both declared—Kiddie Katydid and Leaper the Locust—that they couldn't abide the name "Grasshopper." And they took pains to warn people in the neighborhood that they wouldn't answer to that name, no matter how loudly anyone might shout it at them.
After that a few of their neighbors took great delight in crying "Grasshopper! Grasshopper!" whenever one of the two happened to be within hearing. But no matter which of them it might be—whether Leaper the Locust or Kiddie Katydid—he pretended not to hear, and went right on eating.
But at last something happened that made both those jumpy gentlemen change their minds. From not wanting to be called Grasshoppers, they decided suddenly that they liked the name. And each claimed that the other had no right to it.
This odd state of affairs arose when they learned that a stranger had come into the valley bearing a message marked "For Mr. Grasshopper."
"That's for me!" Kiddie Katydid cried, as soon as he heard the news.
"You're mistaken!" Leaper the Locust snapped. "The message is clearly intended for me. And I shan't let anybody else open it."
XIX
A QUARREL
Kiddie Katydid and Leaper the Locust quarreled so loudly that they soon drew a crowd around them.