But Umé shook her head. "The august father has given me all the sen he has for me this month," she answered.
"How do you know?"
"Because I have already asked for one more sen, and that was his honorable answer."
"I have one sen which you may have if you will let me call the kirigirisu partly mine," said Tara. "I have a black cricket, a little grass lark, that I caught in our own garden last night, and it chirps so cheerfully that I do not need to buy any other singing insect."
"It does not matter whose insect it is," said Umé, "if it only sings."
So Tara gave his sen to Umé and she went to find Tei, who went with her down to the street of shops. There, among numberless other booths, the children found one where nothing but singing insects were for sale.
The insects were of different colors and sizes. Some were black, some were brown and some were bright green. The one that Umé chose looked much like a brown grasshopper.
"He sings most musically in the hours of darkness," said the insect merchant. "While you lie in your bed he will say to you, 'Tsuzuré--sasé, sasé, sasé.'"
Both little girls laughed at the words, which mean, "Torn clothes--patch up, patch up, patch up."
"They are strange words for the honorable insect-singer," said Tei.