“Let them be exterminated! Their resistance is an insult to me! Kill them! Cut off their heads!”
And falling down in an epileptic fit, owing to the excessiveness of his fury, he stamped with his feet, and kept on yelling, “Kill them! Cut off their heads!”
I thought that perhaps the matter might be settled in an amicable manner, and therefore I told the king that rashness was not always the best policy, and I asked for permission to send a messenger, under the protection of a flag of truce, to see whether or not a treaty could be made with the spirits of the upper world.
“This is exactly what I always said,” replied the king. “Rashness is not always the best policy. We must send a messenger by all means.”
Accordingly Cravatu and myself were appointed to that office, and we went.
The undertaking was not without danger, as the nature of the enemy and their habits of thought were not known, and it was not at all improbable that we should receive a shot of lightning at our approach. However, we arrived safely at the lower end of the tunnel, and, looking up, we saw a great number of blue lights moving above like a swarm of bees.
Cravatu, putting his hands to his mouth, shouted up through the hole:
“Peace be with you!”
We listened. The motion among the bees increased, and after a while we heard a very sweet music, as if of a silver harp and lute. This was followed by a roll of thunder and a flash of lightning, doing however no harm.
“What does this mean?” I asked Cravatu, and he replied: