"And what is that?" asked Jack-John.
"You must tell us what the half-moon in a handle, which you have sleeping beside you, is for."
"The half-moon that sleeps?" exclaimed Jack-John in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Your companion that sleeps beside you on the green moss," said the people.
"You make me laugh," said Jack-John. "It is not my companion—it is not an animal. It is simply a reap-hook."
"A reap-hook," exclaimed the people. "What a strange name! Never before have we seen such a thing."
Jack-John was astonished, but in a moment he thought that the time had arrived for him to make his fortune; so he said:
"I see that your grain is ripe. It is time to harvest it. How do you cut it?"
"Like everybody else," said they, "we gnaw it with the teeth."
"That must be tedious," said Jack-John.