De L'Ester—Your modesty, George, is only a little less admirable than your poetry. What more can I say? You perceive, madame, that Spirits, as well as mortals, at times indulge in a bit of nonsense. Ah! you recognize these tufts of pretty flowers. Yes, it is the vining water lily, which our artist friend, Poole, drew for you two years ago. See how bees are extracting sweets from its pink chalices, which are quite as fragrant as the flower you name tuberose.
You have been informed that the Ento word Loisa̤ stands for our words water, lake, pond, reservoir, stream and so on, and that the Rodel is the representative of the Ento lily family. Loisa̤ mīcana̤ is a diminutive relative of the true Rodel, and, with the Entoans, who are flower lovers, it is a universal favorite. In your language, mīcana̤ would mean angular, crooked, curved and twisted, and you will pronounce it Mēcana̤h.
This variety of the Rodel always is found by the margins of streams or in marshy localities. Its long, slender, crooked leaf and flower stalks convey the impression of a vining tendency, hence its name. See how the rivulet is bordered with this and other blooming plants whose white, red, blue and yellow tints present an endless array of floral beauties. Yes, several of them have been drawn for you by Poole and Jared James. I believe you and Jared had a slight unpleasantness over one of his drawings. He is a very right minded person, but does not take kindly to interference with his plans.
As we move along you may observe that the rivulet is widening and losing itself in yonder great marshy tract, and if you will look toward our left you will see something that may surprise you. Certainly, we may go nearer. Yes, this is the same gorgeous, carmine hued, many petaled, golden centred Water Queen, so faithfully reproduced for you by Aaron Poole. You may recall that at the time it was drawn we promised to some time show you the growing plant. Poised on their long, slender flower stalks and stirred by the breeze, the stately beauties bow this way and that, as though in gracious acknowledgment of the homage of the myriad blooms growing luxuriantly all over the marsh and filling the air with their sweet perfume.
The queen, though holding her head so loftily, has only her beauty to commend her. Such odor as she exhales is very objectionable, and her train of many slender stemmed leaves falling about her feet and onto the limpid pool which serves her majesty for a looking glass, are covered with a viscid exudation, and woe to such insects as may alight on their treacherous surface. Her royal highness is known as Loisa̤ Gentolissima. In these nearby, showy masses of bloom you will recognize the Water Princess. Considering the difficulties in the way, Poole certainly very fairly reproduced those two plants. You may observe that the Princess differs from the Queen in having shorter, thicker flower stalks, smaller leaves, fewer petals of a paler carmine, and her pistils and stamens are of a brownish tint. This near relative of the queen is Loisa̤ Gentolana̤.
Your English words, lady, friend, gentle, loving, kind, beloved and the like, in the Ento language is represented by the word Gentola̤. The affixes ana̤, ana̤a̤, issima, issima̤a̤, ena̤, ēna̤a̤ and others add to the word gender, number, dignity, distinction, tenderness and so on. Frequently one or more of these or other affixes are used as diminutives. You will remember this, as the word is a common one and used in varying senses.
Medium—You speak of this or that as being known to the Entoans by such or such a name. Am I to understand that all Entoans speak the same language?
LOISA̤ GENTOLISSIMA̤