Odyssey From Africa 7b

CHAPTER 7b (Ipiki, continued) Which had shared their lofty tree-nest Now the bats abruptly vanished But for one unlucky creature Which the hunting snake now swallowed And, its scaly torso flexing Disappeared into the foliage Which regained its normal greenness. One black leaf however drifted Gently down onto the sleeping form of Matto, who now waking Saw this gossamer-like object Resting on his naked midriff Soft as air and light as moonbeam Black as night, now slowly stirring Matto took it very carefully In his hand and looked more closely "It's a baby bat", said Kwona As the family huddled round him Then the dark winged creature fastened Tiny claws round Matto's finger Han and Kwona then permitted Matto to adopt the batling For a second time extending Succour to a helpless orphan So they talked about the naming Of their Pipistrelle companion He was cute and very squeaky So they called his name "Ipiki" By their keen young ears the children Heard the language of Ipiki But their parents could perceive no Inkling of his high-pitched chirping Matto made himself a necklace Woven out of fibrous fern fronds From the necklace hung Ipiki Sleeping as they walked in daytime Then, since bats are nighttime mammals He would wake up in the evening Matto fed him grubs and insects Which Ipiki snapped up gladly After several days, at sunset As the bat bestirred, it spread its Filmy wings and fluttered skyward Circled several times near Matto Then crash-landed in the bushes And his maiden flight was ended But the bat grew fast and strengthened Gaining skill and flying further Matto found that soon Ipiki Had no need of finger-feeding With his bat acoustic senses He could capture flying insects In the darkness. Thus at nighttime As the family ate together And retired up to their tree-nest Then Ipiki would awaken Stay some moments as the children Cradled him between their fingers Then would flutter through the night air Circling round their tree encampment Keeping up a kind of vigil Near the family through the night hours And from that time on they suffered Less and less from biting insects