QUOTE : Before the (alien) attack, Gruth had been sitting with him, as she had done the day before, talking in her own language. He guessed she was talking about her home, or what rituals he would have to follow to become one of her males. He did not understand but wished he did. The more used to her voice he got, the more lovely it sounded to him. She must have thought he was intelligent to think he was worth talking to, that maybe eventually he would learn her language, but it was difficult.