First thing today Wilson popped round to the Bee Hotel to check on the woodlouse family. Their self-effacing calmness and humility is very appealing to W. However, these same qualities are annoying the earwigs and their (illegally sub-let) lodgers, who all want Wilson, as their landlord, to 'do something about them stand-offish party-poopers downstairs.'
W again tried, unsuccessfully, to get some rent from the earwigs, but they said they 'aren't paying nuffin until them hoity-toity woodlice is history.'
He then made a proposition to the woodlice, offering to evict the earwigs if they, the woodlice, would pay him rent. The father woodlouse said they would willingly pay except they didn't have any money — although he kindly offered W glass of water and a snack of rotten wood, which is apparently a great woodlouse delicacy.
In an interesting conversation, the father woodlouse explained to Wilson that they are not in fact insects but arthropods, like crabs, and directed him to a very interesting website on woodlice: http://www.earthlife.net/insects/woodcare.html
In the end, however, everyone has stayed put, and no-one has paid any rent.
Who'd have thought that woodlice had access to the internet, eh?
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