No Longer Human ( PDFDrive )

143
"Aren't there bees—or is it ants—in peonies?"
"What are you trying to do? No bluffing now."
"I know! Clustering clouds that cover the
flowers . . ."
"You must be thinking of clouds that cover the
moon."
"That's right. Wind that destroys the blossoms.
It's the wind. The antonym of flower is wind."
"Pretty poor. Sounds like a line out of a popular
song. You betray your origins."
"Well, then, how about something more recondite,
say a mandolin?"
"Still no good. The antonym of flower . . . you're
supposed to name the thing in the world which is
least like a flower."
"That's what I'm trying to do. Wait! How about
this—a woman?"
"Then what's a synonym for woman?"
"Entrails."
"You're not very poetic, are you? Well, then,
what's the antonym for entrails?"
"Milk."
"That's pretty good. One more in that vein.
Shame. What's the antonym of shame?"
"Shameless—a popular cartoonist I could name."
"What about Masao Horiki?"
By the time we reached this point we had grad-