How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"I don't think he speaks your language, duckling." The aunt turned her profile and one eye to the swan and made a sound like the swan spoke, not quite a honk and almost a whine. The swan padded back to the pond. (1.21)
Quack, quack—Ani can't speak to the ducks at first, but her aunt makes sure Ani takes notice of the animals and how to communicate with them. This is lucky for Ani, since nature winds up offering her comfort and friendship that she doesn't have with humans.
Quote #2
The Creator spoke the first word, and all that lived on the earth awoke and stretched and opened their mouths and minds to say the word. Through many patterns of stars, they all spoke to one another, the wind to the hawk, the snail to the stone, the frog to the reeds. But after many turnings and many deaths, the languages were forgotten. Yet the sun still moves up and down, and the stars still shift in the sky, and as long as there are movement and harmony, there are words. (1.27)
What a pretty picture of the world her aunt paints for her. It's important for Ani—and us—to learn that the natural world and everything in it is just as powerful as the royal world that the queen rules. We might not see the social classes or laws quite so clearly, but they are there in nature too.
Quote #3
"The third is lost or rare. I've never known one with the gift of nature-speaking, though there are tales that insist it once was. I strain my ears and my eyes and my insides"—she tapped her temple lightly—"but I don't know the tongue of fire or wind or tree. But someday, I think, someone will discover how to hear it again." (1.34)
As soon as Ani's aunt plants this idea in her head, we can't help but hope for a nature-speaking scene. And boy does the book deliver. Not only do we learn that Enna knows how to hear what the fire is saying, we also see Ani learn to talk to the wind.