There has not been a man among us for two thousand years." Her look was clear and truthful and she did not advance this astonishing statement as if it was astonishing, but quite as a matter of fact.
"But--the people--the children," he protested, not believing her in the least, but not wishing to say so.
"Oh yes," she smiled.

"I do not wonder you are puzzled.

We are mothers--all of us--but there are no fathers.

We thought you would ask about that long ago--why have you not ?" Her look was as frankly kind as always, her tone quite simple.
Terry explained that we had not felt sufficiently used to the language, making rather a mess of it, I thought, but Jeff was franker.
"Will you excuse us all," he said, "if we admit that we find it hard to believe?
There is no such--possibility--in the rest of the world." "Have you no kind of life where it is possible ?" asked Zava.
"Why, yes--some low forms, of course." "How low--or how high, rather ?" "Well--there are some rather high forms of insect life in which it occurs.

Parthenogenesis, we call it--that means virgin birth." She could not follow him.
"BIRTH, we know, of course; but what is VIRGIN ?" Terry looked uncomfortable, but Jeff met the question quite calmly.
"Among mating animals, the term VIRGIN is applied to the female who has not mated," he answered.
"Oh, I see.