Rooter (Speaker for the Dead)

One of the first piggies encountered by humans, “Rooter was at once the most difficult and the most helpful of the pequeninos. He was always there whenever Pipo visited their clearing, and did his best to answer the questions Pipo was forbidden by law to come right out and ask. Pipo depended on him-- too much, probably-- yet though Rooter clowned and played like the irresponsible youngling that he was, he also watched, probed, tested. Pipo always had to beware of the traps that Rooter set for him.” It was Rooter who figured out that human women didn’t determine when the men should die… like cabras, humans got to choose for themselves when it was time to die. In this, Rooter showed to the wives how very smart he was, and in honor of his brilliance, he was taken to the third life and had many children.