A MOTH ate words. That seemed to me a strange event, when I heard of that wonder, that the worm, a thief in the darkness, should devour the song of a man, a famed utterance and a thing founded by a strong man. The thievish visitant was no whit the wiser for swallowing the words. This riddle has a twist in that _____.

the thief does not gain from what it stole
the thief soon vomits what it has eaten
the eating in the riddle is not literal
the eaten words were not very valuable