On this page

• Text (2)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    word of his ; so she crawled down on his nose , and told him so . The Ass suggested that she should get into his mouth ; but she said she was so sweet that she was afraid the temptation might be too great for him . At last , to please him , and because he begged so hard for a little more of her pleasant company , she said she would go back to his ear and tell him a story , which , if he really could hear it to good purpose , she had no doubt would be of service to him . So after again nestling herself comfortably down , and making a few preludatory hummings , she began as follows : — The Bee ' 8 Story .

    " Soon after bees were first created , a number of our ancestors settled themselves in an island some way out in the sea . The common bees were not the clever workers which we aie ; and the drones being at that time , from iheir advantage of sex , in advance of the re-t of us , the working bees , to avoid confusion and to make the best of themselves , agreed to put themselves under the drones , and to do what the drones told them . The drones were to take care ot the hive , overlook the pastures , direct the works , and keep the law between bee and bee . The island was divided into sections , over each of which a drone prt-sided ; and , in consideration of his trouble , a nice cell was built for him , and a double supply of honey regularly furnished for his supper . for timetill at lastfrom

    • ' All went well a long , , long p actice , the woikb » es learnt their business , and could do it as well a * the drones and better ; so governing grew more and more easy . We could do what was right without their telling us ; each generation of drones as they came up found less and less to do , and at last they forgot that they had ever had anj thing to do except eat and drink and take toll on the pastures ; so they grew lazy and self-indulgent , and ate more and more honey . . . Half of every hive they took for their immense cells ; instead of a double share of honey , some of them took five hundred shares ; and very grand they used to look—so our old books say—sitting up in state , big drones and little drones , with fat sides and sleek skins , buzzing out oracles that no bee listened to , and stuffing honey as if they would burst .

    •' The poor bees were sadly put to it to keep all this going , but the drones told them that they should have no flowers at all if they complained ; the island belonged to them ; and it was only from the drones ' kindness that the bees were let to live there at all . So they went on taking more and more , till at last some of the poor patient workers were starved with hunger ; and many more , because of the room which was taken up by the great cells , were turned out into the cold and died . . . . You see , my good Ass , bets were as badly off as you are once ; but now hear what happened . Listen and be wise . " The Ass could ' nt answer , but he stretched his ears forwards with all his might . The sound was inside , and this motion of his was not of special service . However , it was his way of showing that he was attentive . The Bee went on : —

    " One cold spring , when the sufferings grew too great for the patience of bees to bear , a meeting of the workers was held to consult what should be done . The proceedings had no sooner opened than a messenger from the drones was announced , and as we were always a prudent , cautious set of creatures , my ancestors determined that they would first hear what he had to say . He "was a portly old drone , with a great name for wisdom . They called him Maccullochee ; the drone said that lie had more brains in his head than all the heads in the hive put together ; and a clever fellow he was , as you shall hear .

    " Ho told us the whole difficulty arose from a mistake which we had made as to the meaning of drones , and for what nature intended them . A notion had got abroad that they ought to do something , whereas the very essence of the thing was that they ehould do nothing . The nature of us working bees , he was sorry to tell us , was very indifferent . We were bad , idle creatures , and would not work without strong inducements . The wisdom of the early bees had therefore appointed drones to exist in highest

    splendour , in highest idleness , in highest enjoyment , as an ideal to which we workers should look up . If a worker was clever and industrious , if he never cared for any bee but himself , and steadily followed hiH own interest , in time he might become like one of them , and have the happiness to bring up hit * children drones . Instead of injuring the community , therefore , the drones were it » highest benefactors , and tho more idle they were , the more they ute , and the more they enjoyed themselves , the better they did what they were meant to do . Maccul

    "A deep buzz went round the hive when - locheo had done . Some of the Hilly fellows thought , it was all right , and that they had nothing to do tmt go on ns they were ; but a black little knot of been clustered up in a corner , and grew larger and larger , and the hum grew louder and more angry , and presently ft little clean-winged bee , with a sharp nose and » hrill note , sprung up on n projecting point of comb , and smoothing down his wings , and giving a flourish with his ating , made n speech . Oh ! Ahh , it would do you good to hear it all , it would ; but . it i « too long to tell it you all now ; however , the effect

    of it was this ; that once the drones were good for something , then they were good for nothing ; once they had been contented with a little , then there was no living for their greediness . Bees were to work . If they didn ' t work they were good for nothing , neither bees nor drones . If they wanted rules to live by , let them choose the wisest bees they could find , and be governed by them , and not be fools enough to believe that wisdom came of honey and idleness . Drones were no good to themselves , and no good to the bees ; and for what Maccullochee had said , he thought Maccullochee had insulted bees and the maker of bees . He begged to say he thought

    too well of the nature of bees to believe that they wouldn ' t do their duty unless they were stimulated with the hope of begetting children who should grow up into miserable drones . In conclusion , the grand little fellow flapped his wings and moved with a tjcream that the pensions of the drones should be taken away , and that they should be required to do something . The drones' ambassador declared that they could not and would not , and the meeting broke up in immense confusion . But they settled the matter that night , my friend , and bees have never had any trouble with their drones since . This is the story I was going to tell you , and now you have got it , and

    much good may it do you . So saying , the Bee crawled out of her hiding place , and was stretching her wings to fly away , when the Ass cried , ' But it is not finished , Bee . What did they do to the drones r You haven ' t told me what they did do" ! She said as she flew away , " Do ! Why what you ought to do to this fellow here that you call your master , and what you d have done long ago , if you were fit for anything better than to be the miserable drudge you are . If you have the heart to do it , you ' 11 have the heart to find it out for yourself . I ' m not going to tell

    you only this much , as the drones drove the bees and ate all the honey , only leaving the bees the scrapings , so the man in the cart drives you , and you know how much of the advantage falls to your share ; so if you will take a bee ' s advice , you will call your brothers together , and see if something can ' t be done . " So saying , the wicked Bee flew away , taking with her the sting in her tail , but leaving a worse sting stuck fast in the brains of the poor ass who could think of nothing but the wonderful story which the bee had put into them .

    Untitled Article

    Part . II . —Liberte , Eoalite , Fraternite . Now it happened that the place where the asa lived in the summer months , was a large open common at the back of the town , which he and a number of other asses shared among them ; and where he at least was not altogether badly off , seeing that in winter , or in bad weather , or when he was ill , the farmer made him a nest in one of the best of his cattle-sheds . At any rate , it served excellently for a meeting place , and the next Sunday morning , when there was a general holiday , soon after sunrise , our good friend ( his brothers called him Gaberlunzie , among the men he had no especial name ) , having been meditating ever since the bee left him to the extent of his ability , and having arrived at many conclusions , pointed his nose towards the sky , and sent out a long-drawn

    note , repeating it till it was answered across and along the common far and wide ; and presently after dozens of asses came scampering up to know what was the matter . There came Prunk tho Surgeon , Boldewyn that carried the minister ' s children , Neddy the Costermonger , Heavyside the Market-gardener , and many others whose names only the carelessness of history has allowed to be forgotten ; up they came , ears forward and ears backward , some trotting , some galloping , some gravely walking aB of wiser and more staid demeanour—and with Gaberlunzie sitting on the ground for a centre , they formed themselves in a circle round him , their noBes all pointing inwards , and their ears projecting towards him , waiting to be told why they had been ho unseasonably disturbed at their breakfast .

    Gaberlunzie , who had taken his time considering it , _ was muster of his subject . In a few words he alluded to their sufferings , their cruel work and cruel beatings , and ill-filled stomachs ; he told them the Bee ' s story , all except the end , which he didn ' t know . It was time , he « aid , it really waa , they should set about trying if they could n't better their condition , if not for their own naked , at leuut for their children ' s . When he remembered what he had been

    as a child ass , how happy he was , what tricks he used to play , how clever and how saucy he had been , he wim Hure Unit , with good feed and less work , und Homebody to touch him , ho might have grown into a very different , wort of creature . Ah , it was , he couldn ' t boar to think of himself as a father . For his own part , he had decided what lie thought they nhoull net about doing . Hut first , he would like to hear what anybody hud to way .

    The asses were not quick ut a new idea ; und that of bettering their condition was a very new one indeed to inont of them . One or two , however , which lived in hotter society , nnd had made use of their opportunities , were not long in ditching fire . Indeed , from what they Hiiid it wus clear that they too , in their own way had been sncculuting about the' sumo thing .

    First , Prunk came forward , Ptunk , the Surgeon ' s ass , -whose business was to be about the streets at midnight , and whose load , when it was brought in was always wrapped round mysteriously with cloak and covering , who , in the small hours on moonless nights , had been seen standing strangely at the gates of churchyards , conducted by a small imp , called in the town from the evil nature of bis employment , the Doctor ' s Devil , and looked upon by all decent people with very uneasy feelings . And Prunk , too , him . self , had gathered in his own bearing something of strangeness and mystery , in the mysteries of the art in which he was employed . And he was reverenced

    among asses , as his master was among men . He advanced into the middle of the ring , and rising on his hind legs , and scraping his nose with his left forefoot , while the right was raised to command attention , told a long story how that what Gaberlunzie had said about the children was truer , perhaps , than he knew while he was saying it . Gaberlunzie only thought it might be so . He , Prunk , knew it was so . How he came to know he was going to tell them i—A few nights before , his elder brother had died sud - denly under the same roof with himself . Now , Dick the Devil , who was a clever fellow in his way , and used to help his master in cutting up the men in the

    surgery , took the opportunity of holding a little private exhibition of his own in the stall , over die body of the ass . And he whose eyes and ears were never closed where any sense was to be learnt , had looked cart * fully over the side of his stall , and had watched Dick slicing away at his brother ' s skin , and discoursing to the servant maids about joints and tendons , nerves and arteries , glands and midriff . Wonderful sight it was , indeed , to see the deal of trouble which must have been taken to put together such a body as an ass ' s ; but he had no time to think much of that , for he heard Dick tell the girls that they themselves were nothing but jackasses

    developed , as he called it , and that accounted for a great manv things otherwise suprising in their behaviour . He split open the hoofs , and he showed them the five fingers ; he counted the joints in the neck and the back , and showed them all the bumps . These they had themselves and oh ! how they screamed when he told them ! they had themselves the stump of a tail all ready to grow ; and the skin , only wanted thumping to be as thick as asses ' . 44 Treat them like asses , " he declared , " and they would soon be as like in face as pea to pea ; give the asses , when they were little , tea and

    bread-andbutter , and a flock-bed to sleep upon—make them sit up on little stools , walk on their hind feet , use their paws like decent creatures , and when they grew up , and had nice clothes to wear , they would be exactly as fine handsome thing * as the girls were . " Here was news for an ass to hear . No wonder the women screamed , and no wonder the men keep the aeses down as they do . Turn the wheel round . They down and we up ; they in the stable and we in the kitchen and parlour , and pat their life is ours , and they work for us ; and it is time , as Gaberlunzie said , that something should be done towards it .

    Great excitement followed Prunk ' s speech ; tails were waved , and ears were agitated , and a general tossing of heads declared the satisfaction with which they had listened . When the meeting grew a little quiet , Boldewyn , the Minister , stood out . 44 What Prunk had told them , " he said , " explained many things which had always before perplexed him . His place was to walk about with the minister ' s children , and he had heard the governess tell them stories about asses which had been a real wonder to him . Once upon a time there had been a king , a real king , who could make whatever he touched into real gold ; he had worn asses * care . Another gentleman had taken the form of an ass , and had lived in it a whole year round ; and a third there was more wonderful still , who , while he was

    asleep one night in a wood , had the down form over his face , his ears lengthen out and grow sleek and smooth , in short , had become a real handsome ass ; and in thin state the great Queen of the Fairies herself had fallen in love with him . First he had thought it was only foolish nonsense to amunc the children with ; but one Sunday , when the minister a wife waa too ill to walk , he had carried her on his back to church , and the minister had walked along at her side , talking all the way on the sermon wlii ' ' he was going to preach , and he had found it was all in

    about the same thing . A very wonderful story , - deed , and , us the minister told it , v «; ry much to their , tho asses' , credit . Putting all this together , tluio could not bo a doubt about it ; there was some very close affinity between -asses and men . lie did n t know ao well about the jjrown ones . Being as j > ! V were , it was like enough they might atuy u » tn'y were ; but for the children , bring them up with u »<; boys , and there would soon be a bight worth seeing , and now that Gaberlunzio had brought forward tho thing for tho tuike of their little ones , go through

    it they should and would . Then all the nssi s sent up along loud chorus . There should be justice , they said , to the working ush ; justice mid freedom . Were not the uosen , < i » well us tho men , animals alike ? alike children « j nature—all brothers , and all equal ? No more sliouiu

    Untitled Article

    828 Wbt & , t& 9 tt * [ 8 awi&a * ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 30, 1851, page 828, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1898/page/16/