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diff --git a/43270-0.txt b/43270-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9db68af --- /dev/null +++ b/43270-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2119 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43270 *** + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + +Obvious spelling, typographical and punctuation errors have been +corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the +text and consultation of external sources. More detail can be found at +the end of the book. + +Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. + + + + + THE + + PERAMBULATIONS + + OF A + + _Bee and a Butterfly_, + + &c. &c. + + [Illustration] + + Published by Tabart & Co. 12, Clifford Street, May 1812. + + + + + THE + + PERAMBULATIONS + + OF A + + _Bee and a Butterfly_, + + In which are delineated + + THOSE SMALLER TRAITS OF CHARACTER WHICH + ESCAPE THE OBSERVATION OF LARGER + SPECTATORS. + + _BY MISS SANDHAM_, + AUTHOR OF THE TWIN SISTERS, &c. + + "The daily labors of the Bee + "Awake my soul to industry." + + GAY. + + LONDON; + + _Printed by W. Lewis, Paternoster-row;_ + + FOR B. TABART AND CO. CLIFFORD-STREET, NEW BOND-STREET; + AND MAY BE HAD OF ALL BOOKSELLERS. + + 1812. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + CHAP. I. + + A young Bee, deceived by fine weather, leaves the Hive too early, + and contrary to the advice and commands of his Mother--His + sufferings and close confinement, the result of his disobedience: + excites the compassion of a Butterfly--a friendship formed between + them in consequence of it. + + + CHAP. II. + + The Bee gets again on the wing--Is introduced by his friend to a + field of cowslips--Interrupted by Children--Instance of vanity + in the Butterfly--Conversation of the Bee and his Friend as they + return--He resolves to find his Hive. + + + CHAP. III. + + The Bee out early in search of his former abode, accompanies the + Butterfly to a bed of Tulips--Farther discovery of vanity in the + latter--Children in pursuit of him--The Bee appears in his defence + and commits a great _outrage_--He sees his Hive at a distance--His + Joy on beholding it--His Return and Re-admission there--The + consequence of a Bee in danger. + + + CHAP. IV. + + The farther flights of the Bee and the Butterfly--Visit + to a Cottage--Such abodes not always the dwelling of + Peace--Disagreement between two Friends--The meanness of an + Informer--The Bee's observation on their conduct--Regard to + appearances observable in Creatures superior to the Butterfly--His + triumph on perceiving it. + + + CHAP. V. + + The Butterfly deceived by a Flower--Their visit to a + conservatory--The alarm occasioned by their joining a Party after + Dinner--A Battle ensues--The Bee puts the Ladies to flight--His + confinement--The Butterfly's anxiety--His Friend regains his + Liberty and returns late to the Hive--The Butterfly detects + flattery in a Gentleman to a Lady, and is alarmed by a hint from + his Friend as they separate for the Night. + + + CHAP. VI. + + The Bees swarm--Their fondness for their Queen--The Bee + in waiting--The Butterfly goes into the Country on a + party of Pleasure, is overtaken by a Storm--Returns in a + Stage-coach--An Officer exercising his genius in _hoaxing_ his + Fellow-travellers--The Butterfly recounts his adventures to his + Friend--Their remarks on what passed during his Journey. + + + CHAP. VII. + + The Butterfly's alarm, and account of a _Naturalist_--Wasps + ensnared in a Bottle--A Bee drowning in a Pot of Honey, is + extricated by his Friend--Flies--The Bee's remarks upon them, + nearly offends his Friend by comparing them with him--The + Butterfly foretells the approach of Winter, and notwithstanding + the kind endeavours of his Friend, dies--The Bee's Regret--He + performs the last Office for him, and returns to the Hive, where, + after remaining the Winter, he persuades the whole Community to + remove their Quarters--They forsake their Hive and retire beyond + the reach of Men. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The flattering pictures of men and manners, which are drawn in most of +the present publications for youth, can alone be well applied, when +they are considered not as what mankind are, but what they ought to +be; and, indeed, we may search the world through before we find their +likeness. + +Such is the simplicity of unguarded youth, that even when disappointed +in their expectation of happiness from one quarter, they seek it in +another equally fallacious; and, drawing all their ideas from fancied +excellencies, fondly imagine, that while looking only for mental +satisfaction, and the pleasures arising from friendship, rational +society, and the exercises of humanity, they cannot be mistaken in the +pursuit; though too often the frequent inconsistencies observable in +those whom they have been led most to admire, excites a sigh of sad +surprise, till from a more enlarged judgment, matured and exercised +with a feeling sense of what they view, they learn that continual and +glaring absurdities are all the fruit produced in nature's soil. + +It is to open this lesson to them that the following pages are +written, and with the hope that if Folly does not blind their eyes, +and Prejudice (who, whichever way she turns, chooses to see things +_only_ through her own medium,) has not yet erected her throne in their +breasts, they may receive even from the limited remarks of a Bee and +a Butterfly a gentle hint or two of what they may expect to meet with +in their future walks through life; and thus warned of the strange +contrarieties, perceivable in human nature, escape the additional pang +their being totally unexpected would produce. + + + + +THE + +PERAMBULATIONS, + +&c. &c. + + + + +CHAP. I. + + "Imagination to his view + "Presents it, deck'd with every hue, + "That can seduce him not to spare + "His pow'rs of best exertion there." + + COWPER. + + +A Bee who had passed the first winter of his life under the fostering +care of his mother, though often warned by her of mistaking a fine day +early in the spring for the summer, or the time in which it would be +of any use to make an excursion from the hive, was eager to begin his +travels; he heard his companions talking of the flights they had taken +in the former summer, and had tasted of the honey they had at that time +brought home, and laid up in store for food when none other could be +procured: he had also enjoyed some of those flights with them, and had +helped to gather in the common stock, (for Bees, though ever so young, +are seldom idle;) but he was not aware that many a cold and wint'ry day +would yet precede the time of gathering in a fresh store; even after +the sun had shone, and the birds had sung, as if it was nearly come. + +During the severity of winter he remained quietly in his cell, rejoiced +in the shelter it afforded him, and joined the crowded hive in paying +every respect to their queen and mother, who, while she treated them +with the care and tenderness of a parent, kept up her dignity as a +sovereign, and ruled her subjects with the greatest order. Every part +of her dominions was thoroughly known to her, and nothing suffered to +remain within them that could annoy her numerous family; she rejoiced +in their prosperity, and all were happy under her government except the +little fellow who is to be the hero of my tale. He would often creep to +the entrance of the hive and peep, first on one side and then on the +other, of the covering placed before it by its careful owners, while +the blustering winds were raging around; but no sooner did the least +warm weather appear than it was removed for the inhabitants to have +more air, and this, to our young one, was a joyful sight; he looked +upon it as a prelude to the summer, and running to his companions, he +said, "we shall soon be able to get out, the way is open." + +"Be not too eager;" replied one of more experience than himself, "by +the time one winter has passed over your head you may be a little +wiser." + +"It _is_ passed, I think," returned the young one, "don't you feel +the warmth of the sun? It reminds me of the pleasant rambles we took +together last summer, and I am impatient to renew them." + +"You are indeed _impatient_," replied the hoary Bee, "but time +enough yet; don't you know that our cities are always placed in such +advantageous situations that we have the earliest benefit from the +sun's rays? but let not this make you suppose the season farther +advanced than it is." + +"Well, now," replied the conceited chatterer, "only put your head out +and feel how very warm it is." + +"No, I thank you," returned the other, with a shrug; "I know what it is +to trust to appearances, and can feel even here that the cold weather +is not gone, and if you go only to the back of the hive you may hear +how the wind still whistles behind it." + +"I had rather look at the sunshine," returned the simple one, and +leaving his sage adviser he determined to think that it was because he +was old and lazy he wished to stay at home, and keep others there also, +as an excuse for his own idleness; "let them stay then," said he, "but +for my part I am inclined to make the most of my time, and no doubt +shall bring home many a load before these old creepers will believe +that there is anything to be gathered." + +This resolution of the young Bee was not long a secret in the +community; he buzzed it about among all his acquaintances; nor was it +hid from the queen, who, acting in the two-fold character, first warned +him of the danger, and then, on pain of their not being re-admitted, +absolutely forbade any one's going out of the hive without her leave. +But what can deter the obstinacy of a conceited youngster? Nothing. If +experience obliges him to confess that in _one_ thing he is wrong, he +still continues as firmly bent upon another; and if once inclined to +think that he must know as well as others, will continue to think so, +till experience teaches him that in all things he is liable to mistake. +But my little hero was not yet brought to this conclusion, neither +perhaps are many who will read his history; but, as our ingenious +fabulist tells us,-- + + "Every object of creation + "Can furnish hints for contemplation," + +who knows whether something may not be learnt from the history of a Bee? + +In spite of the remonstrances of her majesty, he still wished to get +out, and after daily visiting the front of the hive for nearly a month, +during which time the fine weather continued, he began to persuade +himself the interdiction could not extend so far as this; "It has +been fine a great while," said he to himself, "and if we stay within +at this rate we shall let all the summer pass away;" and again his +former surmise returned, "they are old and lazy," continued he, "and +while they have any food left, are determined not to seek for more; I +will not stay, however;" and he was still farther confirmed in this +resolution, when boldly advancing quite out on the block he saw other +Bees, from a neighbouring hive, taking the air, and appearing like +himself to be thinking it high time to get abroad. A swarm of insects +also were enjoying themselves, and frisking about in the warm sun. +Struck with shame that these should be on the wing before him, he at +that moment forgot all the kind admonitions of his mother, and the +punishment that awaited him if he disobeyed them; and mounting in the +air, his loud humming testified his joy at being again at liberty. +But alas! where was he to go? or to what flower could he now pay his +court? The fluttering insects he had seen were but the dancers of the +day, just born to frisk a few hours, and then return to their original +nothingness; and our young adventurer disdained to join the giddy +train, or even to appear to notice what was so unlike the character of +a busy Bee. + +It was now the latter end of April, when the thorn is in blossom, +violets and primroses also decorate the hedges, and the hypatica, and +polyanthus "of unnumbered dyes," already appeared in the gardens; but +very few leaves were yet on the trees, though the buds were bursting, +and many of the fruit-trees were in full bloom; to these our little +wanderer winged his way, and as he flew from blossom to blossom, and +from one branch to the other, he could not but acknowledge with regret +that his limbs felt cold, and very different from the vigour they +possessed the former summer. He wished to attribute it to his having +been kept so long within the hive, but a sudden blast soon checked his +ardour; a shivering came over him, and a drowsiness, which he could +not account for, succeeded; presently a pelting shower obliged him to +creep for shelter into a wall, against which the trees were nailed, and +here he began to see his error; "Can I go back again?" said he; "Ah! +no, they will not receive me; my absence is by this time known, and I +am never to be admitted more. Oh, my mother! would that I had followed +your counsel!" + +He had scarcely spoken these words, when a mist spread itself before +his eyes; his breath appeared failing, and he found himself still more +inclined to sleep, yet instinct told him that in such a state to give +way to the inclination was dangerous; he feared the cold would seize +him while insensible, and his life must pay for it, but all his efforts +to keep himself awake were vain; the rain continued so, that he could +not get out to use his wings, and at length lost to all recollection, +he sunk stupid and senseless to the bottom of his retreat. + +How long he continued in this torpid state I cannot say, but his +friends he had left, after anxiously expecting his return from day +to day, and being disappointed, gave him up for lost; and though he +often awoke during his confinement, it was only to a keener sense of +his misery; his limbs were still too stiff to move, his eyes dim, +and each time that he closed them to return to sleep, (now the only +alleviation of his sorrows,) he concluded he should never open them +again: he breathed a sigh of regret on the remembrance of the home he +had quitted, and would gladly have returned, and in the presence of the +whole community acknowledge his rashness; but alas! he could not now +move a wing: yet as the warm weather came on, he felt himself revive +beyond his hopes: he could look out from the place of his confinement, +and though not so ardent in his expectations as a few weeks before, +he began again to feel a pleasure in the rays of the sun, and to +anticipate a future enjoyment of them. "I shall not die," said he to +himself, "but shall yet be able to accomplish my desire, and shew +myself an industrious Bee." + +The trees on which he had before observed only blossom were now full +of leaves; where the bloom had first appeared, he saw the fruit, yet +in its infant state. "This is not now the food for me," said he, and +he looked wishfully around to observe if there were any flowers near, +from which he could gather his accustomed nourishment. While thus +engaged, a Butterfly, on sportive wing, came frisking by, and though he +settled first on one leaf, and then on another, was unmindful of him, +till he fixed directly on that which shaded the place from which our +poor invalid was examining the neighbouring plants. "Oh!" said he, with +a heavy sigh, as he marked the light wing of this new comer, "Oh! that +I could fly like him and ramble from flower to flower, without pain or +dread of any." + +The attention of the Butterfly was attracted by the mournful tone in +which this was uttered, and unlike many of his kind, he even stopped +to listen to the complaining insect, and ask if he could relieve him; +"Perhaps," said he, "you are entangled in a spider's web; and though I +am unused to the art of war, I will endeavour to liberate you." + +"An offer like this," replied the Bee, "I should not have expected +from one of your nature; but you can give me no assistance; it is not +a web which keeps me here, but ill health, and which I have brought +upon myself by my own folly: I have no one else to blame, that I am not +flying about as you are, though I hope to some better purpose." + +"Do not be too sure of that," replied the good-humoured Butterfly, "nor +despise the help of one so insignificant as you suppose I am; if I can +in any way assist _you_, I shall not have been flying about in vain." + +"I beg your pardon," returned the Bee, conscious that he should not +have answered in such a manner; "pray let the pain I feel plead my +excuse; I have been confined within this place for I don't know how +long, and now I feel the enlivening beams of the sun without being able +to enjoy them, and must even starve for want of food, after I have +escaped death from the cold that first seized me." + +"Do not be discouraged," replied the Butterfly, "look at the border +just below you, where there are many of the most beautiful flowers; +surely they will afford you nourishment; you need not fear starving in +the midst of plenty." + +"I can't extend my wings," said the Bee, very mournfully. + +"If not your wings," replied his cheerful comforter, "can't you use +your feet and crawl down the wall, and then upon the ground, till you +reach the flowers; don't be afraid, I'll venture my life that you will +be able to fly after taking a little of the delicious food they offer +you." + +Animated by the Butterfly's words, the poor half-starved Bee +endeavoured to follow his advice, and slowly creeping forth, he reached +at length the desirable haven of a beautiful convolvulus, whose head +rested on the ground, whilst his compassionate adviser waited on the +nearest bud to observe his progress; "did not I say you could reach +it?" said he, fluttering his wings for joy, "who shall despise the +counsel of a Butterfly?" + +"I will not for the future," replied the Bee, as he felt himself +reviving from the sweet smell of the flowers, and the warm rays of the +sun shining full upon his back, and again he entreated him to pardon +the churlishness with which he at first received it. + +"Oh, say no more of that," returned the Butterfly, "but tell me if you +do not find yourself better already? what, because you could not fly, +were you to starve? Though it may be a disgrace for one who has wings +to crawl, yet surely it is better to do this than lie down and die; but +I do not despair of seeing you fly to-morrow;" and, as he said this, +extended his wings, as if to depart. + +"You will not leave me," said the Bee, who the longer he nestled in the +bell of the flower and tasted the food it afforded, felt his affection +increase for the means through which he had procured it; "Won't you +stay and see me return to my habitation? I think you'll already observe +an alteration for the better." + +The Butterfly received this invitation with pleasure; indeed he had +only pretended to be going that he might observe if he was still of so +little consequence in the eyes of the Bee, as for him not to wish his +stay. He therefore readily accepted it, attended him home, and had the +pleasure of seeing him much better able to get up the wall than down +it: and from this time a lasting friendship commenced between them, no +less singular in its kind than in the cause of it; for naturally these +insects do not notice the other. + +The Butterfly, after seeing his new friend safely landed at his old +resting-place, and with him a little store of the delicate food he had +been tasting, marked the place, and kindly promised to see him again +the next morning, "when," said he, "I hope I shall find you both able +and willing to take a short flight with me," and then left him. + + + + +CHAP. II. + + "Excuse me then if pride, conceit, + "The manners of the fair, and great, + "I give to monkeys, asses, dogs, + "Fleas, owls, goats, _butterflies_, and hogs; + "I say that these are proud; what then? + "I never said they equal men." + + GAY. + + +The Bee thus returned began to feel something like pleasure, and as the +morning sun lighted the place in which he had been so long a prisoner, +his hopes revived that he should yet feel a greater benefit from them. + +He had not room to move his wings freely, yet he thought them rather +more pliable, and creeping upon the branch of the tree which shaded the +entrance of his habitation, he endeavoured to cleanse them from the +dirt and stiffness which had incumbered them, and after repeatedly +stroking his back with the little brushes with which Nature had +supplied his feet, he succeeded, and was able to fly from his station +to a neighbouring flower. + +He had not forgotten the Butterfly, but he did not suppose that he +would remember him or his engagement of the preceding evening, but +again he had to acknowledge the mistake of prejudice, for he had not +been long upon the flower, (made more sweet by his having found the +use of his wings to obtain it,) before he saw his friend approaching, +flying through the air, and never fixing till he had found the spot on +which he had left him. + +The loud humming of the Bee soon discovered that he was not far off, +and the Butterfly hastening towards him, congratulated him on having +found his liberty. "You are taking your breakfast," said he, "I give +you joy of a fine morning," and after the kindest enquiries of how +he now found himself, he expressed his hope that he would be able to +accompany him to a field of cowslips which he had passed at a little +distance; "they smell so sweet, and look so beautiful," continued he, +"hanging down their yellow heads, that though I certainly admire a +greater variety of colours, I could not but be pleased with these, and +had I not wished for your company, could have flown from one to the +other for some time; I am sure one day's feasting on their sweets will +restore you to perfect health; come, shall I lead the way?" + +"I cannot but be grateful for your solicitude," returned the Bee, "and +that you should so far forget your nature as to be anxious for me who +am of so different an one; I am able to fly but very slowly, if at +all, and _you_ will like to extend your rambles much farther than I +can accompany you; do not, therefore, think of tying yourself to me." +The Butterfly was evidently disappointed; "I know," said he, "that +our natures are different; I am not held in such high estimation as +yourself, nor am I half so useful, or my life so long as your's; 'the +creatures but of a day,' is what we are generally called, yet that +_day_ it is my wish to spend well, and as far as is in my power to be +of benefit to another; if it was to one meaner than myself it would be +gratifying, but when I consider that it is to a _Bee_ that my services +are useful, it is doubly so; why then will you deny me this pleasure?" + +The Bee could not but be struck with this singular proof of friendship +in one from whom he had not deserved it, and though he might be +unwilling that any of his old companions should see him associating +with one whom they were mostly inclined to treat with contempt, he +could no longer resist his importunity, and therefore promised to +accompany him to the place he had mentioned, and where he was amply +recompenced by the delicious food he found there, for the fatiguing +though short flight he had taken to procure it, whilst the good-natured +Butterfly was equally gratified by seeing his friend enjoy the +fragrance he had introduced him to. "You will stay here all day," said +he, "and by night I expect to see you strong and hearty; if you please, +I will fly about a little, and perhaps shall be able to bring you +intelligence of food for to-morrow, but promise me to remain here till +my return." + +"Undoubtedly," replied the Bee, half lost in one of the sweet recesses +he was thus enjoying, "believe me I feel your kindness! If you had not +visited me last night, and encouraged my feeble efforts to move, I +should have laid still and died, and all these bounties of Nature would +have been spread in vain for me; indeed, I am obliged to you, and feel +that though you may never be of such service to me again, I should be +sorry to lose your acquaintance." + +This acknowledgement was sufficient for the Butterfly, who fluttered +about in grateful joy, and in the course of the day made many +excursions, from all of which he returned with good humour and kind +enquiries; while the Bee continued to fly from flower to flower, and +though he was sometimes ready to regret that he had not a hive, to +which he could carry the produce of his labours, and receive the +commendations of his mother for so doing, he felt that he was yet too +weak to work to much advantage, and therefore tried to be content with +what was necessary for himself. + +Several Bees came to this field of sweets, in which he was thus +revelling; but none of his old acquaintance were among them, and he +forbore to speak to them; "though idle myself," said he, "I will not +make others so by engaging them in talk with me;" and indeed so anxious +was he not to disgrace the character of what a Bee _should be_, that +if he thought any of them were noticing him, he would pretend to be +earnestly at work also, lest they should suppose him an idle drone. + +In his next visit, the Butterfly brought him such intelligence as he +thought would be agreeable to him; "We are in the land of plenty," said +he, "every thing is flourishing, and innumerable flowers are every +where to be seen." + +"I shall soon be able to visit them," returned the Bee, "and after one +more night's rest I shall almost forget that I have been ill; I have +already recovered my spirits, and my health will soon return." + +As they were thus talking, they observed a troop of children with +baskets in their hands, and an old man at their head, who seemed to be +directing their steps to the field they were in. + +"These are some of my tormentors," said the butterfly, "though they +appear to admire me, and to wish me no harm, they are in reality my +greatest enemies; even the sound of their voices puts me in a fright: +Oh! how sick I am of hearing them singing, "Butterfly, butterfly, come +to me," though you may be very sure I never accept their invitation; +once I was shut up in a box for nearly a whole day by one of these +_kind_ admirers, with a few green leaves for me to eat and sleep upon; +and I suppose she thought she was doing me a very great favor to +procure me such a residence; but I was much more obliged to another +little girl, who in her absence let me out of my confinement, and since +that time I have been more than ever anxious to escape their notice." + +"I know nothing of an alarm of that sort," replied the Bee, "children +are in general afraid of me, and I have sometimes been half inclined to +regret it, though in reality I believe it is the best thing that could +happen, but these," continued he, "if I am not mistaken, are going to +be otherwise employed than in admiring either you or me, for I think we +shall see them gathering the flowers on which we have been feeding," +and this was actually the case, for as they entered the field, the old +man encouraged them to begin by promising that when the wine was made +for which these cowslips were to be gathered, they should all have a +glass of it. + +"What devouring creatures are these men," observed the Bee, "every one +of these sweet flowers will be destroyed to make their wine; but they +are 'the Lords of the Creation,' and take away at one stroke what would +satisfy us more moderate creatures for months and months; but see, the +children are coming, had you not better take to your wings?" + +"Not yet," replied the Butterfly, "they are going to be otherwise +engaged; 'tis when they are idle, or at play, that I have most reason +to be alarmed, and besides here are a great many more of my race +frisking about, though among ever so great a number, I am the most +admired." + +The Bee smiled at this discovery of vanity in his friend, though he +made no reply, and as the children began clearing the field at the +other end of it, they continued a little longer to enjoy the sweets +they were so soon to be deprived of, till the shades of the evening +began to advance, when the Bee proposed returning home, and bade +adieu to those charming flowers from which he had gathered health and +strength, and a sufficient stock of honey to take home with him. + +"Where do you repose for the night?" said he to his friend, "have you +no settled place of abode, or do you rest upon the first flower you +meet with?" + +"I generally pass the night under a green leaf, or in the cup of a +flower," replied the Butterfly, "and may this evening find a place to +repose in near _your_ habitation, if you have no objection." + +"I should be glad of your company within it," returned the Bee, "were +it large enough to admit us both, but what do you live upon? cannot you +taste some of the provision I am going to carry home? you shall be very +welcome." + +The Butterfly testified his thanks by a fluttering of his wings; "but I +do not particularly relish that food," said he, "and you would perhaps +wonder what it is we do eat, for it is no uncommon opinion that we live +upon air; however, in our reptile state, we make up for our little +eating now; were you to see the devastation we make in the vegetable +world, you would be surprised; three or four dozen of us will destroy +a bed of cabbages in an hour or two, and we often strip a shrub of all +its leaves in the course of a morning." + +"And do you boast of this?" replied the Bee; "surely it is exulting in +mischief." + +"It is our _nature_," returned the thoughtless Butterfly; "and what +is the mischief, as you call it, compared to that which men are daily +doing? do they not destroy us by thousands, whenever they have an +opportunity? and why should _you_, of all others, plead for them, who, +when you have spent your lives in their service, and procured for +them that food which they can obtain from no other quarter, burn and +destroy your hives and yourselves too? Oh! I have passed one of these +monuments of their ungrateful cruelty, and seen the mangled remains of +your fellow-creatures till my wings have quite trembled again, and yet +you never do them harm; they form your habitation, and encourage you to +build in them by pretending to shelter you from all evil, yet after all +this fancied kindness, if they think you are too old to labour for them +any longer, as a reward for all you have done, they set fire to your +houses, and destroy thousands of you in the flames! talk no more of +mischief in eating a few cabbages, or devouring the leaves of a tree." + +"These are shocking truths," replied the Bee, "my blood runs cold to +think of it, and yet such is my nature that, though I know I am safe +from such devastations where I now am, I would rather add my labours +to the common stock of my native hive, could I but find the way to +return to it, and share the fate of my fellow-labourers, if such a fate +awaits them; but who knows that we may not escape? it is not every Bee +that is thus destroyed." + +"Nature," returned his friend, "has armed you with a defensive weapon +with which I think you might soon repel your destroyers: but as for us +poor _Butterflies_, we can do nothing to defend ourselves." + +"'Tis true," returned the Bee, "we have this weapon, and we have often +made our enemies fly by using it; but you must know, such is their +cunning cowardice, that they will not attack us on equal terms; they +must have the covert of the night for their cruel work, and when we are +all in our hives, each enclosed in their waxen cell, they begin the +horrid massacre; I should feel it more, but that I believe they take as +great delight in destroying each other as they do in killing us; for +I have heard them rejoicing together that so many of the _enemy_ were +slain, and I know they mean their fellow men by _this_ appellation, for +they don't _dignify_ us with that title; their great enmity to insects +arises from what they destroy; and yet, in one day, they themselves +devour more than any of them, but then they think every thing that can +be useful to them was only made for that purpose, and no one can say +they do not take care to make it fulfill that end, whatever else is +left undone." + +"But the question is, whether they have any right to destroy you, after +that is done?" rejoined the Butterfly. + +"A question too hard for me to answer," returned the Bee; "but this I +know, that we have a right to defend ourselves against them whenever +we can; and I know also, that for the kindness you have shown me I'll +defend you from their attacks as long as I am able: but we are arrived +at my dwelling, let us rest upon this tree while the sun is taking its +last peep at the horizon." + +After refreshing themselves with a little of the honey the Bee had +brought home, and of which the Butterfly just tasted a little, because +he would not appear to refuse what was kindly meant, they parted for +the night, the Bee resolving to travel farther the next day, and, if +possible, to find out his old habitation, though not without assuring +the Butterfly that if he should be so happy as to be re-admitted, it +should make no difference in his friendship for him. + + + + +CHAP. III. + + "And thus a never-ceasing pleasure flows, + "Or to the human, or the bestial race, + "From those ideal charms we all attach to place." + + LOCAL ATTACHMENT. + + +The next morning our two friends awoke with the sun, and before half +my readers are out of their beds, their peregrinations commenced, one +in quest of whatever he could turn into something useful, the other to +find what was new and entertaining. When they met, the Bee was still +desirous of finding his old habitation. "But why?" said the Butterfly, +"surely the little cell you now live in will do very well for the +summer; you are in no danger where you are, and have the delightful +privilege of calling it all your own." + +"All this is true," replied the Bee, "but what a life am I now +leading? adding nothing to the general stock; while all my brethren are +busily employed in gathering what will be of equal benefit to each, +no, no: there is a pleasure in being thus mutually assistant to others +which only those who have experienced it can know; and I am resolved, +if possible, to enjoy it again." + +The Butterfly looked surprised, for though capable of that attachment +which proceeds from finding an agreeable companion; and with some idea +of the services bestowed upon those we love, and which endears the name +of friend, he could not imagine that any pleasure could arise from +spending his time in labour; but as long as his friend had assured +him of the continuance of his regard, he was desirous that he should +obtain what he wished, and willingly offered to assist him in the +search. + +During their airy rounds they often stopped to refresh themselves on +some favorite flower, and though seldom fixing on the same, and to a +casual observer did not appear to be at all connected, they were never +out of sight of each other. It was from one of these resting places, +in which the Bee was delightfully employed extracting sweets from an +"extended field of blossomed beans," that the Butterfly stretched his +wings to a neighbouring garden; here such various beauties met his eyes +that he could not help returning to call his friend to enjoy them with +him. "Such a bed of tulips, I have met with," said he, "whose splendid +colours can only be equalled by my wings; pray come, and see what +lovely flowers." + +"Have you not yet learnt that there is something more valuable in a +flower than its colour?" returned the Bee, with a smile; "for my part +I would prefer these honeyed beans, though I suppose you would think +them hardly worth looking at, but of all other flowers tulips have +the least sweetness about them, and are fit only to please the eye of +those men and butterflies who judge only by appearance; but though I +have seen the former admiring a bed of tulips, I have often observed +that if they wish to ornament themselves, or their houses, the flowers +which we chiefly prefer are also the objects of their choice! as for +these beans, though I believe they admire their smell, men are, as I +said before, such destructive creatures, that while they are enjoying +what is sweet they are at the same time destroying it; and as they +expect something still more valuable from these flowers, they are +content to let them remain upon their stalks; but we can have our fill +of their sweets, and yet not injure what they will hereafter produce. +Oh! had I but a hive to go to," continued he, as he stretched his +wings to accompany his friend, "how many times should I have gone +thither yesterday, and to-day from the cowslips and the beans, and what +repeated loads should I have carried home." + +"Surely, surely," thought the idle Butterfly, "you need not regret +that; to fly hither and thither as you like, with no incumbrance of any +kind, and, no care beyond to-morrow, is far better;" so thought the +Butterfly, and so perhaps think many Butterflies of the human race; but +he forbore to repeat his sentiments on this subject, for, unconscious +to himself, he was awed by the superiority of his friend, while he felt +no wish to be of the same opinion. + +"And so these are the flowers you admire," continues the Bee, as they +alighted, "and which can only be equalled in Beauty by _your_ wings? +Ah, my dear friend, would not your wings be just as useful if they +were not covered with red and purple? look at the plain white ones of +numbers of your race, who are now flying around us; _you_ cannot extend +your flight farther than _these_; but see, some children are entering +the garden, I question if you will not soon have a greater cause to +regret the beauty of your wings than to admire it, and that you will be +the object of their pursuit as soon as you meet their eyes, while your +plainer brethren will pass unregarded." + +This prediction was soon verified, for no sooner did the little ones +perceive this self-admiring Butterfly than they all exclaimed, "Oh! +what a beauty! let us catch it." + +"If _you_ get on that side of the bed, and _I_ on this," said a boy, +who appeared to be the eldest of the party, "I will throw my hat at it, +and we shall soon have it in our possession." + +"Not for the world, master Henry," said the maid, who accompanied them; +"you would destroy those beautiful flowers at once if you did, and your +papa would be so angry." + +"The flowers then are more admired than you are my friend," observed +the Bee, "for you see the maid will not let them be injured, not even +to procure a sight of your still _more_ beautiful wings." + +"Don't laugh at me," replied the Butterfly, somewhat mortified; "I am +glad, however, that I have found a place of safety; if I take care not +to quit this station, they will not be able to get at me." + +Altho' it was his intention to remain there, his young pursuers would +not let him be at rest, but with one thing and another so contrived +to shake the flowers upon which he settled, that, at last, wearied +out with these repeated removals, he took to his wings, and flew to a +neighbouring rose-tree. + +"Now, now," cried all the children, "we shall have it; don't let it get +upon the tulips again, and we shall certainly catch it." + +The Bee lay all this time in the bell of a hyacinth, not unmindful of +his friend, or his pursuers, but thinking his present alarm might be an +useful evidence of what he had been saying, and a check to his vanity, +he resolved to let him feel a little more of the dangerous effect +his much-admired beauty was likely to produce; but after the young +folk had given him one or two hasty flights round the garden, he came +forward, and appearing in front of all the young ones, soon checked the +eagerness of their chace. + +"A Bee, a bee," exclaimed they, "take care, or it will sting you," +while the poor trembling Butterfly began to take fresh courage on +seeing his friend approach; and, seating himself on the branch of an +honey-suckle, endeavoured to regain his breath. + +The oldest boy was now resolved to make one more effort, and creeping +slowly to the place, put forth his hand to reach the prize, when the +Bee, perceiving his intention, again darted before his eyes, and made +him retreat. "Thank you, thank you, my dear friend," said the poor +Butterfly, "surely they will not attempt to pursue me any more; you +must have sufficiently frightened them." + +"I'll do something more than frighten them if they do," replied the +Bee; "they shall feel what it is to enrage one of us;" nor would these +children, animated by the presence of each other, give up their chace, +till the Bee had absolutely fulfilled his threat, by just touching the +hand of one of them with his sharp sting: and Oh! what a clamour was +instantly raised by the whole party for this cruel act, as it was +called; the child cried, and the maid declared it was a shame of the +_nasty_ Bee to sting one who never thought of hurting _him_: while all +the others gathered round their _wounded_ brother to express their pity +and abhorrence of the deed; and while they retired from the garden to +get something to alleviate the smart, our two friends were left to +recover themselves and congratulate each other on their safety. "I +never was so near being taken in my life, and escaped at last," said +the Butterfly; "but to _you_, my friend, I am indebted for my present +liberty; if you had not exerted yourself in my behalf I must have been +in their possession; I tremble at the thought of it, and am completely +tired out in the chace they have given me." + +"Now, then, I hope you will acknowledge that your beauty is no real +advantage to you," replied the Bee, "but till you are recovered I will +visit yonder beautiful acasia which seems to court my notice; besides, +I am not without a hope that from it I shall see my ardently desired +home; I seem to remember its being near it." + +Our airy traveller spoke this with peculiar animation, but on reaching +the tree, his pleasure was still higher, for, from thence, he beheld +the spot he was in pursuit of; although many hives were near it, he +could distinguish his own from all the rest by a thousand little marks +known only to those who inhabit it. His heart beat with transport; +it appeared to him the abode of peace and plenty, and it was within +his _reach_ also; the flower on which he had rested was entirely +disregarded, and he stood gazing on the well known spot, "stung with +the thoughts of home." + +The endearments of his mother returned to his mind with double force, +nor could he fear being well received by her, and if by her, all +the rest he knew dared not use him differently; "I will acknowledge +my disobedience to her commands," said he, "and when she knows what +I have gone through she will forgive me; I shall again receive +her commendations, and repose myself under her mild and equitable +government." + +With these thoughts he could scarcely forbear flying away, and rushing +at once into the presence of his friends; but he recollected the poor +Butterfly, and though there was nothing in their natures which could +assimilate, he still remembered that in a great measure he owed his +present health and strength to him; "when first we met," continued he, +"there was nothing in me to induce his affection; I was poor, sick, and +helpless, and yet _he_ was interested for me, and shall I leave him +now? no, I will return and tell him what I have seen, and that though +for the future I shall reside with more suitable associates, we may +still often meet." + +Thus determined, he hastened back, with all the liveliness of joy, to +inform his friend, who observed his coming, and the cheerful air with +which he approached; "I have seen my hive," cried the Bee, without +giving him time to make the enquiry, "I have seen it! come, won't you +go with me, and at least see the place to which I am going to return, +and though I cannot ask you to enter with me, (none but bees being +permitted to come in there) I shall never see you when I am out of it +without pleasure." + +"My dear friend," replied the Butterfly, "after the kindness you have +shewn me this morning, it would be ungrateful not to rejoice in what +gives you pleasure; I think I am now able to use my wings again, and +will readily accompany you; and though I know I must stand at an humble +distance while you enter, yet I shall be anxious to hear how you are +received, and whether your old companions will forgive your leaving +them." + +"I have but the displeasure of _one_ to fear," replied the Bee, "and if +she forgives me, the rest have nothing to do with it, nor have I much +to apprehend from that quarter, since the authority of a sovereign is +tempered by the affection of a parent." + +Thus conversing they pursued their flight till arriving at a short +distance from the well-known hive, "Don't you see it?" said the Bee, +fluttering his wings for joy; "don't you behold the welcome spot?" + +"I see a number of hives," returned the Butterfly, not quite so +enraptured as his friend, "but which is yours I cannot tell." + +"Mark the one into which I fly," said the Bee, "and then you'll know +it." + +"But when shall I see you again?" enquired the Butterfly in a +melancholy tone, on seeing his friend preparing for flight; "to-day?" + +"Perhaps not," replied the other; "I may not be permitted to come out +again, or I may be indulged with a day's rest, and conversation with +my mother, but do not suffer yourself to doubt my friendship for you, +because I do not fly out every hour and repeat my professions of it; +to-morrow, at farthest, I shall renew my labours for the general good, +and then if you like to accompany me in my flights, I shall be glad of +your company." + +With these words he stretched his wings, while the Butterfly bade him +farewell, and watching his approach and entrance to the hive, resolved +to hover round the place in hopes of learning what reception he had met +with. + +As the returning vagrant advanced towards the centre of all his hopes +and fears, he felt the latter sensibly encrease, yet he could not +but advance; at first he settled on the block upon which the hive +was placed, every part of which was perfect in his recollection; he +observed no one near, for as it was now the middle of the day, almost +all were out, busily employed, except a few, whom he knew were always +on the watch to keep out every intruder; at length he ventured within +the hive, and immediately all the humming inmates which were then at +home flocked around him; some concluded that he had mistaken his hive, +while others imagined they could recollect his form and figure. "Do +you not know me?" said he, "I once belonged to your fraternity, and my +heart is still knit towards you." + +On hearing an unusual murmur the mother queen appeared, with all +her attendant train, to enquire who the bold intruder was? The way +was cleared for her approach, and a solemn silence prevailed, while +the stranger, with unfeigned humility, answered to the question. No +sooner did her majesty know her returning child, than in one loud hum +she expressed her satisfaction, and this was heard and attended to +by all around, and presently the general voice was that he should be +re-admitted. + +"I am not returned unto you sick, or unable to work," replied the +delighted Bee, after he had expressed his thanks for their generous +reception of him; and then related to his attentive and sympathyzing +parent all he had gone through since he had so rashly left the hive, +whilst the rest waited till the close of the day before they indulged +their curiosity by hearing it, nor did he forget to acknowledge that +it was to the attention of a Butterfly that he owed his life. + +"A Butterfly," returned the queen, whose dignity felt hurt that any of +her race should be indebted to so trifling a creature, "sure you must +have been sunk very low indeed, to need the assistance of a Butterfly." + +"I have learnt, my dear mother," replied the young one, "that there is +no creature, however mean, but may be of service some time or other; +the Butterfly is well aware of the great difference there is between +us." + +"And sensible, I hope, of the honour done him, in being permitted to +assist a Bee?" rejoined the mother. + +This important affair being settled, though not entirely to the +satisfaction of the queen, who while she forbore to say more upon the +subject, resolved narrowly to watch the conduct of her son, fearing +he would gain too much of the frivolity of the Butterfly if he long +associated with him: and after shewing him a cell in which he might for +the future reside, she left him to prepare it for his reception. + + + + +CHAP. IV. + + "Think not that treachery can be just; + "Take not informers' words on trust." + + GAY. + + +As the winged inhabitants flocked towards home, laden with their +honeyed store, the return of the wanderer was announced to each; and +the labors of the day being ended, they all gathered round him to hear +the account of his adventures. + +In the mean time the Butterfly continued without the hive, not +unpleasantly situated, as a number of flowers were about the place, had +he not been yet in suspense respecting his friend, when, as he was just +going to give up all hopes of meeting with him till the next morning, +he had the pleasure of seeing him come out upon the block, in company +with two or three other Bees. "Will he speak to me now, that _these_ +are with him," thought the Butterfly, and he fluttered round the place, +half afraid that he should find the promises of his friend forgotten; +but not so, the Bee, (though perhaps he might feel a little at the +opinion he judged would be formed by his present associates on seeing +him speaking familiarly to one so much beneath them,) flew towards +him, to tell him he had been well received, directing him to a place +of safety in which he might pass the night; "to-morrow," said he, "we +shall meet again." + +The Butterfly was much pleased at this unexpected interview, and after +thanking him for his attention, promised to join him in the morning. +The Bee then returned to his companions, and the Butterfly retired to +the place which had been pointed out to him, and from whence he could +see the entrance of the hive, and watch the coming of his friend when +they were next to meet. + +I shall now proceed to acquaint my reader with the future travels of +our two friends, and without attending to the minute occurrences of +each day, enter at once upon those events which more particularly +belong to my design. As soon as the sun was sufficiently above the +earth, the inhabitants of the hive hastened forth, eager to pursue +their daily task-- + + "Around, athwart, + "Thro' the soft air the busy nations fly." + +And among the first came our young adventurer, whom the Butterfly +immediately prepared to accompany; though till he saw him a little +separated from the others, he did not presume to approach. "How do +you do, my friend?" said the Bee, as soon as he drew near; "are you +inclined for a long flight to-day? I have now a double motive to work +hard, having a wish to make up for my lost time, as well as to shew my +sense of gratitude for the reception I have met with from the friends I +am returned to." + +"I am willing to accompany you," replied the Butterfly, "and am glad +to see you in such spirits; but you are already eyeing some of those +beautiful flowers, and while you are engaged with them I will visit the +nearest cottage, and return before you have finished your task." + +"That's right," replied the Bee, "and tell me if you find the +inhabitants as well, or as busily employed, as I am going to be." + +The Butterfly departed, and on entering the window of the humble +dwelling, he perceived a woman sweeping out the lower room, "which +served them for parlour, kitchen, and hall," and preparing the +breakfast; three or four children were entrusted to the care of another +somewhat older than themselves, and who was endeavouring to keep the +little ones from entering, and interrupting their mother. The Butterfly +was unnoticed by the woman, but no sooner did the children see it, who +(like all others, wanting what is denied them,) were peeping in at the +door and enquiring when they might come in, than a little boy begged +to enter, promising to catch it in a minute, and his entreaties at +last prevailed, though he did not find it quite so easy to take the +nimble creature as he had fancied. He had again and again to watch its +settling, and to experience disappointment in his endeavour to secure +it; while the rest of the little ones were at the door eagerly looking +on, and the mother sometimes fretting, and sometimes laughing at his +fruitless efforts; when all at once the eldest girl gave notice of her +father's approach to breakfast. + +[Illustration] + +No sooner was this intelligence heard, than the Butterfly was suffered +to rest in quiet; the mother declared that "nothing was ready;" she +scolded the child and blamed herself for being so foolish as to be +stopped in the middle of her work by the chacing of a Butterfly, and +before any thing was in proper order the _master_ entered, who by +his rough voice and peremptory manner seemed determined to keep up the +authority of that title. While he was grumbling at not finding his +breakfast ready, and his children standing silent around the table, the +Butterfly, happy to escape, extended his wings, and returned to his +companion, whom he found still employed at his accustomed task. + +"Well, what discoveries have you made," enquired the Bee, "have you +seen any one so busy as me?" + +"_One_ was," replied the Butterfly, laughing, "till I put an end to +her work; a little humoured brat of a boy was suffered to enter into +the midst of it, and hunt me from one side of the room to the other, +and this foolish pursuant took the attention of the woman, who stood +with the broom in her hand, admiring the dexterity of her aukward +cub, I suppose, till the approach of the father was announced; then +the scene was entirely changed, the hunt was given over, and she was +cross with herself and every one else because she had been interrupted, +which after all was her own fault; the man came in still more out of +humour, and thus the house which at your first entrance you might have +imagined the abode of peace and domestic comfort, was made directly +otherwise; and _my harmless_ visit, I dare say, they would say was the +cause of it; when to a reasonable observer it would be plain that the +whole of his disturbance arose from the wayward fancy of the child, the +indulgence of the mother, and the ill temper of the father: however, +such is my happy lot, having wings, I could fly away from all their +troubles, but those are to be pitied who cannot escape them." + +"During your absence," said the Bee, "I have seen two friends in this +garden, who appeared so happy in the society of each other that I am +anxious to see more of them, such friendship being rather rare among +the human race, and as soon as I have carried home this load of honey, +I intend to visit the house I saw them enter." + +"Do, do," replied the Butterfly, pleased to find his friend could +attend to any thing besides his work, "and while you are thus engaged, +I will amuse myself with an old acquaintance or two whom I see yonder." +With these words they parted for a little while, promising to meet +again in the same place, and to which the Bee returned long before +the fluttering Butterfly, who had flown to a neighbouring field, +and there among the daisies and king-cups with which the ground was +nearly covered, he continued with his former associates nearly the +whole morning, idly chacing each other in airy rounds till he had +almost forgot the engagement he had made, and was still less inclined +to regret his living an idle life. "I am not born to work," said he, +"and if the place I fill in the world is not of such importance as my +friend's, as a Butterfly I have an equal right to live, and to follow +my own inclination;" he therefore returned to meet him without an +apology for being behind the time, and on finding him busily employed, +and nearly ready to take home another load, "what," said he, "you could +not leave your favorite work to make your intended visit? surely you +are too intent in gathering that food which I fear you will never be +allowed to enjoy?" + +"You are mistaken," replied the Bee, "I have been, and seen the two +ladies, but they are no longer friends." Oh what fickle creatures these +men and women are! young and old, they are all changeable alike. One +was sitting at an open window, and the other walking up and down the +room apparently much distressed; "what not one word?" said she to the +other; "I did not mean to offend you." + +No answer was returned, and she continued to express her sorrow, which +was received with the utmost indifference; at length she made another +attempt, and offering her hand to her offended friend, she said, "Come, +Charlotte, will you not be reconciled?" + +This also was equally disregarded, and the feelings of the poor +offender seemed entirely altered; she no longer solicited forgiveness, +but left the room, saying, "It is not necessary for me to acknowledge +more; you do not treat me like a friend; talk no more of your regard +for me." + +As soon as she was gone the other began singing, as loudly as she could +raise her voice, though the words she uttered now, so far from being in +unison with her mind, as expressed in her countenance, that I could not +help smiling; they were descriptive of content and self-satisfaction, +neither of which I think _she_ could at that time feel. + +On leaving her, and entering another window, I was sorry to see the one +I had been interested for in earnest conversation with a third person, +who, pitying her dejected and melancholy appearance, asked if she might +not attribute it to the ill humour of her friend, and while her mind +was thus hurt with the treatment she had received, drew from her a +complaint which perhaps she would not have made at any other time. "She +does not deserve your regard," said the stranger, "and you give up too +much to her;--if you continue to do so, she will by and bye expect you +to say or do nothing but as she directs; and her friendship for you can +never be real if she requires such subjection." + +"These are very odd things," observed the Butterfly; "we poor +insignificant creatures never have any thing of this sort; if we +associate together, we do not spend our time in complaining of each +other." + +"I have not done with them yet," returned the Bee, "but mean to pay +them another visit, and I fancy shall see still more reason to conclude +that these wonderful creatures, whom the animal race hold in such +respect, are not so steady and constant in their conduct and pursuits +as either they, or we, the still meaner insect tribes, are, though I +must say those of the latter order are not in so much awe of them. +We do not fly from them if they come in our way, but in many things +consider them as subservient to us, and that which _they_ look upon as +exclusively their own, and which a cat or a dog would not venture to +touch, _we_ have most likely made many a meal from before it comes to +their table." + +A few days after this, the Bee renewed his visit, as he had proposed, +and there was astonished to see the very same third person now engaged +with the other lady, and relating to her with many exaggerations all +that her offending friend had repeated to her, while smarting under the +effect of her ill humour, though all the pains she took to draw it out +of her, and the encouragement with which she listened to her complaint, +were entirely omitted in the recital. "Only think of this," said the +Butterfly, on hearing an account of his friend's second visit. "Is this +the use they make of the power of speech, and which they imagine sets +them so completely above the animals? surely they had better be without +it, than use it to such a purpose; but what will be the end of this? +will not the eyes of the two friends be opened, think you? and they +will leave the acquaintance of that mean incendiary, who, under such a +show of friendship, endeavours to widen the breach between them?" + +"Perhaps not," replied the Bee. "Their conduct may yet want that +consistency; I hope they will be reconciled to each other, but I doubt +whether they will give up this perfidious acquaintance, though the more +their regard for each other increases, the more must their contempt +for her be increased. I question, also, if the tale _she_ has this day +told will not rankle in the breast of the hearer for many future years, +and whether there will ever again be that mutual confidence in the two +friends which once appeared." + +The next house they saw, the Butterfly entered alone, as the Bee +observed some flowers at a distance which appeared more worthy of his +attention. While he was busily employed in extracting their sweets, +his friend returned laughing, "Oh!" said he, "I wish you had been with +me. Smile no more at the regard I shew to outward appearance; why +there is a young man who is storming and raging about the house, +because his neckcloths and shirts are not brought home so nicely as +he expected, and he is throwing them from one end of the room to the +other, while the poor woman, who has, perhaps, been working hard to +make them what they are, stands trembling before him, as if she had +committed the greatest trespass in the world. The beauty of my wings +if once destroyed, is lost for ever, but these evils, if they are any, +are soon remedied; and, at the next house," continued he, "is another +instance of the vanity of the sex; _there_ is a boy who has got a new +coat just brought home from the taylor's, and because the day is rather +lowering, and his father won't let him wear it out, he is determined +not to go out at all, and he is now sitting in his own room with the +coat on, though there is no one but himself to admire it. I have seen +females carry their fondness for dress as far as this," continued he, +"but I thought men and boys were above such vanity; I declare I am half +ashamed of them." + +At this moment a heavy shower came on, and the Butterfly hastened to +the shelter of a large leaf on a cucumber bed, where also the Bee was +obliged to secure himself, nor could he take home the honey he had +gathered till the rain had ceased. + +On his return, he found the Butterfly just ventured from his retreat, +and stretching his wings, he was enquiring of one of his own species, +"if their colours had received any injury?" + +The Bee heard the enquiry, and though he believed his friend would +not have made it had he thought him within hearing, he was not now so +inclined to laugh at him as formerly on account of it, "for," said he, +"since I have heard such instances of vanity in a race so superior, I +can forgive it in a Butterfly." + +On finding that the drops still continued on the flowers, so as to +prevent his gathering any thing from them, he determined to return to +the hive, and there assist in forming some cells with the wax he had +been busy in procuring, though the Butterfly was earnest in desiring +him to take an afternoon's flight with him, "and enjoy a little +pleasure." + +The Bee smiled at what his friend called by that name; "my enjoyment +is to be usefully employed," said he, "and to receive my mother's +approbation; but as I know this is a pleasure _you_ cannot understand, +I would not wish to deprive you of what you can enjoy; go, therefore, +and take your fill of it while you may, and to-morrow perhaps we may +meet again." + +His friend departed with this encouragement, yet not able to comprehend +why all creatures did not find a pleasure in the same thing, though +to the eye of reason such a distinction of enjoyments in the various +objects of creation, is an evident token of the Wisdom with which they +are formed. + + + + +CHAP. V. + + "If chance a mouse came in her sight, + "She finely counterfeits a fright, + "So sweetly screams if it come near her, + "It ravishes all hearts to hear her." + + SWIFT. + + +The next day the Bee had taken home two or three loads before his +friend made his appearance, who, when he came, expressed his surprise +at finding him where he was. "I have been in such a beautiful +conservatory," said he, "and surely I saw _you_ there, almost buried in +the heart of a flower; and so intent were you upon your labour, that +you would not even answer me when I called; there must certainly have +been something very attractive to have kept you there so long, but how +you got here before me is what I most wonder at." + +"I don't understand you," returned the Bee, "I have been in no +conservatory, the utmost of my flights to-day have been from the hive +to this place." + +"And have you _really_ been no where else?" said the Butterfly in +astonishment; "why I never saw anything so like you in my life; I +concluded that you were so buried in the flower that you did not hear +my call, or was unwilling to move, lest you should alarm some ladies +and gentlemen who were very near you." + +"I think I can tell what has deceived you," returned the Bee, "you have +seen a Bee-Orchis, as they are called, a flower which bears both the +form and resemblance of _our_ species. And so you really took it for +_me_?" + +"If it was _not_ yourself," replied the Butterfly, "and you wish to see +your _own_ likeness, pray come with me, and behold it; for never did I +see one Bee so like another, as that flower is like you." + +"I have known many of our young ones who are not acquainted with +it," said the Bee, "so deceived by the resemblance, that if they +happen to meet with one, they pass it by, thinking, that one of their +fellow-laborers is engaged there already; but if you will shew me the +spot I will not be so put off." + +So saying, he followed the Butterfly, who was immediately on the wing; +and soon arrived at a very large house, one end of which formed the +conservatory. The fragrancy of the flowers it contained, the great +variety of them, and those of the most delicate nature, made the Bee +clap his wings for joy. + +"Why, my dear friend," said he, "you have brought me to a +treasure-house indeed; a store of sweets, I can hardly forbear +returning to call all my companions to share it with me; I am sure +there would be work enough for the whole hive were they here." + +While he was thus expressing his delight, the Butterfly was searching +for the flower he had noticed before, hardly satisfied, till he had the +testimony of his own eye-sight in seeing them together, that his friend +had told him the truth; however, when he discovered it, and saw the Bee +still flying about in admiration, he was obliged to acknowledge he had +been wrong. + +The Bee employed himself here for some hours, during which he had gone +and returned from the hive several times, bringing with him a few of +his companions, who were attracted by the account he gave of this +charming place; the Butterfly also met with much to amuse him, and +continued uninterruptedly to enjoy themselves, till, as the evening +advanced, they resolved to visit some other part of the house, and +the Butterfly led the way to the dining parlour, where some ladies +and gentlemen were sitting after dinner, with a variety of fruits and +wines before them. The attention of the Bee was immediately attracted +by a very fine peach one of the ladies had just taken on her plate, and +little thinking of the consequence of his temerity, he flew towards it: +the lady screamed, and pushed back her chair, while the company eagerly +enquired the cause. + +"Oh, a Bee!" exclaimed she, "I am frightened to death if I see one." + +"And I," said another, who sat opposite to her, "shall faint, if it +comes near _me_; I really cannot bear it in the room." + +At this moment the Bee, as if desirous of seeing whether she spoke +truth or not, flew directly across the table, and alighted on her head. + +"Oh where is it?" said she, jumping off her seat, "I am sure it is on +me! dear Mr. Wippersnap," addressing the gentleman who sat next her, +"for goodness sake take it off! what shall I do?" + +While the other lady sat fanning to recover her alarm, and the rest of +the party with anxious looks watched the motions of the bold intruder, +the gentleman, proud of his superior courage, "begged them not to be +alarmed, for he would destroy it in a moment;" and giving it a gentle +touch to drive it from its present station, he began the attack with an +open knife he held in his hand, professing that he would cut it asunder +at one blow; his blows, however, were not so decisive, for though he +aimed several, the Bee contrived to escape them all. + +At this one or two other gentlemen, with more regard to the imaginary +feelings of the ladies than to the reality of those belonging to the +Bee, raised the same weapons in their defence, but all their efforts +served only to exasperate the object of their rage, while the Butterfly +sat trembling under the most cruel apprehensions for his friend's +safety. + +During this alarming battle the ladies were happy to leave the room; +and no sooner were they retired than the fight was over, the weapons +of war were laid aside, and the enraged Bee suffered to rest upon +the table, and recruit his strength: his fierce opponents declared +they were never so foiled before, till one, less courageous than the +rest, wisely, as he thought, turned an empty wine glass over him, and +thus was our unfortunate adventurer again in a close confinement. The +Butterfly was now alarmed for his friend from another cause, and feared +the want of air would be too much for him. + +"Cruel monsters," said he to himself, as he observed the gentlemen draw +their chairs closer to the table, and filling their glasses appeared +determined to suffer no other interruption to their cheerfulness; "do +they call themselves humane, who can leave a poor creature in that +situation, and after they have cut and slashed at him in such a manner, +that if their dexterity had been equal to their will, they would not +have left a whole bone in his skin. Oh! that I had the sting of a +thousand Bees, I would use them all to revenge his cause." + +With these words he fluttered round the table, and viewed his friend +(who lay motionless at the bottom of his transparent prison) on every +side; "he will certainly die," thought he, "if he is not dead already. +Oh my friend! would that I could release you! but the attempt would be +fruitless." + +The gentlemen were too agreeably engaged to observe the anxious +Butterfly, who every time he saw them extend their hands towards the +place, hoped some little compassion had touched their breasts, and that +they were going to liberate his friend; but no such thing, the evening +closed in, and he was yet in confinement, till the tea being announced, +the gentlemen jumped up to attend the ladies, and soon after the +servants entering to take away the bottle and glasses, give the poor +prisoner an opportunity to escape. The window was still open, upon the +edge of which sat the expecting Butterfly, but it was some time before +the Bee, who had been insensible the greatest part of the time, could +so far recollect himself as to know where he was, or who was waiting +for him. On seeing him slowly crawling on the table, the Butterfly +concluded he was too much hurt to fly, and coming towards him, with the +utmost tenderness he said, + +"Oh! my friend, are you not cruelly wounded?" + +"Not so much as I expected," returned the Bee, greatly revived at the +sight of his old companion. "I am very stiff from the blows I have +received, but luckily my wings are not hurt; pray lead the way from +this detested spot, and I will follow with the greatest pleasure." + +With this request the Butterfly gladly complied, rejoicing to hear his +friend speak so cheerfully, who was no sooner out of the house than he +begged to rest upon a neighbouring tree. + +"You have been very roughly handled," said his friend, "by these +_superior_ sort of people; I had hoped better things of them, because +they are called so, but I do not find their hearts are better, or their +conduct towards us less reprehensible than those of a lower order; but +why did you not use your sting, my friend? I think it then would have +made even those courageous gentlemen sound a retreat." + +"I am very careful of extending that," replied the Bee, "as it is very +seldom we can use it to any advantage without leaving it in the wound, +and that in general is fatal to us; a gentle touch is sufficient in +our defence, but _here_ it would have had no effect but to enrage +them still the more, and I must either have died by their hands, or +soon afterwards by losing it; but what a fuss the ladies made at my +approach, did they not? did you ever see any thing so foolish, as all +to run away from my presence? Why many of their fellow-creatures, whom +they judge inferior in education and ideas to themselves, would have +been ashamed to have acted so." + +"If you are inclined to put them to flight again," said the Butterfly, +"I think I see the same party in the room above." + +"No, I thank you," returned the Bee, "I must hasten to the hive as +fast as my bruises will let me; they will be quite alarmed at my being +out so late, or fancy that my old fondness for wandering is come on +again, and I should be sorry that should be their opinion; besides," +continued he, shrugging his shoulders, "I have had enough of the +company of ladies and gentlemen for to-day, though no doubt I lost much +entertaining conversation during my captivity." + +"I believe not," replied the Butterfly, "for my part I heard them say +very little else than "the bottle is with you Sir," and "let us have +another;" and "will you give us a toast, Sir?"" + +"And is it thus these men of _education_ converse together?" replied +the Bee; "I am astonished at it, but were we to sit and talk of it the +whole of the night we should not make them better; we will therefore go +home; I have only to say that I am glad I have escaped their malice, +and am obliged to you, my friend, for the affection which prompted +you to stay for me;" and now extending their wings they soon arrived +at the hive, which the Bee entered, and accounting for his late return +received the congratulations of all his companions on his safety. + +The Butterfly found a resting-place near it, and the next day met his +friend with anxious enquiries of "how he found himself?" The Bee was +still stiff, and felt too much of the ill effects of his last visit to +wish to accompany him on another, at present, therefore he remained but +just without the hive, and left the Butterfly to make 'the voyage of +observation' by himself. In the evening, as they again met, he enquired +into the result of his rambles. + +"I am more and more astonished at the weakness of mortals," returned +the Butterfly, "and am convinced that a _fine lady_ will believe any +thing, and will be pleased with the greatest nonsense, if said to her +by way of compliment; though I have visited but one house to-day, and +that was with one of my old acquaintance, with whom I flew about till +we chaced each other into a spacious drawing-room, in which sat a young +lady, who was endeavouring to lay the imitation of flowers upon a small +table; I believe they call it _painting_, and it was nearly finished; a +gentleman sat by her, and seemed to admire every stroke of her pencil, +though for my part I could not see any thing so very admirable in it; +the colours, to my eye, were put on very roughly, and I could not have +thought he would have paid so ill a compliment to her understanding, as +to suppose she would have believed him, when on our settling on them +after we had sported round the room, he declared that we took them for +natural flowers." + +[Illustration] + +"And did she believe him?" asked the Bee. + +"She smiled," returned the Butterfly, "and seemed very much pleased; +and it is certain that she did not contradict him, though she soon +drove us off again, fearing, I suppose, that we should discover the +deception; but we had done that long before, and only fixt ourselves +there because it was the nearest place to rest on. After this we flew +out, and met with other companions, and I don't know how it was, but +the day seemed gone before we were aware; however, we have enjoyed +ourselves without interruption, and _you_, I hope, are better able +to pursue what affords you pleasure, than when I left you in the +morning?" + +"I am recovering very fast," returned the Bee, "and it is quite +necessary I should, for I believe a wonderful change is soon to take +place in my circumstances, and you must not be surprised if you should +not see me in this neighbourhood much longer." + +"What do you mean?" enquired the Butterfly, half alarmed, though he +knew not from what cause; "you are not going to hide yourself from me, +are you?" + +"No," returned the Bee; "_our_ movements cannot be hid, we shall make +noise enough about it, but I am not at liberty to disclose the secrets +of the hive; to-morrow, perhaps, if you keep a good look-out, and the +weather is fine, you may see what will unravel this mystery; in the +meanwhile assure yourself of the continuance of my friendship, and do +not think, after the attention I experienced from you last night, and +on a former occasion, I can forget you." + +With this assurance the Butterfly suffered his friend to depart without +making any farther enquiry, and sheltering himself for the night under +a large holly-hock, resolved not to let the sun arise without his +awaking to observe the movements of the Bee, and his companions; and, +if possible, to find out the meaning of what he had heard. + + + + +CHAP. VI. + + "When nought but balm is breathing through the woods + "With yellow lustre, bright, that the new tribes + "Visit the spacious heavens, and look abroad + "On Nature's common, far as they can see, + "Or wing their range and pasture." + + THOMPSON. + + +The next morning all was bustle and activity in the hive at a very +early hour, and the Butterfly also arose, and shook his wings, +determined to let nothing escape his observation which could discover +the occasion of it: but though there seemed much noise within, no +one came out; and, after waiting a great while, he began to think +that nothing particular was intended by what his friend had said, or +that some confusion among themselves prevented their putting it in +execution. He frisked about among the flowers, yet still contrived +to keep the hive in view; till at length he saw a Bee advance, whom, +from her majestic appearance, he concluded was the queen; a number of +attendants immediately followed her; and, among the rest, his friend. +She turned as if to take a last look at the home she was about to +leave for ever, and on seeing multitudes of its inhabitants flocking +out, as fast as the narrow entrance would allow, appeared to glory in +the exulting throng; till raising her wings she led the way to seek +some other habitation. Immediately all the train followed her example, +and the air was filled with the numerous retinue; who, by the noise +they made, appeared to vie with each other in paying her respect. All +were earnest in their endeavours to get near her, and to the eye of +the Butterfly, who followed at an humble distance, they appeared a +formidable phalanx; eager not only to prevent the approach of danger, +but that even the eye of a stranger should be fixt upon her. Presently +a crowd of people, from the neighbouring houses, came running towards +them, with pot-lids in their hands, with which, as the whole body +were slowly hovering round the trunk of an old tree, they endeavoured +to drown their humming noise with a much louder one of their own; +and this, from what they said, and their calling for the hive, the +Butterfly learnt was to make them sooner settle. All this time it +would have been difficult to have said who watched their motions most +attentively, the men and women, or the Butterfly. As soon as her +officious attendants would give her an opportunity, her majesty fixt +her feet upon a projecting branch, and happy were those who could cling +the closest to her. All were now as desirous of fixing with her, as +before they were of flying; and when they could no longer see or touch +this sole object of their attention, they were still eager to press, +and hang upon each other, as if pleased to touch but the back of a bee, +who perhaps touched another that had hold of their Queen. + +The noise now ceased, and the bees were suffered to hang, unmolested, +for nearly an hour, in a large round cluster; still and motionless, as +if no life or power was in them. Their proceedings were so entirely new +to the Butterfly, that, had not his friend been amongst them, he should +have wished to see the end; but he saw a man approach, whose face and +arms were entirely covered, and placing a new hive under them, he shook +the branch till the whole united body fell into it. A cloth was then +thrown over them, and he bore it away in triumph. + +"And will they suffer themselves to be thus taken?" thought his +attentive observer, as he eagerly extended his wings to follow the man; +"will they be content to remain in that desolate habitation without a +cell, or any provision in it? no, no; the man will soon perceive his +mistake," continued he, as he saw him place it on a block, which had +been before prepared for it, "as soon as they can get their liberty, +they will return from whence they came." However, it was himself, and +not the man, who was mistaken; on the whole, the Bees liked their new +abode very well; and it was not till the next day that he saw any of +its inhabitants coming out in search of food; when he met his friend, +who asked him "if he did not think he had given him notice of something +worth seeing?" + +"I think I see that you have changed for the worse," returned the +Butterfly; "you have left a full hive with comfortable cells, and +plenty of food, for one which is destitute of both!" + +"We shall soon get this as well stocked as the other," replied the Bee; +"but did you not see our Queen? a sight of her is seldom had; were you +not charmed with her majestic appearance?" + +"Upon my word, no," said the Butterfly with a smile; "but you must +recollect that I am not one of her numerous progeny; and to the eye of +a Butterfly she is no more than another of her species; but why did +you leave your home? is it grown old, and crazy; or does it let the +rain in?" + +"I fancy we understand building better than for that to be the +case," answered the Bee, somewhat offended; "but we were too full; +we encreased so fast that there was not room for us all in one hive. +We have therefore chosen another queen, in whom, by the bye, I am +astonished that you see nothing to admire; and we young ones are come +forth with her, to form another settlement. Happy shall we be to +contribute to her tranquillity and comfort, and to supply her every +want; while she is kind enough to permit us to call her ours, for +the present; therefore, you must not expect to see me one moment at +leisure; till we have, in some degree, given our abode the appearance +of an habitation, we cannot be comfortable; we have already formed +a cell for our beloved Queen, and a few others for her principal +attendants; among which number, I am proud to say, I am; you must +excuse me if I now leave you abruptly, as I am on the search for +something nice for her to eat." + +"Proud, indeed," thought the Butterfly, as he saw his friend hastily +depart. "Why, I am hardly spoken to now this new queen is come in the +way. Well," continued he, "I am glad _we_ have no sovereign, in whose +service we might spend our lives. Our time is our own, and we enjoy it +as we like," added he, clapping his wings, and flying off in pursuit of +some companion as thoughtless as himself. The next morning he returned +very early to the hive in hopes of seeing his old friend, though he +did not suppose he would allow him his company for more than a minute. + +"We can converse together as we fly," said the Bee, who advanced to +meet him, "but I must fetch some honey for her majesty's breakfast; +won't you accompany me? we still go on building very fast, and wax is +brought in great abundance for that purpose." + +"While you are thus employed, I do not expect to have much of your +company," said the Butterfly, "and have therefore made an agreement +with some of my old acquaintance to take an excursion into the country, +and enjoy ourselves there for a few days. The summer is passing quickly +away, and our lives, supposing no accident cuts us off, must end with +it; we must, therefore, frisk while we may." + +"Certainly," replied the Bee, "_you_ were made for that purpose, and +by the time you return I shall probably be more at liberty; we have a +great deal to do, but there is likewise a number of hands, all able and +willing to assist;" and directing his friend to find out the hive when +he came back, he wished him much pleasure, and thus they parted for a +short time, the one to play, and the other to work, though both equally +pleased with the pursuit they were about to follow. + +The Butterfly soon after joined his gayer friends, and sailing high in +air, they winged their way, to "range the forest's green retreat." + + "These thro' the tangled wood-walks play, + "Where no rude urchin paces near, + "Where sparely peeps the sultry day, + "And light dews freshen all the air." + +Thus sported the happy party, uninterruptedly enjoying the live-long +day, and resting at night within "the lily's bell!" They skimmed the +purple heath, visited the rivers' brink, and each day brought some new +pleasure in their view, till at length the weather began to change, +a cold wind blew, and there was every appearance of an approaching +tempest; and now it was that the Butterfly began to think of his friend +the Bee, and of his warm comfortable hive; though he knew he could +not be admitted there, he felt that it must be very pleasant to have +such an asylum to retreat to. Every one of his fluttering companions +were now flying away, each desirous of finding a place of safety for +himself, and _he_ still bent upon returning to his more _steady_ +friend, endeavoured to gain the way which led to his abode, though +the wind was now so powerful that he could scarcely bear against it, +or see the way he was taking. At this moment a stage-coach passed him, +and though he did not know it would convey him from the place he was +then in, he was glad to take the shelter it afforded, and flying in at +one of the open windows he soon found a resting-place. After recovering +from the disorder and confusion the rough wind had put him into, he +had time to examine where he was, and noticed two young ladies, and an +officer very gayly drest, apparently confined within this very small +space. + +"What's this?" exclaimed the gentleman; "a Butterfly! we want no such +intruders here; ladies, are you alarmed? is the creature disagreeable?" + +"Let the poor thing alone," said an elderly man, whom the Butterfly +had not observed before, "it's as free to live as you are; 'tis true +we have _frivolity_ enough in our cargo, but the horses won't feel this +addition to it." + +"It has taken shelter from the storm," said one of the ladies, not at +all regarding what he said; "and if it does not settle on _me_ it is +welcome to remain." The coachman now got off his box, and opening the +door, begged to know if there was room for a young woman, who was on +the outside. + +"It rains hard," said he, "and she will be wet to the skin if she stays +there." Instead of answering his enquiry the officer, in a low voice, +replied thus: "I say, who is this old fellow in the corner? any one of +consequence? hey?" + +"Oh bless you, no Sir, _he_ won't mind her coming in, if you don't." + +"Mind her coming? no, I suppose not," replied he, "but the ladies are +to be consulted; what say you ladies? have you any objection?" They +looked at each other as if hesitating for an answer, which the old +gentleman observed, and immediately offered to get out, and let her +have his place; at this the whole party seemed rather ashamed, and one +of the ladies replied, "Oh dear no! we only thought her clothes might +be wet." + +"And spoil yours, I suppose?" returned the old gentleman rather +roughly, "but I dare say you will have no objection to this young +officer's sitting between you, and then she can take his place, and you +will be in no danger." + +This proposal was readily acceded to, and the young woman came in with +many thanks, while the gallant gentleman seated between the two ladies +declared, that "if he did not incommode them he was the happiest man +alive, and only wished that they were going to travel hundreds of miles +together." + +"An enviable situation truly," said the old man, with an air of +contempt, and folding his arms, as if preparing to sleep; "I," said one +of the ladies, "shall soon be at my journey's end," naming the place at +which she was to be set down; "and I," replied the other, "am to go but +one mile further." + +"Oh! Heavens! and what shall I do then?" returned their admiring beau, +"shut up in this place by myself; I shall certainly hang myself if +I have an opportunity! what lose such charming companions so soon?" +At this the ladies both smiled, and seeing such sort of conversation +pleased, he plied them with it very freely, while the old man slept, +or pretended so to do, and the young women looked rather inclined to +blush for those of her sex who could receive such flattery. + +When one of the ladies left the coach, the other seemed fearful that +their complimenting admirer would hurt himself, in straining his neck +to look after her, as she ran through the rain to a house which stood +at a little distance from the road. On drawing his head in again, +he praised her beauty exceedingly, till fearing he should carry his +encomiums too high, so as to offend the other, whose countenance +already bespoke an approaching gloom; he dissipated the very appearance +of it in a moment, by "begging to know if they were not sisters, their +likeness to each other was so great?" This had the desired effect, +for though she assured him they were not, yet if her companion was +handsome, and they were alike, she must be so likewise. To be handsome +is as much as some people desire, thought the Butterfly, on observing +her face resume a smile, "no wonder that we Butterflies should wish +it." After some more conversation equally foolish, she also arrived at +the place of her destination, and the gentleman, not at all regarding +his other companions, again deplored the melancholy situation he should +be left in. + +As soon as the lady was gone, the old gentleman thus addressed him, +"Young man, I think you have shown your folly whilst you have been +attempting to hoax those women; _that's_ the word, is it not?" + +"Poor country girls!" replied the officer, laughing, "how pleased they +were; they believed every word I said; they look as if they had never +been beyond their own country town, and yet I made one of them think +that I supposed she had lived in London all her life." + +"And where have you lived?" replied the old man, "to learn that there +is any wit in making people appear more ridiculous than they really +are?" + +"Oh," said the other, "they'll go home and talk of me for days to come; +I should not wonder if they expected to see me returning in search +of them within a short time, as not being able to live out of their +company." The old gentleman then turned to the young woman, who had +sat a silent spectator like the Butterfly, and bade her take a lesson +from what she had seen and heard, not to believe what was said to +her; "_you_ may perhaps one day or other meet with an idle fellow," +continued he "who may think proper to amuse himself by talking thus, +but do not you pay so ill a compliment to your own understanding, as to +sit with a simper on your countenance at whatever nonsense he may chuse +to utter." + +The young woman expressed her thanks, while the disconsolate beau +sat with his head half out of the window, as if wishing to avoid any +farther conversation. + +The weather seemed now cleared away, the wind and the rain had ceased, +and the Butterfly began to prepare for flight. On seeing this the old +gentleman said, "Ah, go, poor harmless creature, I am glad for your +sake, and this young woman's, that I have travelled this way to-day, +or neither of you would have been admitted." + +Our adventurer would have thanked him if he could, and leaving the +window had the pleasure of seeing he was very near the place he wished +to be in; he saw some hives at a distance, and among them was his +friend's abode, who, on seeing his approach, came to meet him, and to +whom the Butterfly, after they had expressed their pleasure at again +being together, related the adventures he had met with, particularly +the way in which he had been brought back, and many were the moralizing +remarks occasioned by the recital of what had passed during his ride. + +"The race of human beings must certainly be degenerated," observed the +Bee, "since all other creatures were first put under their subjection, +and in no other way can I account for the superior conduct, and in +many respects the superior wisdom also, of those whom they think so +much below them." + +The Butterfly then asked in what state of forwardness the new hive was +in, and was happy to learn, that during his absence they had nearly +completed the building within it, and that his friend was now ready to +accompany him on his flights as usual. + + + + +CHAP. VII. + + "Not all that tempts your wandering eyes, + "And heedless hearts, is lawful prize, + "Nor all that glitters gold." + + GRAY. + + +In the course of the next day the two friends met again, and while the +Bee did not forget the more important work of gathering food for the +approaching winter, he did not so earnestly pursue it as to make him +unmindful of other things. + +"See here," said he to the Butterfly, as they flew towards a house +whose open windows seemed to invite their entrance; "let us go in, I +think we shall meet with something worth our notice?" The Butterfly +hastened on, but no sooner had he reached the window than turning back, +he winged his flight another way, with much greater speed, calling to +his friend to follow him. + +"What have you seen that has so alarmed you?" enquired the Bee, as he +hurried after him, "what is in that house so very frightful?" + +"It belongs to a _naturalist_," replied the Butterfly, "and don't you +know what detestable creatures these are? had he seen me I should have +lost my life in the cruelest manner." + +"A naturalist!" returned the Bee, "I never heard of one, what does he +do?" + +"Do?" replied the trembling Butterfly, "why, he would tear me limb from +joint if I was in his power, and yet endeavour to preserve my life only +to try how much he could make me suffer; did you not see how many of my +species were pinned up against the walls of his room, whose peculiar +form or colour had attracted his attention? he thinks nothing of taking +the life of any thing he admires. Oh! it turns me sick to think of it; +had I flown one inch farther I might have been thus impaled, and _you_ +also; no doubt you would not have escaped his observation, and for the +sake of your sting, or examining what you carry your honey in, you +would have been quickly dispatched; various are the instruments he has +got about him, and numberless insects does he daily destroy." + +"These are detestable creatures indeed," answered the Bee; "what can't +they be satisfied with viewing our forms as we pass along, but must +they pull us to pieces, by way of admiration? I fancy when they have +taken the most accurate survey, they could not make either a Bee, or +a Butterfly; it is a pity therefore that they should destroy that life +which they can never give. I declare the more I see of these human +beings, and think of their cruelty, as well as absurdities, it makes me +almost determine to quit the haunts of men, and if it ever should be my +lot again to seek another habitation, I would use all my influence with +my fellow Bees in order to remove to some wild wood where they might +never find us." + +"You would be perfectly right," returned the Butterfly; "as for us, if +we escape them one summer, we willingly resign our lives at the end of +it, and led by instinct seek a place in which we die unlamented, and +soon forgotten; but this is not the case with _you_; while you live you +are useful, and at your death a whole society feels your loss; but +look," continued he, pointing towards a bottle that hung tied to the +branch of a fruit-tree, in which were several wasps decoyed thither by +the liquid it contained, and dying in the sweets they sought, "there is +another instance of their malice, don't you see those poor creatures?" + +"Oh! yes," returned the Bee, "and though I am no friend to wasps, who +are often wishing to share the fruits of our labour, without having any +right to them; and in many things are striving to imitate us, though +I believe their chief aim is to do mischief, yet I cannot justify men +who use such _mean arts_ to entrap them to their destruction; but +what is that I see in yonder window?" continued he with a hurried +air, "something that more particularly demands my attention, a Bee in +distress; and hark, he calls to me for assistance;" so saying, without +waiting for the Butterfly to accompany him, he flew towards the place, +where was a Bee nearly drowning in a pot of honey. "And one of my own +hive too!" exclaimed he, as he drew nearer; "my dear brother, how came +you in such a situation?" + +"Surely we are to see nothing but shocking sights to-day," observed +the compassionate Butterfly, who had hastily followed his friend, half +afraid that something still more terrible had happened, "but," said he, +on seeing the struggling captive, "he will not die; 'tis certain he can +keep his head above the edge till you have procured more assistance; I +fear I am not strong enough to help to pull him out." + +While he was speaking, his companion had flown to the hive, and +with incredible swiftness returned with more of the community, who +altogether lent their aid, and after much toil and pains extricated the +poor exhausted Bee from the ill effects of seeking too large a share of +those sweets which only proved so, when moderately enjoyed, 'safe in +themselves but dangerous in the excess.' + +"I only rested on the edge of the pan," said he, as soon as he could +speak, "and after an unsuccessful flight was glad to see a store of +that which I had been so long searching for in vain; I thought I would +just take a sip or two, and perhaps bring home a little of it to the +hive." + +On hearing this one of the oldest of the throng thus addressed him: +"Know, my brother, that what we make ourselves is only welcome there, +and that food for which we labour hardest, is the sweetest to the +palate of every industrious Bee; idle drones and wandering wasps may +sip the honey which others have prepared, but let the danger you have +escaped to-day teach you to use the powers nature has given you, and +taste the sweets of your own procuring rather than that of others." + +The trembling Bee thanked him for his advice, and promising to follow +it, he was escorted home by all the train, where he met with other +assistants, who cleared away the clammy substance that still encumbered +him, and he was suffered to rest within all that day to recover +himself. Meanwhile, the Butterfly waited without the hive, till his +friend returned, and they renewed their flight. + +Nothing particular met their eye till they passed some flies, who were +round a piece of horse-flesh, the smell of which discovered where it +lay, and its half devoured state shewed the avidity with which these +buzzing insects fed upon it. "See," said the Bee, "what opposite +natures are within the circle of creation. These devouring flies find +as much pleasure in eating from this stinking carrion, as from the +choicest honey; nay, perhaps _this_ is more agreeable to them, though +nothing in which they can thrust their devouring trunks escapes their +taste, but with this _delicious morsel_, that really poisons the +surrounding air, they are so delighted, that they even chuse it for an +habitation likewise. Here they lay their eggs, and bring forth their +young, and having no trouble to hunt for food for them, they spend +their time in flying round it, till their habitation and provision +being gone together, they are obliged to seek another residence +equally convenient. Though you bear the same name, my friend," +continued he, "I am witness that you have not their nature." + +"Their nature!" interrupted the Butterfly, half offended at being +mentioned together, "no! I hope not, or their name either! what, shall +the beautiful winged tribe of Butterflies be put upon a footing with +these carrion-eaters, who live upon what, even in our crawling state, +we should reject with disgust. If I may speak my opinion, I think their +form, and the noise they make while flying, is more like your race than +ours, though alas! in one respect, I feel myself too closely allied to +them, that is, I must shortly resign my being; the date of my life will +soon be ended; I have felt the chilling blast of the morning air long +before you are out of your hive, and if you are not already aware of +it, can give you notice that winter is approaching." + +"Indeed," replied the Bee, "I have seen some tokens of it myself; the +flowers are not in such plenty, and as their faded leaves fall off, +no young buds are seen to supply their place; however, such is the +use which we have made of the summer, that we are not afraid to look +forward to the time when every outward resource shall fail: but, my +friend, I fear you are of too delicate a frame to live through the +winter, though the place of your retreat be ever so warm; but have you +not thought of where you will retire to?" continued he. + +"A place to die in is easily found," replied the Butterfly, "and you +must not be surprised if you see me no more; the damps of the night +will soon prove fatal, and I know not if I shall survive another." + +"Do not speak so," returned the Bee, "how gladly would I afford you an +asylum if it was in my power; however, I cannot let you resign your +life so easily; green leaves are yet to be found, and now, within our +reach, I see a convenient crevice, into which you may creep; _there_ +cherish life as long as you can, my friend, and by only venturing out +when the sun shines brightly, you may perhaps extend your days beyond +their usual period, and have your name recorded, as a Butterfly who has +survived the summer." + +"Thank your kindness," returned the short-lived insect, "my life has +been already lengthened through your means, but you cannot renovate my +nature; may yours be extended." + +"As long as it can be useful," said the Bee, interrupting him, "but to +you I owe all that I have gathered this summer," added he; "for had it +not been for your friendly and compassionate encouragement when first +we met, I should have sunk a victim to the consciousness of deserved +destruction; say not, therefore, that you have been of no use in the +world." + +"I will not," returned the Butterfly, faintly fluttering his wings, as +if with his last breath he was desirous of rejoicing it had been in his +power to do good. + +From this time the poor Butterfly was still more sensible of the +weakness of his frame, and flying towards the place his friend had +pointed out, he entered, never to quit it more, "self-buried 'ere he +died," for in the morning when the Bee visited the spot he was deaf +to his voice, and his pitying friend had to lament the sudden change +in one he had so very lately seen frisking about in all the gaiety of +health and spirits. + +"Poor fly," said he, "thou hast been faithful to me, and has even +forgot thy wonted pleasures to afford me assistance; I will not leave +thee to the devouring jaws of thy fellow insects, at least thy little +body shall be preserved from being so destroyed," and with this +resolution he spent one whole day in gathering wax, and stopping up the +crevice which contained the remains of his friend--all the return he +could now make for his former kindness. After having given this last +proof of affection, he returned to the hive, and there in the busy +labors of the Commonwealth soon forgot the shock which the unexpected +death of his airy companion had occasioned. + +During that winter they were suffered to remain unmolested, and as the +ensuing summer approached, (according to the plan he had formed so long +ago,) he proposed their taking a farther flight, and seeking a refuge +in some solitary wood; "I have seen more of mankind than you have, my +friends," said he, "and have observed both their customs and manners; +believe me, they are inconsistent fickle creatures; their conduct +towards one another shows that they are not to be trusted; much more, +then, have _we_ reason to be afraid of them. You very well know it is +in our power to live without their assistance; what is it which they +procure us but just an empty shell for our habitation? for this they +expect our stock of honey, and to obtain it scruple not to take our +lives! We have already seen, in the destruction of one or two of our +neighbouring hives, the fate which awaits us; but could I persuade all +of my species to wing their flight beyond their reach, they might be +taught a little more humanity, and would perhaps spare our lives, if we +were again in their power. Content to share with us what our labours +have produced, they might then leave us to die when our exhausted +nature fails, and for their own sakes also would not cut us off in the +prime of life, and while we have health and strength to add to the +stock, which would be as much for their benefit as our own." + +This speech had the desired effect; the whole community seemed roused +by it, and entering into his scheme, on the appointed day not a Bee +was left behind, but altogether mounting the air they winged their +flight far beyond its usual extent, nor could all the clattering of +pots and kettles make them settle, till clear of the noise and out of +the sight of man they found an habitation for themselves, and under the +covert of a thick wood passed the remainder of their days in peaceful +industry. + +THE END. + +W. Lewis, Printer, Paternoster-row, London. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + + +Obvious spelling, typographical and punctuation errors have been +corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the +text and consultation of external sources. + +Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. + +Changed 'Tabart & C[superscript]o.' to 'Tabart & Co.'; frontispiece + +Moved 'CHAP VI' heading in Chapter Summary Section from incorrect place +to before 'The Bees swarm'; pg vii + +Spacing retained in 'every where' and 'every thing'; pg 26 and pg 34 + +Spacing retained in 'well known'; pg 48 + +Spacing retained in 'any thing'; pg 65 et al. + +Added missing end quotes, 'been feeding,' to 'been feeding,"'; pg 28 + +Added missing end quotes, 'no longer friends.' to 'no longer +friends."'; pg 67 + +Added missing second end quotes, 'a toast, Sir?"' to 'a toast, +Sir?""'; pg 89 + +Added missing end quotes, 'creature disagreeable?' to 'creature +disagreeable?"'; pg 106 + +Added missing start quotes, 'I never' to '"I never'; pg 46 + +Removed bad quotes, 'hurting _him_:"' to 'hurting _him_:'; pg 46 + +Removed bad quotes, '"Though you bear' to 'Though you bear'; pg 125 + +Added missing end and start quotes, '"Oh! said he, I' to '"Oh!" said +he, "I'; pg 73 + +Typo; changed 'laid' to 'said'; pg 29 + +Typo; changed 'littles' to 'little'; pg 42 + +Typo; changed 'flowers' to 'flower'; pg 47 + +Typo; changed 'gardon' to 'garden'; pg 65 + +Typo; changed 'surservient' to 'subservient'; pg 70 + +Typo; changed 'Bee,' to 'Bee.'; pg 72 + +Typo; changed 'he weapons' to 'the weapons'; pg 83 + +Archaic use of 'an' before 'h' retained; for example 'an humble'; +pg 50 et al. + +Archaic spelling of 'chace', 'chaced' and 'chacing' retained; +pg 44 et al. + +Archaic spelling of 'aukward' retained; pg 64 + +Archaic spelling of 'taylor' retained; pg 74 + +Archaic spelling of 'incumbered' and 'incumbrance' retained; one +occurrence of 'encumbered' also retained; pg 19 et al. + +Archaic spelling of 'chuse' retained; one occurrence of 'choose' in +preface also retained; pg 113 et al. + +Archaic spelling of 'fixt' retained; one occurrence of 'fixed' also +retained; pg 92 et al. + +Archaic spelling of 'encrease' and 'encreased' retained; three +occurrences of 'increase' etc. also retained; pg 52 et al. + +Archaic spelling of 'gayly drest' retained; pg 106 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Perambulations of a Bee and a +Butterfly, by Elizabeth Sandham + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43270 *** |