Chapter III: Part 3

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