The Adventures of Maya the Bee | Page 2

dainty fingers of her hand in her mouth.
"Exceptional nature--what is an exceptional nature?" she asked shyly.
"Oh, that's not nice," cried Cassandra, referring not to Maya's question, which she had scarcely heeded, but to the child's sticking her fingers in her mouth. "Now, listen. Listen very carefully to what I am going to tell you. I can devote only a short time to you. Other baby-bees have already slipped out, and the only helper I have on this floor is Turka, and Turka is dreadfully overworked and for the last few days has been complaining of a buzzing in her ears. Sit down here."
Maya obeyed, with great brown eyes fastened on her teacher.
"The first rule that a young bee must learn," said Cassandra, and sighed, "is that every bee, in whatever it thinks and does, must be like the other bees and must always have the good of all in mind. In our order of society, which we have held to be the right one from time immemorial and which couldn't have been better preserved than it has been, this rule is the one fundamental basis for the well-being of the state. To-morrow you will fly out of the hive, an older bee will accompany you. At first you will be allowed to fly only short stretches and you will have to observe everything, very carefully, so that you can find your way back home again. Your companion will show you the hundred flowers and blossoms that yield the best nectar. You'll have to learn them by heart. This is something no bee can escape doing.-- Here, you may as well learn the first line right away--clover and honeysuckle. Repeat it. Say 'clover and honeysuckle.'"
"I can't," said little Maya. "It's awfully hard. I'll see the flowers later anyway."
Cassandra opened her old eyes wide and shook her head.
"You'll come to a bad end," she sighed. "I can foresee that already."
"Am I supposed later on to gather nectar all day long?" asked Maya.
Cassandra fetched a deep sigh and gazed at the baby-bee seriously and sadly. She seemed to be thinking of her own toilsome life--toil from beginning to end, nothing but toil. Then she spoke in a changed voice, with a loving look in her eyes for the child.
"My dear little Maya, there will be other things in your life--the sunshine, lofty green trees, flowery heaths, lakes of silver, rushing, glistening waterways, the heavens blue and radiant, and perhaps even human beings, the highest and most perfect of Nature's creations. Because of all these glories your work will become a joy. Just think--all that lies ahead of you, dear heart. You have good reason to be happy."
"I'm so glad," said Maya, "that's what I want to be."
Cassandra smiled kindly. In that instant--why, she did not know--she conceived a peculiar affection for the little bee, such as she could not recall ever having felt for any child-bee before. And that, probably, is how it came about that she told Maya more than a bee usually hears on the first day of its life. She gave her various special bits of advice, warned her against the dangers of the wicked world, and named the bees' most dangerous enemies. At the end she spoke long of human beings, and implanted the first love for them in the child's heart and the germ of a great longing to know them.
"Be polite and agreeable to every insect you meet," she said in conclusion, "then you will learn more from them than I have told you to-day. But beware of the wasps and hornets. The hornets are our most formidable enemy, and the wickedest, and the wasps are a useless tribe of thieves, without home or religion. We are a stronger, more powerful nation, while they steal and murder wherever they can. You may use your sting upon insects, to defend yourself and inspire respect, but if you insert it in a warm-blooded animal, especially a human being, you will die, because it will remain sticking in the skin and will break off. So do not sting warm-blooded creatures except in dire need, and then do it without flinching or fear of death. For it is to our courage as well as our wisdom that we bees owe the universal respect and esteem in which we are held. And now good-by, Maya dear. Good luck to you. Be faithful to your people and your queen."
The little bee nodded yes, and returned her old monitor's kiss and embrace. She went to bed in a flutter of secret joy and excitement and could scarcely fall asleep from curiosity. For the next day she was to know the great, wide world, the sun, the sky and the flowers.
Meanwhile the bee-city had quieted down. A large part of the younger bees had now