The Foundation of the City 



wax ; neither guiding-mark nor point of 

 support. There is only the dreary emp- 

 tiness of an enormous monument that has 

 nothing but sides and roof Within the 

 smooth and rounded walls there only is 

 darkness ; and the enormous arch above 

 rears itself over nothingness. But useless 

 regrets are unknown to the bee; or in any 

 event it does not allow them to hinder its 

 action. Far from being cast down by an 

 ordeal before which every other courage 

 would succumb, it displays greater ardour 

 than ever. Scarcely has the hive been 

 set in its place, or the disorder allayed that 

 ensued on the bees' tumultuous fall, when 

 we behold the clearest, most unexpected 

 division in that entangled mass. The 

 greater portion, forming in solid columns, 

 like an army obeying a definite order, will 

 proceed to climb the vertical walls of the 

 hive. The cupola reached, the first to 

 arrive will cling with the claws of their 

 ^33 



