The Life of the Bee 



hunger, of force, of opinion and law, and 

 the terror of hell when they die. To 

 show what they are, we should have to 

 consider them one by one. See that tall 

 fellow there on the right, who flings up 

 such mighty sheaves. Last summer his 

 friends broke his right arm in some tavern 

 row. I reduced the fracture, which was a 

 bad and compound one. I tended him 

 for a long time, and gave him the where- 

 withal to live till he should be able to get 

 back to work. He came to me every 

 day. He profited by this to spread the 

 report in the village that he had discov- 

 ered me in the arms of my sister-in-law, 

 and that my mother drank. He is not 

 vicious, he bears me no ill-will ; on the 

 contrary, see what a broad, open smile 

 spreads over his face as he sees me. It 

 was not social animosity that induced him 

 to slander me. The peasant values wealth 

 far too much to hate the rich man. But 



