Bramble-bees and Others 



is bald and her dress is dingy and threadbare. 

 All the nap is gone; and one can hardly make 

 out the handsome stripes of red and brown 

 which she used to have. These tattered, 

 work-worn garments make things clear 

 to us. 



This Bee who mounts guard and performs 

 the office of a portress at the entrance to the 

 burrow is older than the others. She is the 

 foundress of the establishment, the mother of 

 the actual workers, the grandmother of the 

 present grubs. In the springtime of her life, 

 three months ago, she wore herself out in 

 solitary labours. Now that her ovaries are 

 dried up, she takes a well-earned rest. No, 

 rest is hardly the word. She still works, she 

 assists the household to the best of her power. 

 Incapable of being a mother for a second 

 time, she becomes a portress, opens the door 

 to the members of her family and makes 

 strangers keep their distance. 



The suspicious Kid,^ looking through the 

 chink, said to the Wolf: 



"Show me a white foot, or I sha'n't open 

 the door." 



Hn La Fontaine's fable, Le Loup, la Chevre et le 

 Chevreau. — Translator's Note. 



404 . 



