The Life of the Bee 
To this spot, where life would seem 
more restricted than elsewhere —if it be 
possible for life indeed to become re- 
stricted —a sort of aged philosopher had 
retired; an old man somewhat akin to 
Virgil’s — 
*« Man equal to kings, and approaching the gods ;”’ 
whereto Lafontaine might have added, — 
«¢ And, like the gods, content and at rest.”” 
Here had he built his refuge, being a 
little weary; not disgusted, for the large 
aversions are unknown to the sage; but a 
little weary of interrogating men, whose 
answers to the only interesting questions 
one can put concerning nature and her 
veritable laws are far less simple than 
those that are given by animals and 
plants. His happiness, like the Scythian 
philosopher’s, lay all in the beauties of 
his garden; and best-loved and visited 
most often, was the apiary, composed of 
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