The Life of the Bee 
I have many times tried the experiment 
of sprinkling a colouring matter over one 
of these resigned Cinderellas, that are 
moreover easily to be distinguished in the 
midst of the rejoicing crowds by their 
serious and somewhat ponderous gait, 
it is rarely indeed that I have found 
one of them in the delirious throng 
of the swarm. 
[ 24 ] 
And yet, the attraction must seem 
irresistible. It is the ecstasy of the per- 
haps unconscious sacrifice the god has 
ordained ; it is the festival of honey, the 
triumph of the race, the victory of the 
future : the one day of joy, of forgetfulness 
and folly; the only Sunday known to 
the bees. It would appear to be also the 
solitary day upon which all eat their fill, 
and revel, to heart’s content, in the de- 
lights of the treasure themselves have 
76 
