Page:Chinese Fables and Folk Stories.djvu/37

Rh live in all parts of the world. All mankind likes us and feeds us flowers. Do you think you are better than man?

"One day a bad boy tried to spoil our house, but his mother said, 'You spoil many things, but you shall not trouble the bees. They work hard every day and make honey for us. If you kill one bee-mother, her children will all leave us and in winter we shall have no honey for our bread.' And the boy obeyed. He might catch birds and goldfish, destroy flowers, do anything he wished, but he could not trouble us, because we are so useful. But you, slow creeper, are not good for anything."

Then the snail was angry and went to her house and said to her family, "The bees are our enemies. In fifteen days, five of you must go to their house and destroy it."

So they went. But when they reached the bee's house, they found no one there; and they said, "We are glad, for we can eat their honey." And they ate honey until sunset. Then the bee king and all his people in great numbers came with joyous singing, drumming, and dancing to their home.

When the bee king saw the five snails in his house he said, "Friends, this is not your home nor your food. Why do you come here and eat all our honey? But Chinese Fables — 2