THE SPIDER AND THE BEE
A merchant brought some linen to a fair and opened a shop. It was good linen, and many came to buy of him.
A spider saw what was going on, and said to herself:
"I can spin. Why shouldn't I open a shop, too?"
So the spider opened a little shop in the corner of a window, and spun all night, and made a beautiful web. She hung it out where everybody could see it.
"That is fine!" said the spider. "Surely, when the morning comes, all will want to buy it."
At last the morning came.
A man saw the web in the corner and swept it away, spider and all.
"That is a pretty thing to do!" cried the spider. "I should like to ask whose work is the finer, mine or that merchant's?"
A bee happened to fly past.
"Yours is the finer," said the bee. "We all know that. But what is it good for? It will neither warm nor cover any one."