I write this tale to them alone
To whom in vain my pearls are thrown.
[XII.] THE BEES AND THE DRONES.
Up in a lofty oak the Bees
Had made their honey-combs: but these
The Drones asserted they had wrought.
Then to the bar the cause was brought
Before the wasp, a learned chief,
Who well might argue either brief,
As of a middle nature made.