The Travels and Adventures of James Massey

by Simon Tyssot de Patot

I made him answer, that if Man had continued in that State of Perfection wherein the Creator at first plac'd him, he wou'd not perhaps have needed a Revelation to serve as a Rule to his Actions, but since he lost that Happiness by his Fault, he is so corrupted and so prone to Wickedness, that he not only requires Revelation, but the special Grace of his Creator for—

Hold there, said he, I find you are going to tell me of the Fall of Man and all its Consequences, such as the Corruption of his Nature, Original Sin, the Redemption of Mankind, &c. This, if you please, shall be the Subject of our Conversation for the remainder of this Evening. Your Divines, said he, are much in the right to call those Mysteries the stumbling Block of humane Reason, for surely they are incomprehensible by Reason and good Sense. But before I enter into the particular Examination of these Articles, give me Leave to entertain you with a Fable which I had from an Arabian Philosopher, who had been a great Traveller, and said he made it to give his Friends an Idea of the Mythology of a certain Nation that he had seen.

The Fable of the BEES.

There was formerly, said he, a great and potent King, Sovereign of one of the Islands in the Ocean, whose Power was such that no other King equall'd it, and all his Subjects were so submissive to him that they did whatever he requir'd, and his Will was so far the Rule of all their Actions that they cou'd not do otherwise. His Goodness was as great as his Power, and his Wisdom as great as both. In a word, he possess'd all Perfections in the highest Degree. This King found the said Island Desert, but he planted it, fill'd it with Inhabitants and Animals of all sorts, and caus'd it to be cultivated, so that it produc'd all Necessaries not only for the Sustenance, but for the Conveniency and Pleasure of all the Inhabitants.

The King's Palace was the greatest and most magnificent that can be imagin'd, and situate in the middle of the finest Gardens that were ever seen. This Monarch who perfectly understood every thing, form'd a Plan to himself of the finest Production of which Nature was capable, and then gave Orders it shou'd be executed, which was done upon the Spot; for such was the Extent of his Power, that all Things both animate and inanimate conform'd exactly to his Will and immediately submitted to his Law. There were also Parks, Meadows, and Woods all admirably fine, and full of all sorts of Animals, Birds, and Insects that cou'd be desir'd either for Use or Pleasure. I shou'd have a great many strange things to tell you, were I to enter into the Detail of every thing relating to all those Animals, &c. For this Reason I shall only tell you what I heard most remarkable concerning one single Species of Insects, viz. The Bees.

In this Island there was a multitude of Bees, and as the King's care was extended to every thing, he so order'd it that there were abundance of Flowers every where to nourish them. But in a Nook of one of the King's Flower-Gardens there was a particular sort of Flower, which he forbad the Bees to touch: Not that those Flowers were hurtful to the Bees, or that the Monarch valu'd them more than any of the other Flowers, but, as I was told, because he had a mind to try their Obedience. It happen'd not long after, that some of the Bees forgetting the Order, or not much regarding it, went and suck'd those Flowers. The King immediately perceiv'd it, and was so incens'd at it that; he resolv'd to drive all the Bees out of the Island, and even swore, so great was his Wrath, that he wou'd not spare one Bee. But some time after, when the Heat of his Indignation was abated, he regretted that he had pass'd so severe a Sentence and some remains of Pity for those poor Bees engag'd the Monarch, who was Goodness and Mercy it self, to find out some Expedient to bring them off.

The King had an only Son whom he lov'd infinitely more than all things in the World, and it was his Pleasure that this Son shou'd be the Mediator to make Peace between him and the Bees. But to the end that this Peace might be made in a manner consistent with the King's Dignity, and without wounding his Honour and his Justice, which were concern'd to maintain the Oath that he had sworn, there was a Necessity for this welbeloved Son to bear all the Pains due to the Bees, and that for this purpose he shou'd become a Bee himself. When this Metamorphosis was made, the Son went in the form of a Bee to one of the worst Hives in the whole Island, where he found it Labour in vain to advise the other Bees to be more circumspect and more observant of the King's Orders, for they laugh'd him to Scorn, abus'd him, and at last stung him to Death. And what was worse than all, at the same time he must bear the whole Weight of his Father's Wrath and Indignation, who was resolv'd to revenge the Fault of the Bees upon him. As soon as this Son was dead, he returned to his Father, and fell to interceding for the poor Bees, whose Debt he had paid, and for whose Crime he had suffer'd; which Mediation he still continues with so much Success, that the King has taken Companion of several of those Bees and forgiven them their Faults, provided they adhere strictly to his Son as many intire Bee-hives have already done. It does not appear that these Bees so favour'd make more Honey, or are more at Ease than the others, but the Reason of it is (as they are taught by certain Hornets who have introduc'd themselves in great numbers into all those Hives) that they will be more sensible of the Benefit that results to them from it after they are dead.

'Tis these Hornets that teach the Bees, which are inclin'd to hearken to them, all this Story, together with a multitude of Circumstances that are not so much as touch'd here. And in the several Hives, both the Story and Circumstances are so vary'd that some receive it one way, and others another, and some believe nothing at all of the matter. These latter are threaten'd by the Hornets with very severe Punishment after Death, whereas the Bees which follow their Advice will be sure then to receive great Rewards. When they are told, that 'tis plain that all Bees when they die, fall to the Ground and rot away either in Dust or Dirt, they gravely answer that 'tis only their Bodies that perish, but that their buzzing Part which is somewhat different from their Bodies, is to enjoy the Rewards or suffer the Punishments with which they have threaten'd 'em. For they make them believe that when a Bee which has follow'd the Advice of the Hornets, and given them the greatest part of his Honey, comes to die, his Buzz goes directly to the King's Palace and contributes to fill his great Hall of Audience with Musick, with which they say that Monarch is very much delighted. Whereas the buzzing Part of a Bee that acts after another manner, goes after its Death to a great Cave under Ground, where 'tis benumm'd with the Cold, and makes a very disagreeable Noise by reason of the infinite Torture it there suffers. There's a prodigious number of other such Chimeras, with which these Hornets are continually filling the Heads of the poor Bees; for as they are excus'd from working and live upon the Labour of the Bees, all they have to do is to invent something to terrify the Bees and keep them in a State of Dependance, in which they have succeeded so well, that we see abundance of these poor Insects so full of Apprehension of what may happen to their bulging Part after Death, that they cannot with Pleasure eat the Honey they have made, nor do any things as they shou'd for the support of their Lives. And when there happen to be any Bees which in Contempt of such Chimeras apply to their Work and turn a deaf Ear to the Hornets, they incense the other Bees against them, and generally kill them, or at least turn them out of their Hives as dangerous and seditious Creatures. It often happens that when the Hornets are at Variance with one another, all the Bees of a Hive take part with one Side or other, and being animated by the Hornets they fall upon one another with so much Fury, that we generally find half of the Bees of a Hive kill'd, because they had not the same Conception of the Chimeras of the Hornets as the others had. Sometimes too those Hornets engage whole Bee-hives to make War against other Bee-hives, so that frequently we see several thousands kill'd on both Sides, only for supporting the Chimeras of the Hornets of their own Sect against those of others. The Bees also expose themselves generally very cheerfully to this Slaughter, upon the Assurance given them by the Hornets of one Party as well as another, that they thereby do very great Service to the King who will take it well at their Hands, and admit their buzzing Part into his great Hall preferably to those of many others. For they pretend to know the Orders and Will of the King much better than the other Bees, because certain Hornets, say they, who liv'd several Ages before them, heard 'em from the King's own Lips, and transmitted 'em down to them, partly impress'd upon Wax, and partly by the Reports of their Predecessors. 'Tis upon this Foundation that the Hornets usurp so much Authority over the Bees throughout the whole Island (for there are Hornets which have insinuated themselves into almost all the Hives) and extend their Tyranny so far as to render those poor Insects perfectly miserable. They forbid them on certain Days to suck the Flowers, which they are permitted to do on others, and likewise prohibit their making Wax and Honey on certain other Days, because, say they, 'tis the King's Will and Pleasure.

After he had finish'd his impertinent Fable, I told him, that I saw the End of it very plainly, but that it only prov'd how Men of Wit could turn any thing into Ridicule: I shew'd him that the Comparison fail'd in almost every Circumstance; particularly I observ'd, That tho' the eating of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge was forbidden to Adam upon a severe Penalty, yet when he had eaten of it, God is represented in Scripture as so far from being in Wrath, and from Swearing not to spare any of the Human Race; (as the Fable wou'd insinuate), that the Sentence pronounced was softned with the Promise of a Saviour, under the Title of the Seed of the Woman: I told him, that the buzzing Part of the Bee does by no means answer to the Soul of Man: that if Christians maintained, that the speaking Part of Man had gone to Heaven or Hell after his Decease, there would have been some Justness in the Fable: but that the Fact (as he well knew) was quite otherwise. I shew'd him, that the Distinction of Soul and Body was not peculiar to the Christian Religion, but common to all other Religions, and was believ'd in Countries where no Revelation had reach'd. I was going on in this Strain, but it was then too late, and it was high time to part and go to bed: and I had no other Opportunity of talking with him again on these important Subjects; for some time after, this poor Man and another carrying along a great Beam upon their Shoulders, he fell down, by which his Head was so bruis'd that he dy'd before he had time for Repentance, which I look'd upon as a just Punishment from Heaven, because he had made such an ill Use of his Wit and Learning.

I had been fourteen or fifteen Years at Sercelli, when it happen'd, one Day as I was at work in refitting a Ship, I discover'd a Hole towards the Middle, two Foot from the Keel: I was oblig'd in order to make my Work good and lasting, to go down into the Ship's Hold, where, as I was removing the great Flints and Gravel, which serve to ballast the Ship, I discover'd a Bundle bigger than my two Fists. The out-side Wrapper was a Callico Handkerchief, in which there was a Boot Hose of Silk, and in that Boot Hose, a blue Sock, in which there was a Purse with three hundred eighty five good Guineas. My first Care was to conceal my Treasure in a sure Place, where no Body wou'd go and look for it, and notwithstanding my Heart was full of Joy, I took great care not to make the least Discovery that I was a Penny richer than before.