BIRD AND BEAST STORIES
I.
WHY IS THE BEE BLACK, AND WHY IS IT MAKING HONEY? HOW DID THE BEE OUTWIT THE DEVIL?
In the beginning only water and God and the devil existed. These two were all the time moving about upon the surface of the waters. After some time God, feeling rather tired of this flitting about without rest or peace, said to the devil, “Go down to the bottom of the sea and bring up in my name a handful of the seed of the earth.” The devil did as he was told, but whilst he was plunging in the depths he said to himself, “Why shall I bring up the seed in his name? I will take it in my own.” And so he did. When he came up God asked him, “Hast thou brought the seed?” The devil replied, “Yes, here it is.” But when he opened his hand to show the seed to God, lo, it was quite empty. The water had wasted the seed away.
Then God told him to plunge again and bring up the seed of the earth in his name. The devil, however, again took the seed from the bottom of the sea in his own name, and when he opened his hand to give the seed to God the waters had again washed his hand clean. For a third time God sent him down to the bottom of the sea to bring up seed. This time the devil bethought himself, and instead of taking the seed in his own name as he had determined, now took it in God’s name and in his own. He would not do it in God’s name alone. When he came up the waters had this time also washed everything away that he had taken in his hand. Only a few grains, however, remained under the nails of his fingers. God asked him whether he had brought the seed up, and he replied “To be sure.” But when he opened his hand it was again empty. Still, there were the few grains which had stuck under the nails. God greatly rejoiced at these few, which he carefully scraped out from under the nails, and made of them a small cake which he put upon the water, where it floated, and God sat upon it to rest. Being now very tired, God fell asleep on that little cake of earth. When the devil saw God fast asleep, what did the unclean one think? “What a lucky thing that is for me,” he said to himself, “I can now drown him.” And so he tried to turn the cake over, so that God should fall into the water. But what happened? In whatever direction God rolled, the cake of earth expanded and stretched under him. He first rolled him towards the east, and the earth grew under God. The devil then tried to upset the cake towards the west, and again the earth stretched under God. Now, said the devil, “Now there is also room for me to rest,” and he sat down on the opposite side where the earth had grown bigger. There again he endeavoured with all his weight to press down the earth, so as to make the earth turn turtle, once towards the north, once towards the south; and God rolled towards them and the earth grew in all directions.
Now by this continual rolling the earth grew so big that it became wider and larger than the waters. When God awoke and saw what the devil had done he did not know what to do with this huge earth, which had become far too big. The devil, seeing what he had done, and being afraid of God’s wrath, ran away and hid himself in one of the clefts of the earth. God then decided to ask the devil what he was to do with this earth, which had become so big.
Now, of all the beasts and creatures which God had made, none was more pleasing in his sight than the bee, which was then playing in Paradise.
The bee was white, and not black as she is now, and I will tell you presently how it came about that she changed her colour.
God sent the bee to ask the devil what he was to do and what good advice he could give him. The bee, at once, went as she was commanded, and came to the place where the devil lived.
“Good morning, uncle,” said the bee.