Peregrin's Fables - The Good Beekeeper
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Once apon a time there was a beekeeper. He was an extremely good beekeeper, and took great care of his bees. Every now and then he took honeycomb out to make his honey, but never took too much, leaving enough for the bees; and made sure there was a constant supply of pretty flowers for the bees to feed on.
However, one day a thief came along, and saw the beehives. He cackled to himself and thought, 'Hmm. I bet I could sell that honey for a lot on the black market.' So he hid himself and waited until the middle of the day, when all the bees were out busy collecting nectar. Then he crept up to the hives, and broke them all, and stole all of the honeycomb. And ran away.
Then the beekeeper came home, and saw the broken and devastated hives. He was horrified, and moaned, 'My poor bees! They're going to come home and see their hives wrecked! This is awful!' And he tried his best to repair the hives, before they came home.
But the hives were beyond repair, and while he was still trying to piece them together, all the bees came home. They saw their hives wrecked, and the honeycomb gone, and the beekeeper standing in the middle of it all. They assumed that the beekeeper had done it all, and attacked him, swarming over him and stinging him again and again.
'Stop it!' The beekeeper cried, 'I'm trying to help you! I didn't wreck and plunder your hives! I'm your friend!' But the bees, who naturally couldn't understand English, carried on chasing and stinging him. Eventually it was too much for him, and he fell down unconsious, and died of the bee's poisoning.
Later that summer the whole colony of bees was destroyed by a plague of bee parasites.
Meanwhile the thief sold the honey for an enormous profit on the black market, and lived happily ever after.
The moral of this story is: Crime pays.The Fox and the Grapes
The Astrologer
