That was our mistake."
"No, the mistake was entirely ours," said the Princess.
"Pardon me," said the Wax-moth. "When you think of the enormous
upheaval--call it good or bad--which our influence brought about,
you will admit that we, and we alone--"
"You?" said the Princess. "Our stock was not strong. So you
came--as any other disease might have come. Hang close, all my
people."
When the sun rose, Veiled Figures came down, and saw their swarm
at the bough's end waiting patiently within sight of the old
Hive--a handful, but prepared to go on.
THE BEES AND THE FLIES
A FARMER of the Augustan age
Perused in Virgil's golden page,
The story of the secret won
From Proteus by Cyrene's son
How the dank sea-god sowed the swain
Means to restore his hives again
More briefly, how a slaughtered bull
Breeds honey by the bellyful.
The egregious rustic put to death
A bull by stopping of its breath:
Disposed the carcass in a shed
With fragrant herbs and branches spread.
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