Folk Tales
Author's TalesA bee was sitting on a flower singing happily one day when a fox passed by.
“Why are you singing so happily, Mrs. Bee?” asked the fox.
“Because I am making honey,” answered she, “and honey is sweet enough to make anybody happy. Would you like to taste my honey, Mr. Fox?”
Then Mrs. Bee put her foot on Mr. Fox”s tongue and gave him a taste of her honey.
“That is the best thing I have ever tasted. How do you make it, Mrs. Bee? I want to make some myself.”
Mrs. Bee laughed and said, “I get it from my feet by pounding them with a stone. At first when I strike them, blood comes; but beneath the blood is honey, so I keep pounding them until the blood has all come out and then I get the honey.”
Mrs. Bee laughed again and flew away buzzing.
Mr. Fox found a big stone. He sat down and began to pound his feet. It hurt him very much, but he wanted some honey; so he kept pounding and the blood kept coming. He pounded his hind feet entirely away and still there was no honey.
He knew then that the bee had tricked him. He was so angry that he wanted to pound her into pieces with that same stone; but the little bee had wisely flown so far away that Mr. Fox could never find her.
Note: Seama, a Laguna Pueblo