Fables of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists/Fable CXXV
Fab. CXXV.
Jupiter and a Bee.
A Bee made Jupiter a Present of a Pot of Hony, which was so kindly Taken, that he had her Ask what she would, and it should be Granted her. The Bee desir'd, that where-ever she should set her Sting, it might be Mortal. Jupiter was loth to leave Mankind at the Mercy of a Little Spiteful Insect, and so had her have a care how she Kill'd any Body; for what Person soever fhe Attacqu’d, if she left her Sting behind her, it should cost her her Life.
The Moral.
REFLEXION.
Cruelty and Revenge are directly contrary to the very Nature of the Divine Goodness, and the Mischief that is Design’d for Other People returns commonly upon the Head of the Author.
How many Men are there in the World, that put up as Malicious Prayers in Christian Assemblyes to the True God, as the Bee does to Jupiter here in the Fable! And Prayers too against their very Patrons and Masters; their Benefactors that Entertain, Feed, and Protect them. Will Heaven Heare These Prayers, shall we think, (or Curses rather) and not Punish them? This Bee did not Pray for a Power to Kill, without a Previous Disposition and Design, to put that Venemous Power in Execution. She had Mischief in her Heart allready, and only wanted some Destructive Faculty, answerable to her Will: And so pray’d to Jupiter, as Men do in many Cases to the Jehovah, for the Blessing of an Ability to Commit Murder.