“With a view to the universal diffusion of what is advantageous to mankind, and the multiplying of what is beneficial to the high and low, he condescended to favor me with an intimation of his high will, that this humble individual, devoid of ability, and this insignificant person of small capital, should be bold enough to clothe the said book in a new dress, and bestow fresh ornament upon the beauty of its tales of esoteric meaning, which were veiled and concealed by the curtain of obscure words and difficult expressions, by presenting on the stages of lucid style and the chambers of becoming metaphors after a fashion that the eye of every examiner, without a glance of penetration, may enjoy a share of the loveliness of these beauties, of the ornamented bridal chamber of narrative, and the heart of every wise person, without the trouble of imagining, may obtain the fruition of union with those delicately reared ones of the closet of the mind.”[228] A preface of this kind is surely calculated to deter the student from seeking further for the beauties of this peculiar work, but when divested of the cumbersome verbiage these stories will be found both quaint and pleasing. A few of the best of them are here given in simple phrase: THE BEES AND THEIR HABITS. There stood in the garden an old tree, whose leaves had fallen, and there was no vitality with which to replace them. The hatchet of the peasant Time had mutilated its limbs, and the saw of the carpenter Fortune had sharpened its teeth in making shreds of its warp and woof. The centre of the tree had become hollow, and a busy swarm of bees had made it their fortress. When the king heard the buzzing of the little workers, he inquired of his sage why these little insects gathered in the tree, and at whose command they resorted to the meadow. Then the minister replied: “O, fortunate prince, they are a tribe doing much good and little harm. They have a queen larger in bulk than themselves, and have placed their heads on the line of obedience to her majesty; she is seated upon a square throne of wax, and she has appointed to their several offices her vizier and chamberlain, her porter and guard, her spy and deputy. The ingenuity of her attendants is such that each one prepares hexagonal chambers of wax, having no inequality in their partitions, and the best geometricians would be unable to do such work without instruments. When this work approaches completion they come forth from their abode at the queen’s command, and a noble bee explains to them that they must not exchange their cleanliness for grossness, nor pollute their purity by evil associations. They therefore sit only beside the fair lily or fragrant rose, in order to draw therefrom the purest honey. When they come to the home the warders try them by smelling, and if they have kept their sacred trust and avoided all impure associations, permission is given them to re-enter the immaculate chambers of white wax.