The Fable of the Bees; Or, Private Vices, Public BenefitsMandeville, Bernard
Philosophy
The Fable of the Bees; Or, Private Vices, Public Benefits
Mandeville, Bernard
Charity-schools -- Early works to 1800; Ethics -- Early works to 1800; Virtue -- Early works to 1800
For, as to the first, if a cow loved mutton as well as
she does grass, being made as she is, and having no claws or talons,
and but one row of teeth before, that are all of an equal length, she
would be starved even among a flock of sheep. Secondly, as to their
voraciousness, if experience did not teach us, our reason might: in the
first place, it is highly probable, that the hunger which can make a
creature fatigue, harass and expose himself to danger for every bit he
eats, is more piercing than that which only bids him eat what stands
before him, and which he may have for stooping down. In the second,
it is to be considered, that as beasts of prey have an instinct by
which they learn to crave, trace, and discover those creatures that
are good food for them; so the others have likewise an instinct that
teaches them to shun, conceal themselves, and run away from those
that hunt after them: from hence it must follow, that beasts of prey,
though they could almost eat forever, go yet more often with empty
bellies than other creatures, whose victuals neither fly from nor
oppose them. This must perpetuate as well as increase their hunger,
which hereby becomes a constant fuel to their anger.
If you ask me what stirs up this anger in bulls and cocks that
will fight to death, and yet are neither animals of prey, nor very
voracious, I answer, lust. Those creatures, whose rage proceeds from
hunger, both male and female, attack every thing they can master,
and fight obstinately against all: But the animals, whose fury is
provoked by a venereal ferment, being generally males, exert themselves
chiefly against other males of the same species. They may do mischief
by chance to other creatures; but the main objects of their hatred
are their rivals, and it is against them only that their prowess
and fortitude are shown. We see likewise in all those creatures,
of which the male is able to satisfy a great number of females, a
more considerable superiority in the male, expressed by nature in his
make and features, as well as fierceness, than is observed in other
creatures, where the male is contented with one or two females. Dogs,
though become domestic animals, are ravenous to a proverb, and those
of them that will fight being carnivorous, would soon become beasts
of prey, if not fed by us; what we may observe in them is an ample
proof of what I have hitherto advanced. Those of a true fighting
breed, being voracious creatures, both male and female, will fasten
upon any thing, and suffer themselves to be killed before they give
over. As the female is rather more salacious than the male; so there
is no difference in their make at all, what distinguishes the sexes
excepted, and the female is rather the fiercest of the two. A bull
is a terrible creature when he is kept up, but where he has twenty
or more cows to range among, in a little time he will become as tame
as any of them, and a dozen hens will spoil the best game cock in
England.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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