Of course the old bee did not answer such nonsense, but went on to the others. From every side they were calling out for more food, and the little grub could hear it all. "It is hard, though," she thought, "that we should have to be so hungry." And then she knocked on the princess's wall and called to her, "Give me a little of your honey. Let me come into your chamber. I am lying here so hungry, and I am just as good as you." "Are you? Just you wait till I am a reigning queen," said the princess. "You may be sure that when that time comes I shall not forget your impertinence." But she had scarcely said this before the other princesses began to cry out in the most dreadful manner. "_You're_ not going to be queen! _I_ shall be queen! _I_ shall be queen!" they shrieked all together, and they began to knock on the walls and make a frightful disturbance. The head bee-nurse came running up in an instant and opened the doors. "What are your graces' orders?" she asked, dropping a curtsy and scraping the ground with her feet. "More honey!" they shouted, all in one voice. "But me first--me first. I am the one who is to be queen." "In a moment, in a moment, your graces," she answered, and ran off as fast as her six legs could carry her. She soon came back with many other bees. They were dragging ever so much honey, which they crammed down the cross little princesses' throats. And then they got them to hold their tongues and lie still and rest. But the little grub lay awake, thinking over what had happened. She longed so much for some honey that she began to shake the door again. "Give me some honey! I can't stand it any longer. I am just as good as the others." The old bee tried to hush her. "Hold your tongue, little bawler! The queen's coming." And at the same moment the queen bee came. "Go your ways," she said to the bees; "I wish to be alone." For a long time she stood in silence before the princesses' chambers. "Now they are lying there asleep," she said at last. "From morning till evening they do nothing but eat and sleep, and they grow bigger and fatter every day. In a few days they will be full grown, and will creep out of their cells. Then my turn will be over. I know that too well. I have heard the bees saying to one another that they would like to have a younger and more beautiful queen, and they will chase me away in disgrace. But I will not submit to it. To-morrow I will kill them all; then I can remain queen till I die." Then she went away. But the little grub had heard all she said. "Dear me!" she thought; "it is really a pity about the little princesses. They are certainly very uppish, and they have not been nice to me, but still it would be sad if the wicked queen killed them. I think I will tell the old growler outside in the passage all about it." She began once more knocking at the door, and the head bee-nurse came running up, but this time she was fearfully angry.