Providence-An Apologue.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 142, 16 June 1906, Page 10

Providence-An Apologue.

The other evening I was a little late in going down to dinner, and this was the reason : I noticed a number of dead bees lying on the floor of the lookout where lam accustomed to work — a sight that I encounter every spring. The poor things had come in through the open window. When the windows were closed they found themselves prisoners. -Unable to see the transparent obstacle, they hurled themselves against the glass panes on all sides, east, north, south, and west, until at last they fell to the floor exhausted, and died. But, yesterday, I noticed among the bees, a great drone, much stronger than 'the bees, who was far from being dead, the fine fellqw ; who, in fact, was very much alive and', was dashing himself against the panes with all his might, like the great beast that he was. "Ah! my friend," said I, "it would have been an evil day for you had I not come to the rescue. You would have been done for, my fine fellow ; before nightfall you would be lying dead, and on coming, upstairs, in the evening with my lamp, I would have found your poor little corpse among those of the other bees." Come, now, like the Emperor Titus I shall mark the' day by a good deed : let uu save the| insect's life. Perhaps in the eyea of God a drone is a valuable as a -man, and without any doubt ifc is more valuable than a prince. I threw open the window, and, by means of a napkin, began chasing the insect toward it y but the drone persisted in flying in the opposite direction. 1 then tried to capture it by throwing the napkin over it. When the drone saw that I wished to capture it, it lost its head completely ; it bounded furiously against the glass panes, as though it would smash them, took a fresh 6tart and dashed itself again and again against the glass. Finally it flew the whole length of the apartment, maddened and desperate. "Ah, you tyrant!" it buzzed. '•Despot! you would deprive me of liberty 1 Cruel executioner, why do you not leave me alon\»? I am happy, and why do j'ou persecute me?" After trying very hard, I brought it down, and, in seizing it with the napkin, I involuntarily hurt ii. Oh, how it tried to avenge itself! It darted out its sting ; its little nervous body, contracted by my fingers, strained itself with all its strength in an attempt to stihg me. But I ignored its protestations, and stretching my hand out the window, opened the napkin. For a moment the drone seemed stunned, astonished ; then it calmly took flight out into the infinite. Well, you see how I saved the drone. I was its Providence. But (and here is the moral of my story) do we not, stupid drones that %ye are, conduct ourselves in the same manner toward the providence of God? We have our petty and absurd projects, our small and narrow views, our rash designs, whose accomplishment is either impossible or injurious to ourselves. Seeing no farther than our noses and with our eyes fixed on our immediate aim, we plunge ahead in our blind infatuation, like madmen. We would succeed, we would triumph ; that is to say, we would break our heads against an invisible obstacle. And when God, who sees all and who wishes to save us, upsets our .designs, we stupidly cotnploin against Him, we accuse His providence. We do not comprehend that in punishing us, in overturning our plans and causing us suffering, He is doing all this to deliver us, to open the Infinite to us. — Translated from Victor Huro's posthumous work, "La Derniere Gerbe,"