The Queen Bee, and Other Nature Stories

"Oh, I know what I will do," he cried suddenly. "I will creep into the swallow's nest and sleep there to-night, then I can dream that I am a swallow."

And he did so, and dreamt all night that he was flying over hill and dale, over land and sea, all the way to Italy. He thought he was so light, so free, and his wings carried him as straight as an arrow through the air. It was the most delightful dream he had ever had.

After this he crept every evening into the swallow's nest, and lay there till ever so late in the morning. When he came out, he sat crunched up on the ridge of the roof or in the bare lime tree. If the gardener's wife had not thrown out some crumbs to him now and then, he would certainly have starved to death. For he didn't care a rap about anything; he merely longed for the evening to come, so that he could dream again. Every evening he dreamt the same thing, but he never grew tired of it.

"This is nearly as good as actually going with them," he thought. "If only I could dream in the daytime in the same way."

But in time his head got quite muddled, and he paid no attention to anything.

Little by little the winter was slipping away, and now it was gone altogether. The days grew longer, and there was more warmth in the sunshine.

"What! are you still here?" said the sun. And he stared so hard at the snow that at last it grew quite bashful, and melted away and sank into the earth.

"Wait a moment," said the cloud to the sun; "we must have a thorough cleaning before your turn comes."

So it fell like a sousing rain on the earth, washing the leaves of the trees and bushes, and collecting into quite a little lake on the ice.

"Now I am coming! now I am coming!" said the real lake, which lay below, under the ice.

It heaved its breast, and with a great sigh the roof of ice burst, and all the little scales began hopping and dancing like boys who have escaped from school.

Then the sun broke out from the cloud, and a thousand little green shoots peeped up from the earth.

"Lend me your wings," said the winter to the storm; "I must be off."

And away it flew to the cold lands right away in the north, where there is winter always.

At last a message came from my Lady Spring that now they might expect her any day.

The only person who saw nothing of what was going on was the sparrow. The whole day he lay there in the swallow's nest, only flying out for a quarter of an hour to take a little bit of food. He hadn't the least idea that it was now going to be summer again. He had grown quite silly, and imagined that he was the swallow.

But one day the swallow came back.

"Chee! chee!" he peeped; "is everything in order to receive us?"

This is what he wished first of all to see about, and so he flew all day long over cornfield and meadow.

"There are not many gnats here yet, but they may still come," he said in the evening when he came home.

Then he peeped into the starlings' box to say "How-do" to his neighbours; but it chanced that at the moment there was no one at home, so he got ready to go to bed.

But when he was going to creep into his nest he noticed there was somebody there already.

"What's this?" he said. "Who has taken the liberty to borrow my nest?"

"It is not yours," said the sparrow, who was lying there. "I am the swallow, and I have just come home from Africa. You may take my word for it, it was delightful there. I have heaps of things to tell you."

The swallow sat for a moment quite speechless. Then he screamed out in a furious passion, —

"You may take my word for it, I shall have something to say to you, you wretched sparrow! I might have guessed it was you who had the impudence to steal my nest. I noticed you were a little cracked even last year. Now, look sharp and come out of that. At once, I say!"

But it was no good the swallow's screaming and threatening. The sparrow was quite sure that he was in the right. He went on telling the swallow how he had just come home from Africa, and was so tired he really must have a quiet time to sleep.

"I will have my revenge," said the swallow as he flew away.

And there in the nest the sparrow lay asleep, dreaming of the warm, delightful land with all the gnats and flies and cherries.

He was still lying fast asleep when, in the middle of the night, the swallow came back. He had filled his broad bill with mud, and quite quietly began to wall up the hole into the nest. To and fro he flew the whole night long, and by the time the sun rose the hole was quite closed up.

"Now he's happy," thought the swallow, as he began to build himself a new nest.

Three days later the swallow and the starling met in the meadow. They said, "How do you do?" and told each other all they had gone through since they last saw one another.

"The most remarkable thing comes last," said the swallow. "Just fancy! When I came home I found the sparrow had taken my nest, and I could not get him to come out."

"Well, I never!" cried the starling. "What on earth did you do to him?"

"Come and see," answered the swallow.

They both flew off to the nest, and the swallow told him how he had taken his revenge. Then they pecked a hole with their bills, and out fell the poor sparrow to the ground quite dead.

"It serves him right," said the swallow.

And the starling nodded, for he thought so too.

But the chaffinch and the tomtit stood below on the ground and gazed at the dead bird.

"Poor sparrow!" said the chaffinch. "I am sorry for him."

"He couldn't expect a better fate," said the tomtit. "He was ambitious; and that is what one has no right to be when one is only a sparrow."

THE END

notes

1

An inconspicuous flower which in Denmark is very fragrant in the evening, the "night-smelling rocket" (Hesperis tristis).