in a magazine for young folks. It was merely a fairy
story, and perhaps was not intended to point a moral, but only to amuse
the little ones. It was something on this order:--"

Once upon a time, there lived in an out of the way spot an ancient
decrepit Bee-man. How old he was no one knew; whence he came, no one
could tell: to the memory of the oldest inhabitant he had always lived
in his dirty hut, surrounded by myriads of hives, attended always by a
swarm of bees. He was good to the bits of children, and always ready
with a sweet morsel of honeycomb for them. All his ambitions,
sympathies and hopes were centered in his hives; until one day a fairy
crept into his hut and whispered:

"You have not always been a common bee-man. Once you were something
else."

"Tell me what I was," he asked eagerly.

"Nay, that I cannot do," replied the fairy, "our queen sent me to tell
you this, and if you wished to search for your former self, I am to
assist you. You must search the entire valley, and the first thing you
meet to which you become violently attached, that is what you formerly
were, and I shall give you back your correct form."

So the next morning the Bee-man, strapping his usual hive upon his back,
and accompanied by the fairy in the form of a queen bee, set out upon
his search throughout the valley. At first he became violently attached
to the handsome person and fine castle of the Lord of the Realm, but on
being kicked out of the lord's domains, his love turned to dislike.

The Bee-man and the fairy travelled far and wide and carefully inspected
every thing they met. The very Imp, the Languid young man, the
Hippogriffith, the Thousand Tailed Hippopotamus, and many other types,
until the Bee-man grew weary and was about to give up the search in
disgust.

But suddenly amid all the vast halls of the enchanted domains through
which they were wandering, there sounded shrieks and wails, and the
inmates were thrown into the greatest confusion by the sight of the
hideous hippogriffith dashing through, a million sparks emanating from
his great eyes, his barbed tail waving high in the air, and holding in
his talons a tiny infant.

Now, as soon as the Bee-man saw this, a great wave of sorrow and pity
filled his breast, and he hastily followed the monster, arriving at his
cave just in time to see him preparing to devour his prey. Madly dashing
his hive of bees into the hippogriffith's face, and seizing the infant
while t