The Hornets and the Bees by Jean de La Fontaine

Name: The Hornets and the Bees
Author: Jean de La Fontaine

A disputed honey-comb is claimed by hornets after they find it, but the bees bring the case before a wasp, insisting that it belongs to them. The judge cannot decide, since witnesses have seen brown, buzzing creatures near the comb, and both bees and hornets resemble that description. A further hearing, including testimony from an ant-hill, brings no greater certainty. A sensible bee protests that the dispute has consumed months while the honey is wasted and the parties suffer expense. He proposes that the bees and hornets should each work, so that everyone may see who can make the cells and produce the honey. The hornets shrink from the test, revealing that such work exceeds their skill. The wasp therefore recognizes the bees' rightful claim and awards them the honey. The fable argues that true ownership and merit should be proved by work rather than prolonged assertions and legal pleadings. It wishes that lawsuits among people could be settled quickly and sensibly, instead of becoming costly affairs in which the court consumes the wealth at stake while the parties are left with empty shells.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Animal Tale · 560 words

First lines

"The artist by his work is known. " -- / A piece of honey-comb, one day, / Discover'd as a waif and stray, / The hornets treated as their own. / Their title did the bees dispute, / And brought before a wasp the suit. / The judge was puzzled to decide, / For nothing could be testified / Save that around this honey-comb / There had been seen, as if at home, / Some longish, brownish, buzzing creatures, / Much like the bees in wings and features. / But what of that? for marks the same, / The hornets, too, could truly claim. / Between assertion, and denial, / The wasp, in doubt, proclaim'd new trial; / And, hearing what an ant-hill swore, / Could see no clearer than before. / 'What use, I pray, of this expense? ' / At last exclaim'd a bee of sense. / 'We've labour'd months in this affair, / And now are only where we were. / Meanwhile the honey runs to waste: / 'Tis time the judge should show some haste. / The parties, sure, have had sufficient bleeding, / Without more fuss of scrawls and pleading. / Let's set ourselves at work, these drones and we, / And then all eyes the truth may plainly see, / Whose art it is that can produce / The magic cells, the nectar juice. ' / The hornets, flinching on their part, / Show that the work transcends their art. / The wasp at length their title sees, / And gives the honey to the bees. / Would God that suits at laws with us / Might all be managed thus! / That we might, in the Turkish mode, / Have simple common sense for code! / They then were short and cheap affairs, / Instead of stretching on like ditches, / Ingulfing in their course all riches, -- / The parties leaving for their shares, / The shells (and shells there might be moister) / From which the court has suck'd the oyster.[1][2]

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The Hornets and the Bees is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1668 CE.

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Work type: Fable
Author: Jean de La Fontaine
Date: 1668 CE
Language: English
Genres: Fable, Didactic Literature, Animal Tale, Allegory, Satire
Length: 560 words
Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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Similar titles

Genres

Fable — The poem uses speaking animals in a brief allegorical dispute and ends with an explicit moral about proving ownership through useful work rather than legal argument.
Didactic Literature — Its central purpose is instruction: it condemns wasteful litigation, praises practical evidence, and advocates common sense in judgment.
Animal Tale — Bees, hornets, a wasp, and ants act as human-like legal parties, witnesses, and judges while retaining traits associated with their natural roles.
Allegory — The conflict over honey represents human lawsuits, with the insects standing for litigants, judges, lawyers, and productive workers.