Joseph, The Great Servant

CHAPTER 2. JOSEPH AND THE BEES

CHAPTER 2. JOSEPH AND THE BEES

On another occasion when he was ten years old, Joseph climbed a hill near his home and found a bees’ nest hanging from a tree. On seeing it, he thought to himself, "I would really like to get to the sweet honey inside, but as soon as I get close to the nest, the bees will definitely sting me. What I’ll have to do is to let them sting someone else, and when the bees become tired and worn out, I'll be able to get to the honey inside."

While he was thinking this, a man came walking by. Joseph said rather haughtily to him,

"Excuse me my good man, could you grab hold of that bees’ nest in the tree and bring it down for me?”

“I’ll tell you what,” said the man recognising who Joseph was, “seeing as you’re the heir to the throne, you can go first, then I’ll see how it’s done and I’ll know how to do it in future” and then the man left laughing his head off.

On seeing that the trick had not worked, the boy thought, "I’ll never get to the honey by using people to draw out the bees, but I think I might do better if I used an animal."

And while he was thinking this, he saw a shepherd nearby who was tending his flock of sheep. So, he approached him and said,

“Can I borrow one of your sheep and return it later?”

On listening to the boy’s request, the shepherd thought that one as young as he wouldn’t be capable of doing any harm to any of his sheep, and because he knew who Joseph was, he answered,

"Sure, take it with you, but be sure to bring it back to me just as you’ve found it. If not, you’ll have to pay for it.”

Joseph agreed, and he took the sheep and put it under the hanging bees’ nest. From a distance he threw stones at the bees’ nest until it fell from the tree and landed right next to the sheep.

At the sight of so many bees coming out of the nest, the sheep started to run back towards the rest of the flock with the whole swarm of bees following behind.

In the meantime, Joseph picked up the bees’ nest with a stick and carried it to where it would be hidden out of sight in a nearby fallen tree. As he was finishing this task, the shepherd came running over to him with such an angry expression on his face that it looked as if he was going to hit the boy. However, on realising that the boy thought nothing was wrong, the shepherd stopped in front of him and asked,

"Highness, how is it that the sheep you borrowed has come back with a swarm of bees chasing it; a swarm which then proceeded to sting us all.”

“To tell you the truth good shepherd, I was quite some distance away from the sheep when I saw that it suddenly set off running with a large swarm of bees following behind it. Before I could do anything about it, both the sheep and the bees were out of sight. I was so worried because I thought it must have gone astray and gotten lost, and then there wouldn’t be any way of bringing it back to you. However, all’s well that ends well and I now see it has come back to you. So, my good man, tell me what’s happened?” asked the boy seemingly all innocent.

The shepherd, still smarting from the many bee stings he had received, told him,

"It would be better your Highness, if I leave the matter for another day. Right now, I must go and gather my flock back together as they’ve scattered everywhere" and so the shepherd left shouting and cursing loudly for what had happened to him.

Of course, if he had found out that the boy was to blame, Joseph would have received a good spanking, whether he was a prince or not.

As soon as the shepherd had left, Joseph approached the bees’ nest, but it still had a few bees swarming around it. He thought to himself, "If I grab hold of the bees’ nest now, the few bees that remain will sting me. I’ll have to take it somewhere else and use smoke to flush out the rest of the bees if I am to taste that sweet honey." Using a long stick, he speared the bees’ nest with one end of the stick, put the other end on his shoulder and carried it off without the remaining bees stinging him.

On returning home, he called to his mother, but as soon as she saw the bees’ nest and the remaining bees, she became frightened, asking,

“How on earth did you manage to get hold of that?”

“Well mother, while I was on my way home, I came across this bees’ nest. So, I pushed this stick into it, picked it up and carried it here on my shoulder. I brought it here so that I could eat the delicious honey inside. Most of the bees that were in it must have left. That’s all I know," the boy replied.

Everyone said that something extraordinary must have happened and that there must be more to this story, but nothing more was known until a few days later when the shepherd appeared. He told everyone about what the boy had done, at which point, they all burst out laughing; everyone that is, except the shepherd. All he wanted to do was to grab hold of the boy and shake him for the dirty trick he had played on him, as the shepherd was still covered in bee stings all over his hands and face. However, Joseph’s mother shielded her son from receiving a spanking, and so, Joseph went unpunished.