|
|
|
Suddenly the scenery became lighter. The windows on the eighth floor were especially large. There was a carpet of soft grass spread out in the wide corridor. I stood before a large set of double doors, trying to peep into the hexagonal queen bee's room in the center. At that moment, "Who's there!" I was taken by surprise by a honeybee that challenged me from behind. On that voice, the doors of the queen bee's room opened a little. A few honeybees gazed at me side by side. The honeybee behind said, "What's your name?" "I am Q." I answered without turning around. Honeybees cannot lie, I supposed. The honeybees behind the doors said one after another, "Q ?" "Room Q is on the third floor, isn't it?" "Q bees do not belong in this area." "We are busy making preparations for the wedding of Her Majesty the Queen." "You had better go back to your room and do your work at once." I simply nodded without saying anything. But honeybees are such good-natured persons, I mean, good-natured bees. When I nodded in response, they became relieved and closed the doors. The honeybee behind me entered the queen bee's room without saying anything. These worker bees are the A and B bees that are responsible for taking care of the queen bee. I made a round of the corridor on the eighth floor. I could see a bright sun shining outside the window. A seemingly endless stream of worker bees were descending on the field in front of the castle. It won't be possible for this story to proceed unless I were able to get a peek of the queen bee's room. At that point, I was wondering what to do when the room became clamorous and the doors opened once again. I was so surprised that I hid under the grass carpet. The nursing honeybees silently entered the corridor with grim expressions on their faces and went down the ladders on the wall. I was soon left very much alone. I think they went down six ladders on the wall of the corridor. "Good. This is my chance." I approached the heavy doors of the queen bee's room and gently tried pushing them. I saw the same soft grass carpet as that in the corridor. The room was large and the ceiling was bright. This was a light streaming through the large ornament of Chinese milk vetch flowers on the top of the castle. The queen bee's room had no chairs or tables or any other kind of furniture. A thick glass column in the center of this room was the only thing I found in the room. I was examining the room for a while. It appeared to be empty.  Where was Her Majesty the Queen?Pondering this, I quietly entered the room and approached the hexagonal column. Inside the glass column there was an elevator. The glass door of the elevator was open wide. At that point, the grass on the carpet beside the wall moved slightly. The queen bee was sleeping on her stomach on the grass with her beautiful wings neatly folded. Around her some attendant bees were quietly waiting on her on the grass. In a panic, I stepped back so as to escape before being caught. Without checking what was behind me, I ended up inside the elevator. The glass door was shut like a curtain. The elevator started to move quietly. I went past the seventh floor. sixth floor. fifth floor, and so on... I wondered if the dark forms beyond the glass column were the rooms of the worker bees. Wow. This honeybee castle is really something.However, this was not the time to be entertaining such idle thoughts. The attendant bees in the upper floor may be in an uproar over the current state of affairs. And if I do descend to the second basement, the nursery bees will be expecting the queen bee and not me to exit the elevator.< what will happen? At a loss over what to do, I started walking in circles inside the large elevator. The hall... the nectar cellar.The elevator finally came to a stop on the nursery floor. The glass door opened quietly. The honeybees working on the tightly arranged honeycombs all looked back at me in unison. I cringed into the smallest possible version of myself and jumped out past the elevator doors in a flash. "Oh, an empty elevator..." someone muttered. "I wonder what happened." "Isn't Her Majesty the Queen now in the midst of preparations for her wedding?" "We must inform the eighth floor immediately." The elevator doors closed while the honeybees were discussing what they should do. I found a narrow passageway between some honeycomb panels and began to sneak away. Anyway, I decided to go back to the place where Q and I parted company.If I were unable to see my partner honeybee Q again, I wouldn't know what to do. Taking care not to let nursery honeybees notice me, I managed to reach the stairs. There were a number of honeybees there as well. They were busily moving back and forth between the nursery and nectar cellar above. I tried not to raise my head and hurriedly ran up the stairs.  Kapa kapa kapaToko ton ton The music started all of a sudden above me. The dance would be starting in the hall. The honeybees working on the nectar cellar quickly gathered at the stairs. All of the areas around me were packed with crowds of honeybees. Even if I were to try to push my way through the crowds to get to the higher level, none of the honeybees would probably think of stepping aside to let me through. The bees might realize then that I was a stranger if I were to get restless and start rustling about. So I decided to be still for a while during the time that I was there. |
|
|
  |
 Next |