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Mother Bee, Mother Bee©
Children's Adaptation of The Queen Bee by the Brothers Grimm
by
Brian J. Donovan
There once was a king who had three sons. He was King of the Southern Rhinoceroses. His older two sons, Stimmy and Stompy, decided to go out into the big world to make lives for themselves. Their little brother, Elvin, stayed home.
After a time, the older brothers found that they didn't like living away from their family. But they did not return home, because they did not want anyone to think they were afraid
.
One day, little Elvin decided to go off to find them. He feared for his older brothers, and wanted to be sure that they were okay. He also wanted to see a bit of the world himself.
The two brothers laughed at him when they saw him, though.
"you're such a puny, little Rhino, Elvin," they laughed. "What makes you think that YOU won't be afraid all alone?"
In spite of the nasty things they said, Elvin stayed with his brothers. After all, they were his only family. So off they went a'traveling.
A short ways down the road, they came upon an ant hill.
Stimmy and Stompy wanted to stomp on it, so they could watch the poor, little ants run for their lives!
But little brother Elvin jumped between them and the ant hill, and threw his arms up into the air.
"No! No! No!" he cried. "Let the poor, little ants be! I will not let you stomp on them!"
"Aw, forget it!" his older brothers replied. "Let's be on our way."
A short ways further down the road, they all came upon a lake where some ducks were swimming.
Stimmy and Stompy wanted to catch a couple of them, and roast them!
But little brother Elvin jumped between them and the lake, and threw his arms up into the air.
"No! No! No!" he cried. "Let the poor, little ducks be! I will not let you roast them!"
"Aw, forget it!" his older brothers replied. "Let's be on our way."
A short ways even further down the road, the three brothers came upon a beehive in the hollow of a tree. They could see that there was so much honey, that it dripped to the ground.
Stimmy and Stompy wanted to light a fire under the tree to drive the bees away. They wanted the honey for themselves.
But little brother Elvin jumped between them and the tree, and threw his arms up into the air.
"No! No! No!" he cried. "Let the poor, little bees alone! I will not let you harm them!"
"Aw, forget it!" his older brothers replied. "Let's be on our way."
Finally, the three brothers came upon a large castle. It wasn't their father's castle, so they must have entered the Kingdom of the Northern Rhinoceroses. There was no one in sight, though.
It was an enchanted castle. Someone had turned everyone--including the King's three daughters--into stone! The three brothers looked through the many rooms in the castle, but saw only statues of people.
They finally came upon a door locked with three locks, and in the next room over, there was an old, gray rhino sitting at a table. Since he was real, the three brothers called to him. No reply.
The three brothers called to him again. Still no reply.
Maybe he was a little hard-of-hearing?
When Stimmy, Stompy and Elvin called to the old rhino a third time, he came out to see them. Without saying a word, he took them to a beautiful table covered with all sorts of things to eat.
"Great!" shouted Stimmy and Stompy. "we're starving!"
After the scrumptious meal, the old rhino took the brothers each to a bedchamber, so they could get a good night's sleep.
The next morning, the old rhino returned and took the eldest brother to a marble table. On it, Stimmy saw three tablets of stone. The three tablets told of how to disenchant the castle, and bring everybody back to life again.
The first tablet read:
Are hidden one hundred shiny pearls
Of the King of the North's daughters...
You must find them all, before the setting of the sun,
Or he who seeks them will turn into stone,
And his quest will surely be done.
"I have to find one hundred pearls? Is that all?" asked the eldest son. He went off to the woods right away to find them.
Unfortunately, evening came, and Stimmy still hadn't found more than twenty pearls. So, he turned into stone!
The next day, the old rhino brought the second brother, Stompy, to the three tablets.
Stompy searched, but unfortunately evening came, and he'd only found thirty of the one hundred pearls. So he, too, turned into stone!
At last, it was the youngest brother's turn to try. Elvin looked around the mosses for the pearls, but he had so much trouble finding all of them.
He was so tired and upset, that he just sat down on a stone and cried.
As he cried aloud, "Boo hoo hoo," the King of the Ants came strolling by. He remembered that Elvin was the brave rhino who'd saved some of his fellow ants. So, he offered to help however he could.
In fact, one hundred ants came to help! And they found all one hundred pearls in no time at all. Elvin thanked them, and ran off to read the second stone tablet.
Now, the second tablet read:
Have been hidden at the bottom of the lake;
To retrieve them from where they've been resting
You must fish them out without a mistake...
When Elvin arrived at the lake, he saw some ducks. They were the ducks whose lives he'd saved earlier. They were so grateful, that when Elvin told them everything, they dove straight to the bottom of the lake and found the three keys. He thanked the ducks with all his heart, and ran off to read the third tablet.
The third task was the hardest of them all, for the King of the North had three daughters. The King's daughters weren't statues of stone, but they were didn't move. The third stone tablet said that Elvin had to choose the youngest daughter.
But how was he to know this? They all looked exactly alike! They couldn't even talk to help him choose. The tablet gave only three clues to help:
2) The middle daughter likes to eat sweet maple syrup.
3) The youngest daughter likes to eat spoonfuls of honey.
So, the youngest liked to eat spoonfuls of honey, and the youngest was the one Elvin needed to choose, therefore, he had to figure out which one had eaten some honey.
But how was he to do that?
Just as Elvin began to cry, "Boo hoo hoo," the Queen of the Bees came buzzing along. She was known throughout the Land as Mother Bee, as she was so wise and helpful to all.
"Why are you so sad, little rhino?" she asked.
"Oh Mother Bee, Mother Bee," Elvin cried. "I'm so sad because I must choose the youngest of the king's daughters. She's the one who likes to eat honey. If I don't choose correctly, I'll be turned into stone!"
"Oh, that's easy for me to tell," said Mother Bee. "Since you saved my children's lives once, I will help you."
Elvin stopped crying. He remembered the poor bees his brother wanted to harm.
Mother Bee flew to the lips of each of the daughters. She tried one. Then she tried another.
Finally, she landed on the lips of the daughter who had eaten some honey. Elvin knew who was the youngest. He would not turn into stone, after all.
"I choose you," he said to the youngest daughter.
Suddenly, the spell was broken! Everyone who had turned into marble, turned back to normal.
Elvin, the youngest son of the King of the Southern Rhinos, had broken the spell on the castle. As a reward, he married Petunia, the youngest daughter of the King of the North. He eventually became a King, just like his father.
And what of his mean brothers, Stimmy and Stompy? What happened to them?
No, they didn't stay statues of stone forever! Even though they'd been bad, when Elvin broke the spell, the two brothers were saved, too. They promised to be good, and married the other two princesses.
King Elvin--who used to be puny, little Elvin, lived happily ever after with his big brothers and the three princesses .
