New-York tribune., 1922-11-19
"Maya the Bee''

THn ADVENTURES oF MAYA THE gTE.
BY waidemar BonselB soitzer
kwN HE pleasures of reading have
ID been justly praised, and chill
# dren are no doubt q blessing.
Ill That is, speaking generally,
K. ard O. e. But, taken to-
gether, IS 1t were, they are sometimes
children can become distinctly an ardu-
GUS task. Tho parent may be deeply
interested in Gibbons decline and
Fall Of tho Roman Empire" and fnd
himself obliged to recite interminably
the history Of Billy Cottontail. A book
, that will give JOY to infancy without
being something OF strain upon the
patience Of The adult who must enun-
ciate 1t is treasure indeed-a rare
treasure. To discover new one is al
most shock. Brace yourself, there
fore, for an introduction to "Maya the
Bee"
It is the oldest combination Of fair2
tale and amiable satire one can imag-
ine Perhaps all the best fairy tales
contain little satire. Like "Clever
Alice" and "Poor Hans" certainly the
constant tin soldier Is toy Don Quix-.
ote. To place Maya in the company of
these is daring thing to do. Maybe it
can't be done really by any one over ten.
When childhood ends ones special pam
theon is complete, the rank Of the i'm
mortals of fancy are closed. But
we'll, try and see il the next generation
will not have admitted Maya. You have
only to read it once aloud to any child
you know and the effort will not be
painful. The sole danger I can foresee
is in being compelled to repeat it too
often.
Maya strikes the note Of originality
Immediately and in her own right and
behalf She is an individualist bee.
Maya had never heard Of DR.. Watts in
dustrious and exemplary insect, and
when her nurse Caesandra-a good
name FOR any nugse--told her the same
thing in prose Maya refused to be-
lieve it. She thought she could i'm
prove each aiming hour in less con-
ventionally beelike manner. Why
wayside flower for some one else to
eat? She wanted to see the world and
express herself. So when she was
taken out by guide for her trial
flight she simply few away on her own
affairs.
She should, OF course. have come to
bad end; but she was a modern, fem
mist sort Of bee. She went through
all manner of adventure practically un-
scathed, though not without meeting
grave perils. She picked up chance
certainly never would have ap-
proved. Even the scavenger beetle she
spoke to. Possibly there is moral in
that episode, for her courtesy to him
was rewarded later, when he saved her
life from the cruel spider. Maya had
a soothering tongue, az we'll as sharp
sting, and used both at need. Manners
are inculcated throughout; the rose
beetle rebuked her for talking with
her mouth full Of nectar. The rose
beetle was something Of a snob,, but
however, is my favorits. He was
poet and insisted on reciting mis- own
poetry, after which he praised it him.
self. He lived on plant lice. When
Maya remarked timidly that that was
unusual he agreed loftily. "Ae q
bourgeoise you would, of course, do
only what ia usual. We poets would
not get very far that way"
Thus lightly the satire is brushed in.
These insects have preposterously hui
man characters, and yet they are in
beetle, for instance, busy at his work of
destroying the forests, says with pride
that he worked all night. you've got
to do something to get somewhere"
But woodpeckers he considered
vicious race. They ate him when they
could get at him, and they worked all
day.
The point is, none Of this comedy is
iabored at length; children, in short,
won't notice it. They will be absorbed
in the actual adventures Of Maya and
leave the moral severely alone---as they
always do. And yet the overtone is
there ali through--enough to amuse
any adult continuously. The transla-
tion is delightfully."- done, even to the
colloquial passages. D. P.