Originally the human was only
slightly different from the apes he associated with. There was perhaps
only one slight point of superiority; today there are millions of such
points. Man is infinitely superior, now, and it's all because he was
slightly superior, then."
"Suppose we grant that," remarked the geologist. "What then? Does that
explain why the bees have made good on Sanus?"
"To a large degree. Some time in the past the Sanusian bee discovered
that he possessed a certain power which enabled him to force his will
upon other creatures. This power was his poisonous sting. He found that,
when he got his fellows together and formed a swarm, they could attack
any animal in such large numbers as to make it helpless."
"Any creature?"
"Yes; even reptiles, scales or no scales. They'd attack the eyes."
"But that doesn't explain how the bees ever began to make humans work
for them," objected Van Emmon.
The doctor thought for a few minutes. "Let's see. Suppose we assume that
a certain human once happened to be in the neighborhood of a hive, just
when it was attacked by a drove of ants. Ants are great lovers of honey,
you know. Suppose the man stepped among the ants and was bitten.
Naturally he would trample them to death, and smash with his hands all
that he couldn't trample.
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