
A SYRUP OF THE BEES - TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT - BY F. W. BAIN
PREFACE
I. A TWILIGHT EPIPHANY
II. AN INCOMPLETE OBLIVION - I
III. A DISJUNCTIVE CONJUNCTION - I
The opening drifts on a honeyed lyric, where love is likened to wine and jealousy to a bitter lees that lingers in the air. A wandering voice follows a trail of buzzing bees, mango trees, and a dying moon‑flower, hinting at a restless heart caught between desire and doubt. The prose feels like a dream‑song, inviting listeners to taste the sweet sting of memory and longing.
Soon the narrative turns to a vivid portrait of the Indian “Widyádhara,” shape‑changing sky‑wanderers who embody both magic and mischief. Their capricious nature is set against ancient ideas of caste, trust, and the poisonous roots of jealousy, offering a mythic lens on human folly. As the story unfolds, the listener is drawn into a world where fairy‑tale wisdom collides with the fierce passions of ordinary lives, promising a richly atmospheric journey through imagination and moral insight.
Language
en
Duration
~2 hours (137K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
2011-04-21
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1863–1940
Best known for lush, dreamlike tales he presented as translations from Sanskrit, this late-Victorian writer blended romance, fantasy, and an imagined India into stories unlike most fiction of his time. His work still stands out for its ornate style and its air of mystery.
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