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Porcupine, Snake and Company; The Bear and the Bees

Crane, Walter, 1900, Publisher's print
Porcupine, Snake and Company; The Bear and the Bees
Porcupine, Snake and Company; The Bear and the Bees
Porcupine, Snake and Company; The Bear and the Bees
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Category
Library Item
Item no
40083
Title
Porcupine, Snake and Company; The Bear and the Bees. Illustrated page from 'Baby's Own Aesop'
Description
A porcupine with a snake crawling through its spines is holding open a scroll - and looking towards a nest of snakes. The scroll has drawings and writing on it, two quills still resting beside it. The rhyme reads:
"Porcupine, Snake, and Company

Going shares with the snakes, porcupine
Said - "the best of the bargain is mine:"
Nor would he back down,
When the snakes would disown
The agreement his quills made them sign.

Hasty partnerships may be repented of."

In the lower half of the page a bear stands on its hind legs with one paw resting on a table as it reaches towards an upturned bee skep, swarming with bees. A second skep sits next to it. The rhyme reads:
"The Bear and the Bees

"Their honey I'll have when I please;
Who cares for such small things as bees?"
Said the bear; but the stings
Of these very small things
Left him not very much at his ease.

The weakest united may be strong to avenge."
Artist / maker
Date
1900
Size
17.8 x 18.8 cm
Location
Art and Design Library
Rights and purchasing
Option
Price
Digital FileElectronic file 72 dpi JPEG​
£7.32(inc. VAT 20%)
Digital FileElectronic File 300 dpi TIFF​
£37.20(inc. VAT 20%)
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