ual fact:
and let us see how, in following it out, we shall pass through almost
every possible form of superstition.

Suppose a great hollow tree, in which the formidable wasps of the tropics
have built for ages. The average savage hurries past the spot in mere
bodily fear; for if they come out against him, they will sting him to
death; till at last there comes by a savage wiser than the rest, with
more observation, reflection, imagination, independence of will--the
genius of his tribe.

The awful shade of the great tree, added to his terror of the wasps,
weighs on him, and excites his brain. Perhaps, too, he has had a wife or
a child stung to death by these same wasps. These wasps, so small, yet
so wise, far wiser than he: they fly, and they sting. Ah, if he could
fly and sting; how he would kill and eat, and live right merrily. They
build great towns; they rob far and wide; they never quarrel with each
other: they must have some one to teach them, to lead them--they must
have a king. And so he gets the fancy of a Wasp-King; as the western
Irish still believe in the Master Otter; as the Red Men believe in the
King of the Buffalos, and find the bones of his ancestors in the Mammoth
remains of Big-bone Lick; as the Philistines of Ekron--to quote a
notorious instance--actually worshipped Baal-zebub, lord of the flies.

If they have a king, he must be inside that tree, of course. If he, the
savage, were a king, he would not work for his bread, but sit at home and
make others feed him; and so, no doubt, does the wasp-king.

And when he goes home he will brood over this wonderful discovery of the
wasp-king; till, like a child, he can think of nothing else. He will go
to the tree, and watch for him to come out. The wasps will get
accustomed to his motionless figure, and leave him unhurt; till the new
fancy will rise in his mind that he is a favourite of this wasp-king: and
at last he will find himself grovelling before the tree, saying--"Oh
great wasp-king, pity me, and tell your children not to sting me, and I
will bring you honey, and fruit, and flowers to eat, and I will flatter
you, and worship you, and you shall be my king."

And then he would gradually boast of his discovery; of the new mysterious
bond between him and the wasp-king; and his tribe would believe him, and
fear him; and fear him still more when he began to say, as he surely
would, not merely--"I can ask the wasp-king, and he will tell his
chil