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BUZZ A BUZZ
OR THE BEES
DONE INTO ENGLISH FROM
THE GERMAN OF WM. BUSCH.
AUTHOR OF "MY BEE BOOK"
LONDON
GRIFFITH & FARRAN
CHESTER
PHILLIPSON & GOLDER
Buzz a Buzz
or
The Bees
Done freely into
English
BY THE AUTHOR
[Illustration]
OF MY BEE BOOK
from the German
of
Wilhelm Busch.
LONDON: GRIFFITH & FARRAN.
CHESTER: PHILLIPSON & GOLDER.
Preface.
EXPLANATORY.
I must say a few words in explanation of the somewhat novel form which
my new "Bee-Book" has taken, and which, doubtless, will be a surprise to
the many Bee-Friends who are waiting with exemplary patience for the
second edition of my original "Bee-Book," soon about to appear after an
interval of thirty years from the publication of the first edition.
I happened last year to be at the Cologne Station, waiting for the
train, and employed my spare time in looking over the book stall for
something to read on my way to Aix-la-Chapelle. The stall was covered
with books about the late War. I had returned from a visit to the Battle
Fields of 1870, and was sick of the subject. I wanted something of a
more peaceful nature, and I was turning away, without making a purchase,
when a book met my eye entitled _Schnurrdiburr_. What that might mean I
knew not, but the second title, _oder die Bienen_, was intelligible, and
had attraction enough for me. I opened it, and saw it was profusely
illustrated with very comical cuts. I paid my Thaler and carried away my
prize.
The cuts are reproduced in the book which my readers have in their
hands. The verses were written up to the pictures rather than translated
from the German text; for alas! my German is very limited; enough for
travelling purposes, but hardly enough to enable me to read a Bee-Book
either serious or comical.