Some people, by contrast, have relatively little individuality. But then his identity was strikingly singular to begin with. In the story, the Bee-man’s second development is certainly a reaffirmation of his identity as the Bee-man. Corm orn gord free#But maybe the Bee-man was the result of all his free choices and, having no remorse about his choices the first time around, he simply made all, or almost all, the same choices again. Is the point of the story that genetics determines all? Perhaps. In Stockton’s story the Bee-man become baby again eventually grows up to be the Bee-man again. And there is also, sometimes anyway, a remarkable simplicity and directness in a very old person that makes for a special bond of likeness between, say, a great-grandparent and a great grandchild. There are diminished capacities and there is increasing dependence. Yet becoming old is in itself, often anyway, like becoming a child again. Certainly, to be changed back into a baby would be quite remarkable. But this story presents us, not with a prince that is transformed into a frog, or a frog that is turned into a prince, but an adult who is changed back into a baby. Transformations are hardly unusual in children’s literature. “Upon my word,” the sorcerer exclaimed, ”he has grown up into the same thing again!” There he found an old man in a leather coat eating honey. Years later the sorcerer, now old, returned to the country of Orn. The rescued baby’s mother, grateful for what the Bee-man had done in saving her child, happily agreed to take the changed-back Bee-man as her second baby. The sorcerer willingly satisfied the Bee-man’s desire. Noticing that he was drawn to the form of the baby, the Bee-man announced his belief that he had been transformed from a baby and proclaimed his desire to be changed back. The dragon was at that very moment preparing to devour a young baby when the Bee man, sizing up the situation, rescued the baby and returned it to its mother. On his travels he met an unusual youth, a strange imp, and a ghostly dragon. Confident he would recognize his old form by being drawn to it, the Bee-man wandered far and wide to try to find it. Driven with curiosity, he promptly set out on a great journey to discover his original form. He wondered whether he had once been a giant, a prince, a horse, or a fiery dragon. This news from the young sorcerer greatly troubled the Bee-man. Though he didn’t know the Bee-man’s exact origin, the sorcerer was quite sure that the Bee-man should be changed back into his old form, whatever it was. One day a young sorcerer arrived in Orn and informed the Bee-man that he had been transformed from some other kind of creature, though from what kind of creature the sorcerer did not know. In fact, so intimate was he with his bees that he allowed a swarm of them to make a hive in a pocket of his leather coat he often reached into that pocket and took out a piece of honeycomb for a luncheon snack. Corm orn gord full#In the ancient country of Orn there lived an old man, who, because he inhabited a house full of beehives, was called, quite appropriately, ”the Bee man.” The Bee-man moved freely about his house, ate his meals, and went to sleep, all without the least fear of being stung. Originally published in Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children 7(3): 1. Stockton (New York: Harper and Row, 1986).
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