|
 Big Bob Bumblebear was the happiest
bumblebear in the land. He spent his day flying among the flowers,
gathering pollen and buzzing away merrily. He had a smile on his face all
day long and never frowned. Whenever Big Bob saw another bumblebear
feeling said, he’d tickle them with flower petals, or tell them a joke,
trying to cheer them up. He didn’t like any bumblebear to feel unhappy.
One day, as Big Bob was buzzing
through the pansies, he was humming and having a wonderful time. He saw
some of the other bumblebears sitting together on the grass. He flew over
to them. They didn’t see him at first. He heard his name. "That Big Bob!
All he does is smile. I am tired of him smiling all the time. He is a pain
in the neck!" Big Bob couldn’t believe his ears. They were saying mean
things about him. All he tried to do was make the other bumblebears happy
and this is what they did; talk bad about him? Big Bob stopped smiling. He
hung his head down and flew over to a patch of spring green grass and sat
down. His antenna fell in front of his face. His wings sagged. He felt
unhappy and very very sad.
 All the other bumblebears stayed
busy most of the day. "Say, where’s Big Bob?" Sally asked.
"I’ve not seen him all day," Davy
answered. "Has anyone seen Big Bob?" Davy went from flower to flower,
asking every bumblebear he saw if they’d seen him.
"I’ve not seen him."
"I don’t know where he is."
"At least we don’t have to listen to
him tell us to smile and be happy."
"It just so happens that I like Big
Bob’s smiles," Davy said to the others. "I enjoy him tickling me with
flower petals and trying to make me happy. I can’t imagine our hive
without Big Bob in it."
The other bumblebears started
feeling sad. They knew they’d said some mean things about him. "Let’s go
and find him. He’s got to be around here somewhere." The bees flew off to
search for their friend.
Sally found him sitting in the
grass, feeling sad. She flew back and got the others. "He doesn’t look
very happy. He’s frowning," she told them. They followed her back to Big
Bob. "See! He’s not his happy self."
"What’s the matter, Big Bob?" Davy
asked. "Why aren’t you smiling?"
"I’m never going to smile again. I
heard some of you talking about me. You called me a pain in the neck and
said you didn’t like to see me smile," he pouted.
"Big Bob, we’re sorry. We didn’t
mean it. We like to see you smile. We like you to tickle us with flower
petals and we especially love your humming."
"Do you mean that?" Big Bob said,
turning around with a smile on his face.
"Yes! We all like to see you smile.
You make us all happy when you smile," Davy said.
"I’ll smile then," Big Bob said. He
was happy. He didn’t like to frown and pout. He liked to smile and buzz
and hum and tickle the other bumblebears.
From then on the others never
complained about Big Bob again, and Big Bob never stopped smiling! |
