"Was you ever bit by a dead bee? You know, you got to be careful of dead bees if you're goin' around barefooted, 'cause if you step on them they can sting you just as bad as if they was alive, especially if they was kind of mad when they got killed."
So said Walter Brennan, playing Eddie in the 1944 Howard Hawks film loosely based on the Hemingway novel To Have and Have Not--a line not in the novel itself, but added by William Faulkner during his brief unhappy stint as a Hollywood screenwriter.
Never thought much about it, till last night, when I was stung by a dead bee. A wasp, actually. Worse than any old common bee. I had seen the thing earlier, lying there on the floor, but paid little attention to it. Something to be swept up in due time. But on the way to bed, barefoot, I stepped on the critter and Yup, I'll be damned if it didn't sting me (or bite me, as Walter put it). And damn did it hurt! Ever been bit by a wasp before? If not, don't bother. Not a happy experience at all.
There is a wasp hive just nearby in the parking bay, quite near my door, and I have noticed them buzzing around in considerable numbers for the last couple weeks, often enough floating through the open door. They are much smaller than western style wasps and they had not heretofore interfered with me. I do note that the dog was stung several times, but that's 'cause he was trying to eat them. A lot of lip smacking and tongue lapping when this happened, but he still didn't seem to mind all that much. For me, though, it felt like someone had stuck a steel pin right into the bottom of my foot. And the pain lasted perhaps 15 minutes.
Quite a lot has been written about that line. It may be the most interesting thing about the film, not to mention the novel. Although I'm not sure why. Was you ever bit by a dead bee? It is somehow a thoughtworthy question, metaphorically anyway. And now I know how it feels in fact as well!
So said Walter Brennan, playing Eddie in the 1944 Howard Hawks film loosely based on the Hemingway novel To Have and Have Not--a line not in the novel itself, but added by William Faulkner during his brief unhappy stint as a Hollywood screenwriter.
Never thought much about it, till last night, when I was stung by a dead bee. A wasp, actually. Worse than any old common bee. I had seen the thing earlier, lying there on the floor, but paid little attention to it. Something to be swept up in due time. But on the way to bed, barefoot, I stepped on the critter and Yup, I'll be damned if it didn't sting me (or bite me, as Walter put it). And damn did it hurt! Ever been bit by a wasp before? If not, don't bother. Not a happy experience at all.
There is a wasp hive just nearby in the parking bay, quite near my door, and I have noticed them buzzing around in considerable numbers for the last couple weeks, often enough floating through the open door. They are much smaller than western style wasps and they had not heretofore interfered with me. I do note that the dog was stung several times, but that's 'cause he was trying to eat them. A lot of lip smacking and tongue lapping when this happened, but he still didn't seem to mind all that much. For me, though, it felt like someone had stuck a steel pin right into the bottom of my foot. And the pain lasted perhaps 15 minutes.
Quite a lot has been written about that line. It may be the most interesting thing about the film, not to mention the novel. Although I'm not sure why. Was you ever bit by a dead bee? It is somehow a thoughtworthy question, metaphorically anyway. And now I know how it feels in fact as well!
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