Johnnie Jones and the Butterfly
"Be careful! Don't step on that caterpillar," said Mother.
"Why not?" asked Johnnie Jones. "It's such an ugly caterpillar."
"It can't help being ugly," Mother answered, "and besides some day it will be a beautiful butterfly."
"Really?" Johnnie Jones asked, much surprised. Then Mother told him a story about a caterpillar and a butterfly.
Once upon a time, a little caterpillar was crawling slowly up a tree. "Oh! dear," he said to himself, "I wish I had wings like the birds, and could fly away to the top of a tree, instead of having to crawl slowly about."
A beautiful butterfly was resting a moment near by and heard what the little caterpillar said, "How would you like to be a beautiful butterfly such as I am," she asked him, "and go flying about all day, sipping honey from the flowers?"
"I should like it very much indeed," he answered, "but you see I am only an ugly little caterpillar who can do nothing but crawl, and I have to be very careful to avoid being stepped upon."
"I'll tell you a lovely secret,"
Whispered the butterfly.
"Next summer you will surely be
As beautiful as I,
"Because my gauzy wings you see,
Are very, very new.
A caterpillar once was I
And crawled about like you."
The ugly little caterpillar did not believe the beautiful butterfly. He just laughed.
"Oh!" said the lovely butterfly,
"All that I say is true.
But you can't stay there very long,
There's work for you to do.
"To the very top of this big tree
You must begin to go,
Because all little crawling things,
They are so very slow.
"There you must even change your skin
Till it becomes dark brown.
And you must spin a rope of silk
To tie you tightly down.
"You will sleep through the long cold winter,
When the icy winds do blow.
You will sleep through the long cold winter,
When everywhere there's snow.
"But by and by, in the spring-time,
How happy you will be!
For you will wake and find yourself
A butterfly like me!
"Then work on, crawling little thing,"
Whispered the butterfly,
"For winter's coming very fast,
And so good-by, good-by."
The little caterpillar thought: "How could I possibly turn into a butterfly? I have seen other caterpillars tie themselves to twigs, but they always seemed very foolish to me."
However, that little caterpillar wanted more than anything else in the world to become a butterfly, so he decided to try. He crawled slowly up the tree until he found a branch that suited him exactly. Then he selected a twig and spun about it a soft resting place of silk. He spun a soft silken loop, too, with which he tied himself to the twig.
Very soon he lost all his bright color, and became as brown as the twig itself. If you had seen him, you would probably have thought he was nothing but a small brown leaf. When the cold, snowy days came, the little caterpillar knew nothing whatever about them, for he was fast asleep.
At last, after a long, long winter, there began to be signs of spring. Soon, soft warm little rain drops began to fall on the chrysalis (for that is what we call the sleeping caterpillar), whispering: "Spring is coming and it's time to awake!" Soon, soft warm little sunbeams began to dance on the chrysalis, whispering: "Spring is almost here, it is time to awake!" Soon soft, warm little breezes began to blow the chrysalis about, whispering: "Spring is here, and it is time to awake!"
Then, at last, the little caterpillar did awake. He slowly broke away his old dried skin and the silk fastenings which he had spun so many months before, and he crawled out in the sunshine, wet and still drowsy after his long sleep. After a while he became warm and dry, and wide awake in the bright sunlight, and then, suddenly, he felt that he had wings! He looked in a rain-drop mirror, and there he saw himself a beautiful butterfly.
Don't you think he must have been very proud and happy, as he spread his wings and flew away to sip the honey from the flowers, and to play with all the other butterflies, knowing that he would never again have to crawl about on the ground?
"Oh! Mother dear," said Johnnie Jones, "let's take this caterpillar home, so I can watch it turn into a butterfly."
Mother considered his idea a good one, so they carried the caterpillar home on a twig, with many leaves from the tree towards which it had been crawling. When they reached the house they placed twigs, leaves and caterpillar in a glass jar, with netting over the top.
"We shall have to give it fresh leaves every day," Mother said, "until it has eaten enough and goes to sleep. We can watch it carefully through this glass jar."
Johnnie Jones knelt down beside the jar and whispered: "Ugly little caterpillar, if you will tie yourself to that branch, and change your skin, and go to sleep, next spring you will wake a beautiful butterfly."
When he spread his wings and flew away—
Johnnie Jones was sure the caterpillar heard what he said, because it went to sleep just as it was told. All winter long the little boy watched it, and one day, in the early spring, really saw it come out a gorgeous butterfly. When it spread its bright wings and flew away, I wonder which was happier, the butterfly or Johnnie Jones.