The Grasshopper Stories | Page 3

little eyes.
"Why don't you give him a nut?" asked the grasshopper.
"That's so!" said Billy. "I will!"
So he threw a nut on the grass. The squirrel picked up the nut, cracked
it with his sharp little teeth and ate it with so much relish that Billy
threw him another and another. When everything was gone, the squirrel
said, "Thank you, little boy. You are very kind!"
"You are welcome," said Billy, and for some reason he felt very happy.
As he and the grasshopper were walking along again, they saw a
beautiful, big butterfly sitting on a tall, yellow poppy. It was quite still.
So Billy said, "That butterfly is asleep! I'm going to put it in my hat and

take it home!"
"He is not asleep!" contradicted the grasshopper. "He has just waked up!
He is waiting for his wings to grow strong, so he can fly. Leave him
here in the sunshine. He would be very unhappy if you took him into
your house!" The grasshopper hopped way out of sight, for this was the
very longest speech he had ever made.
"O, please come back, grasshopper!" called Billy, "and tell me, did the
butterfly sleep on that flower?"
The grasshopper was beside Billy before he had finished speaking. "No,
no!" he replied to Billy's question. "He slept in the little house that he
made for himself before he went to sleep!" The grasshopper looked at
an empty cocoon hanging from a twig of a tree.
"Is that his house?" asked Billy, looking at it very curiously, for he had
never seen anything like it before. The grasshopper nodded his head
and winked an eye.
Just then the butterfly began to move his beautiful yellow and black
wings up and down, very, very slowly.
"Why don't you fly?" asked Billy, "I'm not going to take you home with
me."
"Thank you for leaving me out in the sunshine," said the butterfly, "I
want to fly up to the blue sky very much indeed and, if I wait and work
my wings, they will grow stronger and then I shall be able to fly ever so
high."
[Illustration: "Why don't you fly?"]
Billy sat down on a stone and the grasshopper perched on a blade of
grass.
"Did you know how to fly before you went to sleep?" asked Billy.
"O dear no!" replied the butterfly. "I was only a caterpillar and had to

creep along the earth or on cabbage leaves."
"Only a caterpillar!" gasped Billy. "Then where did you get those
wings?"
"They grew in the night," answered the butterfly, "while I was asleep."
At this the grasshopper began to laugh. He laughed so hard, he had to
hold his sides.
"Why are you laughing, Grasshopper?" asked Billy indignantly.
The grasshopper did not answer him, but said, "Butterfly, do you know
how long you slept in that little house you made for yourself when you
were a caterpillar?"
"How long?" asked the butterfly, who had been working his wings up
and down all this time.
"Many days and many nights, all through the cold winter. The wind
rocked you in your little cradle-house; the rain kept your house nice
and soft; and now, today, the warm, spring sun has waked you up and
soon you will fly!"
At these words, the butterfly pressed his wings down and soared up in
the air, over the trees and far away. "Good-bye," he called out as he
disappeared among the tall trees, "and thank you, little boy!"
"You are welcome," called Billy and then he sat still and silent.
"What's the matter, Billy?" asked the grasshopper.
"I was wishing that I might fly!" said Billy.
"Who knows!" exclaimed the grasshopper. "Perhaps you may some
day!"
"But I can run!" and Billy was off down the road on his way home. The
grasshopper overtook him in one hop. "Shall we stop and pick some

flowers for your mother?" he asked.
"That's so!" said Billy, "we will!"
So they went into a field and began to pick flowers. Billy picked a
daisy and the grasshopper picked a daisy. Billy picked a clover and the
grasshopper picked a clover. Billy picked a bluet and the grasshopper
picked a bluet. Billy picked a wind flower and the grasshopper picked a
wind flower. Then the grasshopper gave his flowers to Billy and Billy
thanked him.
"Now, we must go home," said Billy, so they ran until they came to
Billy's door.
"I am glad you went with me, Grasshopper," said Billy. "Shall we go
again some day?"
"We will go again, some day!" replied the grasshopper, bowing very
low.
"Good-bye," said Billy, as he ran in to give his mother the flowers and
tell her all about his walk. As she smiled and listened to Billy,