New National Fourth Reader Part 54

ac quired', _gained_.

mi'cro scope, _a gla.s.s so formed as to make small_ _objects appear large_.

slug'gish, _slow; stupid_.

in spect'ing, _looking at with attention_.

com posed', _made up_.

se'ries, _a number of things in order_.

stub'bed, _short and thick_.

dis turbed', _interfered with_.

THE CATERPILLAR AND b.u.t.tERFLY.

Last summer, when the trees were covered with green leaves, and when the little stream was sparkling and dancing in the sun, there appeared in the garden, a large caterpillar of many colors, and about as pretty as a caterpillar could be.

All day long it was nibbling the green leaves, and leaf after leaf disappeared before it with wonderful rapidity. It seemed to live only for eating.

As autumn came on, it quite lost its appet.i.te; so much so, that even the tenderest and most juicy leaves could not tempt it to eat any more. It grew dull and stiff, and lost all interest in life.

Feeling that some change was about to happen, it crawled into a little hole in the old garden wall. It wrapped itself up in a cobweb, and fell into a long sleep, during which it became changed from a caterpillar into a dried-up, dead-looking grub or chrysalis.

It remained in this state through all the long winter, till the snow and frost had gone, and the cold March winds were over.

In April the trees burst forth with their bright green leaves, and the gra.s.s looked fresh under the power of the warm rains.

In May the many-tinted flowers appeared, filling the air with their sweetness, and brightening the fields and gardens with their gay colors.

At this time another great change came over the old grub. It showed signs of life again; but it was now no longer a caterpillar--it was something else.

It wriggled and turned in its narrow little home, and seemed anxious to get out and look at the suns.h.i.+ne and flowers. It b.u.mped its head up and down until it succeeded in pus.h.i.+ng off a little door.

When the door was off, and the bright sunlight shone in, this little occupant of the chrysalis took a look at itself.

It saw that during its long winter's nap, it had acquired a pair of beautiful wings, and its legs had grown longer and stronger than they were before.

Crawling out of the chrysalis, and taking a position on a branch of the tree, it discovered that instead of a caterpillar, it was now a beautiful b.u.t.terfly.

It was a kind that is called the swallow-tail b.u.t.terfly, because each of its wings tapered to a point, something like the tail of a swallow. We will call the b.u.t.terfly, Miss Swallow-tail, and now let us see what her next move was.

Her wings were damp and heavy, and she stood s.h.i.+vering and trembling; for although she had six legs, they were weak, having never before borne such a weight.

But fresh air brings strength; so she soon felt like trying to walk. At first her movements were sluggish, but she finally reached a sunny spot where she dried and warmed herself, giving her wings a little shake now and then, until they opened grandly above her back.

And how beautiful they were! Dark brown, bordered with two rows of yellow spots; and there were seven blue spots on each of the hind wings.

As she stood there in the sun, a little wind came along and raised Miss Swallow-tail off her feet. She spread her wings to keep from falling, and found herself floating in the air.

This proved to be such a delightful way of traveling, that she lifted her wings occasionally, and so kept herself floating; and in a short time she learned to turn in any direction she chose.

As she flew along, growing stronger every minute, she was attracted by the bright colors of a flower, and stopped to admire it.

The sweet perfume tempted her to taste, and unrolling her long tongue from under her chin, where she carried it, she put it down into the flower and drew up the honey hidden there.

Miss Swallow-tail had wonderful eyes. All b.u.t.terflies have wonderful eyes. If you will look at them through a microscope you will find that each eye is composed of a great many smaller ones, that can see in all directions.

They have great need of such eyes, because there are so many birds and other hungry creatures, that want to eat them.

One day a whiff of celery coming from a garden near by, reminded Miss Swallow-tail of the time when she was a baby and liked to eat celery.

So she flew over into the garden, and fastened her eggs to a celery bush with some glue that she carried with her. Then she left them, and never thought of them again.

In about ten days the babies that had been growing inside of the eggs, broke open the sh.e.l.ls and crawled out. And what do you think they were?

b.u.t.terflies? like their mamma, only very much smaller?

No, indeed! for you know b.u.t.terflies never grow any larger. They were the smallest green and black worms you ever saw!

As soon as they were out of the sh.e.l.ls, they began eating the celery, and grew so fast that in a week they were quite large worms.

They were covered with green rings and black rings dotted with yellow.

They each had sixteen short legs, and they had a flesh-colored, Y-shaped horn hidden away under a ring above the head, that they would show when they were disturbed.

One morning the gardener discovered that something was eating his celery. Searching among the leaves he found all but one of the little worms, and put them where they could do no more mischief.

Soon the little worm that had escaped his notice, had grown so fat that he was too stupid to eat any more; so he crawled away to a dark place on the fence and fastened himself there.

But first he covered a small spot of the fence with a white, silken carpet, that he wove from a web which he drew from his under lip.

He then glued the end of a web to the carpet, carried the rest of it up over his breast, and down on the other side and fastened it there.

He then bent his head down under it, letting it pa.s.s over his head, and by bending forward and backward worked it down near the middle of his back. After inspecting his work, he bent his head upon his breast, and leaned against the fence.

After resting two days, he began a series of twistings and turnings that burst open his skin from the corners of his mouth down a short way, and worked it all off himself.

He drew his head in out of sight, and sent out a stubbed horn on each side of it, and lo! no worm was to be seen!--but a chrysalis, like the one his mother was sleeping in when we first found her.