Once upon a time there was an ordinary little caterpillar. She loved green leaves; they were tasty and nutritious. More than anything in the world, she enjoyed travelling across the tree.
But she crawled rather slowly, so each journey took a long time, and the little caterpillar would become very tired.
Resting on a leaf, she would gaze up at the blue sky, where bees, dragonflies, beetles and butterflies flew, fluttered, buzzed, swirled about and had a marvellous time.
"If only I could fly," she dreamed, "then I could visit all my friends very quickly." She was small, but very polite.
When she met the forest creatures, she always greeted them, asked about their lives and chatted with them.
She was very curious, and all her acquaintances—the bees, beetles, butterflies, deer, the old bear, the rabbits and Grandmother Ladybird—had difficulty finding answers to her questions. But they all loved the little caterpillar.
One day the caterpillar felt rather strange. "I must be ill," she thought. A bee found out about this and told Grandmother Ladybird, who in turn told everyone in the forest.
Her friends gathered by the tree, on a green leaf of which lay the caterpillar.
I feel rather poorly. What's wrong with me?
She complained. The bear said it would be good to be treated with honey, and the bee confirmed that honey was very beneficial. The deer suggested she move into the shade, because the sun could make her overheat, and Grandmother Ladybird made a cool compress for the caterpillar.
At this moment, a butterfly—a large, beautiful butterfly sitting nearby—said:
You're transforming.
How do you mean? Why? Into what?
Into a butterfly.
Like you?
Very possibly.
Did you transform too?
Of course.
And indeed, the caterpillar began to transform. She turned into a chrysalis first. Inside the cocoon it was warm. She lay there, transforming and dreaming of new adventures.
She imagined herself, so beautiful, flying about, making new discoveries, whilst everyone admired her bright wings.
Her friends waited for this transformation to happen. They all gathered near the tree. And finally the cocoon cracked, and a butterfly timidly fluttered out. She spread her wings, and... burst into tears.
And everyone around was very upset and astonished. None of them had ever seen anything like it: our butterfly had grey, colourless wings.
This is wrong!
The old bear protested.
This is unfair!
Said the deer.
How absolutely dreadful!
Said the beetle. The other butterfly, the one who had told the caterpillar about transformation, said:
This is some sort of mistake and we must put it right.
Of course. I'll give you, butterfly, a little honey-coloured paint.
Said the bee. And bright honey-coloured spots appeared on our butterfly's wings.
And we'll give you the green of the grass!
Said the deer.
And I'll give you the blue of the sky!
Said the dragonfly that had flown over.
I'll give you fluffy paint so you don't get cold!
Said the bear.
And I'll give you kind paint!
This was Grandmother Ladybird.
And I'll give you cheerful paint, so you fly and never feel sad.
The butterfly fluttered from one to another, and new colours kept appearing on her wings. As they gave their paints to the butterfly, they got "painted" themselves.
Over the clearing where the butterfly's friends had gathered, a rainbow appeared. She was amazed when she saw this extraordinary, multicoloured sight.
She liked it so much that it descended on the clearing like a great tablecloth. And the celebration continued. And the clearing spun round like a carousel.
And it was a wonderful day, a marvellous day, a day of friendship, joy, kindness and the fulfilment of hopes.
