Once upon a time there lived an ordinary little caterpillar. She loved green leaves; they were tasty and nutritious. More than anything in the world, she enjoyed travelling through the tree.
But she crawled quite 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, and played.
"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, rabbits, and Grandmother Ladybug—could hardly find answers to her questions. But they all loved the little caterpillar.
One day the caterpillar felt strange. "I must be sick," she thought. A bee found out about this and told Grandmother Ladybug, 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 so odd. 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 to the shade, because the sun could make her overheat, and Grandmother Ladybug made a cool compress for the caterpillar.
At that moment, a butterfly—a large, beautiful butterfly sitting nearby—said:
You are transforming.
How so? Why? Into what?
Into a butterfly.
Like you?
Very possibly.
Did you transform too?
Of course.
And indeed, the caterpillar began to transform. She first turned into a chrysalis. 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, while 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 surprised. 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 ter-ribly sad!
Said the beetle. The other butterfly, the one who had told the caterpillar about transformation, said:
This is some kind of mistake, and we must fix it.
Of course. I'll give you, butterfly, a little bit of 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 freeze!
Said the bear.
And I'll give you kind paint!
It was Grandmother Ladybug.
And I'll give you cheerful paint, so you fly and never feel sad.
The butterfly flew from one friend to another, and new colours kept appearing on her wings. As they gave their colours to the butterfly, they got a little "painted" themselves.
Over the meadow where the butterfly's friends had gathered, a rainbow appeared. She was amazed when she saw this extraordinary colourful sight.
She liked it so much that it descended on the meadow like a great tablecloth. And the celebration continued. And the meadow began to spin like a carousel.
And it was a beautiful day, a wonderful day, a day of friendship, joy, kindness, and the fulfilment of hopes.
