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 rather slowly, so each journey took a long time, and the little caterpillar became very tired.
Whilst resting on a leaf, she would gaze up at the blue sky, where bees, dragonflies, beetles and butterflies flew, fluttered, buzzed, circled and made merry.
"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 affairs and chatted with them.
She was very curious, and all her acquaintances—the bees, beetles, butterflies, deer, the old bear, the rabbits and Granny Ladybird—could scarcely find 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 Granny 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 Granny Ladybird made a cold 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?
Quite 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 journeys.
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.
Everyone around her was deeply upset and astonished. None of them had ever seen such a thing: 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 kind of mistake and we must put it right.
Of course. I shall give you, butterfly, a little honey-coloured paint.
Said the bee. And bright honey-coloured spots appeared on our butterfly's wings.
And we shall give you the green of the grass!
Said the deer.
And I shall give you the blue of the sky!
Said the dragonfly that had flown over.
I shall give you fluffy paint so you don't freeze!
Said the bear.
And I shall give you kind paint!
This was Granny Ladybird.
And I shall 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 colours to the butterfly, they got "smeared" with colour themselves.
Over the clearing where the butterfly's friends had gathered, a rainbow appeared. She was astonished when she saw this extraordinary, multicoloured sight.
She liked it so much that it descended on the clearing like a great tablecloth. And the merriment 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.
