Once upon a time there lived an ordinary little caterpillar. She loved green leaves; they were tasty and nutritious. Most of all in the world, she enjoyed traveling through the tree.
But she crawled quite slowly, so each journey took a long time, and the little caterpillar became very tired.
While resting on a leaf, she watched the blue sky where bees, dragonflies, beetles, and butterflies flew, fluttered, buzzed, circled, 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 meeting forest inhabitants, she always greeted them, asked about their affairs, and chatted.
She was very curious, and all her acquaintances—the bees, beetles, butterflies, deer, the old bear, rabbits, and Grandmother Ladybug—could barely 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 learned about this and told Grandmother Ladybug, who in turn told everyone in the forest.
Friends gathered by the tree on the green leaf where the caterpillar lay.
I feel so strange. 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 moving to the shade because one could overheat in the sun, and Grandmother Ladybug 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?
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 journeys.
She imagined herself, so beautiful, flying and 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.
Everyone around was very upset and surprised. None of them had ever seen anything like it: our butterfly had gray, colorless wings.
This is wrong!
The old bear protested.
This is unfair!
Said the deer.
How terrrrible!
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, some honey-colored paint.
Said the bee. And bright honey-colored spots appeared on our butterfly's wings.
And we'll give you the green of grass!
Said the deer.
And I'll give you the blue of the sky!
Said the dragonfly that flew over.
I'll give you fluffy paint so you don't freeze!
Said the bear.
And I'll give you kind paint!
This was Grandmother Ladybug.
And I'll give you cheerful paint so you fly and never feel sad.
The butterfly flew from one to another, and new colors kept appearing on her wings. As they gave their paints to the butterfly, they painted each other too.
Over the clearing where the butterfly's friends had gathered, a rainbow appeared. She was amazed when she saw this extraordinary colorful sight.
She liked it so much that it descended on the clearing like a great tablecloth. And the celebration continued. And the clearing spun like a carousel.
And it was a beautiful day, a wonderful day, a day of friendship, joy, kindness, and the fulfillment of hopes.
