As ducks and hippopotamuses and Ты and I get older, we get bigger. Especially hippopotamuses.
But not caterpillars.
They turn into butterflies.
Turning into something else like that is not a thing just anybody can do.
Down by the pond there lived a гусеница who was very proud of being different.
She bragged about it to her friends.
“When I grow up, I’m going to turn into something else,” she told the snail.
“That’s nice,” сказал(-а) the snail, who really didn’t care one way или the other.
“When I grow up, I’m going to turn into something else,” she told the turtle.
“I don’t blame you,” сказал(-а) the turtle, who didn’t much like wiggly things.
“When I grow up, I’m going to turn into something else,” she told the polliwog.
“What fun!” сказал(-а) the polliwog.
“What are Ты going to turn into?”
But the гусеница hurried on her way, looking for someone else to tell her secret to.
“I wish I could turn into something else when I grow up!” сказал(-а) the polliwog.
“You will,” сказал(-а) the fish. “All polliwogs do.”
“What am I going to turn into?” the polliwog asked.
But the рыба saw a tasty bug and dashed after it.
“When I grow up,” сказал(-а) the caterpillar, who had circled the pond and was going around for the секунда time, “when I grow up,” she told the polliwog again, “I’m going to turn into something else.”
“So am I!” сказал(-а) the polliwog.
“You?!” The гусеница was so surprised she almost fell into the pond.
“The рыба сказал(-а) so,” the polliwog told her. “Fish know things. They go to school.”
The гусеница was upset.
“I though only caterpillars could do it,” she сказал(-а) rather sadly.
“What am we going to turn into?” the polliwog asked.
“Well, I’m going to turn into a butterfly!” сказал(-а) the caterpillar.
“Then I guess I will, too!” the polliwog сказал(-а) happily. “What fun! Let’s do it together!”
“All right,” the гусеница agreed, although she would rather have done it alone. “But I get to go first!”
The polliwog didn’t mind. He wasn’t at all sure how it was done. “I’ll watch you,” he said.
So when the time came, the гусеница started to spin a cocoon.
“This is the tricky part,” she said.
The polliwog watched as the гусеница spun. Soon only her head was uncovered.
“Now I have to close the lid,” she said.
“And when I come out, I’ll be a butterfly.”
“Go ahead!” the polliwog сказал(-а) excitedly. “I want to see Ты do it!”
“It will take a while,” the гусеница warned. She started spinning again and was soon out of sight in the cocoon.
For a long time nothing happened.
But the polliwog was patient.
He watched
and watched
and watched,
for days
and days,
and days.
At last there was activity in the cocoon. The end of it opened and, very slowly, the гусеница climbed out.
Only she wasn’t a гусеница anymore. She was a butterly! A beautiful yellow butterfly!
The polliwog was so excited he hopped up and down with delight!
He hopped! Up and down! Like a frog!
“I was so busy watching you,” he said, “I didn’t notice what was happening to me!”
“You’re a very handsome frog,” the бабочка said, as she flew off to try her new wings.
But the frog was puzzled. “I thought I was going to be a butterfly,” he said.
A гусеница wiggled by. “When I grow up,” he сказал(-а) proudly to the frog, “I’m going to turn into something else!”
But the frog wasn’t listening.
He was admiring his reflection in the water.
“I am, Ты know, a very handsome frog!” he said.
