The Beautiful Butterfly
A variation of a Spanish folktale by Michelle Rahn
There once was a beautiful butterfly. Her wings were the color of the
blue sky. She was kind to all she met, and she had many friends.
One day, the butterfly decided it was time for her to marry and lay eggs.
News spread of her decision. In the morning when the sun came up, the
sun said to her:
“Beautiful butterfly. You have the warmest heart of all creatures. Will
you marry me?”
The butterfly said
“Oh Sun. You are so warm and perfect in your own way, and you
provide life to everyone. But I am afraid you are not the right one for
me.”
During the day, as she sat upon a flower, drinking its nectar, the flower
said to her
“Beautiful butterfly. You have the sweetest way about you. Will you
marry me?”
The butterfly said
“Oh flower. You are so sweet and perfect in your own way, and you
give food for the bees and I to eat. But I am afraid you are not the right
one for me.”
That night, as she looked upon the moon, the moon said to her
“Beautiful butterfly. You are always happy and make those around you
happy too. Will you marry me?”
The butterfly said
“Oh Moon. You are perfect in your own way, but you are always
changing, and I could only see you clearly at night after you chase away
the sun. I am afraid you are not the right one for me.”
That next day, she met another butterfly, as handsome as she was
beautiful. The butterfly said to her:
“Beautiful butterfly. You are so lovely and kind. Will you marry me?”
The butterfly said
“Oh Mr. Butterfly. You are perfect in your own way. I think we have a
lot in common and could have a wonderful life together. I think you are
the right one for me. I will marry you!”
The two butterflies had a splendid wedding where all their friends came.
There were ladybugs, mice, rabbits, squirrels, spiders and many other
creatures.
During the party after the wedding, the lady butterfly asked her husband
if he would go to the river, and get her some water to drink with their
wedding cake. Her husband went to the river and accidentally fell in,
where he was eaten by a fish.
The lady butterfly waited and waited for her husband to return. After a
while, a mosquito came and told the lady butterfly the sad news about
her husband.
The lady butterfly began to cry and cry. Her friend the lady bug asked
her what was wrong. When the lady butterfly told the lady bug about
the sad fate of her husband, the lady bug began to fly around in circles.
The frog asked the lady bug “why are you flying in circles?” When she
told him the butterfly was crying because her husband fell in the water,
so I am flying in circles” the frog began hopping from leaf to leaf to leaf.
The bird asked the frog “why are you hopping from leaf to leaf?” When
he told the bird the butterfly was crying because her husband fell in the
water, so the lady bug is flying in circles, so I am hopping from leaf to
leaf”, the bird began to call coo, coo.
The forest elf asked the bird “why are you calling coo coo?” When the
bird told him the butterfly was crying because her husband fell in the
water, so the lady bug is flying in circles, so the frog is hopping from
leaf to leaf, so I am calling coo coo”, the elf decided to run around in his
underwear.
Everyone had to laugh even though they were sad. And at that moment,
the fish decided the husband tasted awful so he spit him out onto the
ground where the butterfly was crying, the lady bug was flying, the frog
was hopping, the bird was coo cooing and the elf was running around in
his underwear, and everyone was laughing.
The husband asked “what is happening here?”
They all stopped what they were doing and ran to hug him.
The lady butterfly and her husband lived happily in their bush. They
laid some eggs, which hatched into caterpillars, which turned into pupas
which turned into butterflies.