THE BUTTERFLY AND THE GRASSHOPPER.

"Pretty Butterfly, stay! Come down here and play," A Grasshopper said, As he lifted his head. "Oh, no! and oh, no! Daddy Grasshopper, go! Once you weren't so polite, But said, 'Out of my sight, You base, ugly fright!'" "Oh, no! and oh, no! I never said so," The Grasshopper cried: "I'd sooner have died Than been half so rude. You misunderstood." "Oh, no! I did not; 'Twas near to this spot: The offence, while I live, I cannot forgive." "I pray you explain When and where such disdain, Such conduct improper, Was shown by this Hopper." "I then was a worm: 'Tis a fact, I affirm," The Butterfly said, With a toss of her head. "In my humble condition, Your bad disposition Made you spurn me as mean, And not fit to be seen. In my day of small things You dreamed not that wings Might one day be mine,— Wings handsome and fine, That help me soar up To the rose's full cup, And taste of each flower In garden and bower. This moral now take For your own better sake: Insult not the low; Some day they may grow To seem and to do Much better than you. Remember; and so, Daddy Grasshopper, go!"