THE BEETLE WHO WENT ON HIS TRAVELS故事

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THE BEETLE WHO WENT ON HIS TRAVELS故事
　　    THERE was once an Emperor who had a horse shod with gold.
　　    He had a golden shoe on each foot, and why was this? He was a
　　    beautiful creature, with slender legs, bright, intelligent
　　    eyes, and a mane that hung down over his neck like a veil. He
　　    had carried his master through fire and smoke in the
　　    battle-field, with the bullets whistling round him; he had
　　    kicked and bitten, and taken part in the fight, when the enemy
　　    advanced; and, with his master on his back, he had dashed over
　　    the fallen foe, and saved the golden crown and the Emperor's
　　    life, which was of more value than the brightest gold. This is
　　    the reason of the Emperor's horse wearing golden shoes.
　　    A beetle came creeping forth from the stable, where the
　　    farrier had been shoeing the horse. "Great ones, first, of
　　    course," said he, "and then the little ones; but size is not
　　    always a proof of greatness." He stretched out his thin leg as
　　    he spoke.
　　    "And pray what do you want?" asked the farrier.
　　    "Golden shoes," replied the beetle.
　　    "Why, you must be out of your senses," cried the farrier.
　　    "Golden shoes for you, indeed!"
　　    "Yes, certainly; golden shoes," replied the beetle. "Am I
　　    not just as good as that great creature yonder, who is waited
　　    upon and brushed, and has food and drink placed before him?
　　    And don't I belong to the royal stables?"
　　    "But why does the horse have golden shoes?" asked the
　　    farrier; "of course you understand the reason?"
　　    "Understand! Well, I understand that it is a personal
　　    slight to me," cried the beetle. "It is done to annoy me, so I
　　    intend to go out into the world and seek my fortune."
　　    "Go along with you," said the farrier.
　　    "You're a rude fellow," cried the beetle, as he walked out
　　    of the stable; and then he flew for a short distance, till he
　　    found himself in a beautiful flower-garden, all fragrant with
　　    roses and lavender. The lady-birds, with red and black shells
            
            

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　　    on their backs, and delicate wings, were flying about, and one
　　    of them said, "Is it not sweet and lovely here? Oh, how
　　    beautiful everything is."
　　    "I am accustomed to better things," said the beetle. "Do
　　    you call this beautiful? Why, there is not even a dung-heap."
　　    Then he went on, and under the shadow of a large haystack he
　　    found a caterpillar crawling along. "How beautiful this world
　　    is!" said the caterpillar. "The sun is so warm, I quite enjoy
　　    it. And soon I shall go to sleep, and die as they call it, but
　　    I shall wake up with beautiful wings to fly with, like a
　　    butterfly."
　　    "How conceited you are!" exclaimed the beetle. "Fly about
　　    as a butterfly, indeed! what of that. I have come out of the
　　    Emperor's stable, and no one there, not even the Emperor's
　　    horse, who, in fact, wears my cast-off golden shoes, has any
　　    idea of flying, excepting myself. To have wings and fly! why,
　　    I can do that already;" and so saying, he spread his wings and
　　    flew away. "I don't want to be disgusted," he said to himself,
　　    "and yet I can't help it." Soon after, he fell down upon an
　　    extensive lawn, and for a time pretended to sleep, but at last
　　    fell asleep in earnest. Suddenly a heavy shower of rain came
　　    falling from the clouds. The beetle woke up with the noise and
　　    would have been glad to creep into the earth for shelter, but
　　    he could not. He was tumbled over and over with the rain,
　　    sometimes swimming on his stomach and sometimes on his back;
　　    and as for flying, that was out of the question. He began to
　　    doubt whether he should escape with his life, so he remained,
　　    quietly lying where he was. After a while the weather cleared
　　    up a little, and the beetle was able to rub the water from his
　　    eyes, and look about him. He saw something gleaming, and he
　　    managed to make his way up to it. It was linen which had been
　　    laid to bleach on the grass. He crept into a fold of the damp
　　    linen, which certainly was not so comfortable a place to lie
            
            

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　　    in as the warm stable, but there was nothing better, so he
　　    remained lying there for a whole day and night, and the rain
　　    kept on all the time. Towards morning he crept out of his
　　    hiding-place, feeling in a very bad temper with the climate.
　　    Two frogs were sitting on the linen, and their bright eyes
　　    actually glistened with pleasure.
　　    "Wonderful weather this," cried one of them, "and so
　　    refreshing. This linen holds the water together so
　　    beautifully, that my hind legs quiver as if I were going to
　　    swim."
　　    "I should like to know," said another, "If the swallow who
　　    flies so far in her many journeys to foreign lands, ever met
　　    with a better climate than this. What delicious moisture! It
　　    is as pleasant as lying in a wet ditch. I am sure any one who
　　    does not enjoy this has no love for his fatherland."
　　    "Have you ever been in the Emperor's stable?" asked the
　　    beetle. "There the moisture is warm and refreshing; that's the
　　    climate for me, but I could not take it with me on my travels.
　　    Is there not even a dunghill here in this garden, where a
　　    person of rank, like myself, could take up his abode and feel
　　    at home?" But the frogs either did not or would not understand
　　    him.
　　    "I never ask a question twice," said the beetle, after he
　　    had asked this one three times, and received no answer. Then
　　    he went on a little farther and stumbled against a piece of
　　    broken crockery-ware, which certainly ought not to have been
　　    lying there. But as it was there, it formed a good shelter
　　    against wind and weather to several families of earwigs who
　　    dwelt in it. Their requirements were not many, they were very
　　    sociable, and full of affection for their children, so much so
　　    that each mother considered her own child the most beautiful
　　    and clever of them all.
　　    "Our dear son has engaged himself," said one mother, "dear
　　    innocent boy; his greatest ambition is that he may one day
　　    creep into a clergyman's ear. That is a very artless and
            
            

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　　    loveable wish; and being engaged will keep him steady. What
　　    happiness for a mother!"
　　    "Our son," said another, "had scarcely crept out of the
　　    egg, when he was off on his travels. He is all life and
　　    spirits, I expect he will wear out his horns with running. How
　　    charming this is for a mother, is it not Mr. Beetle?" for she
　　    knew the stranger by his horny coat.
　　    "You are both quite right," said he; so they begged him to
　　    walk in, that is to come as far as he could under the broken
　　    piece of earthenware.
　　    "Now you shall also see my little earwigs," said a third
　　    and a fourth mother, "they are lovely little things, and
　　    highly amusing. They are never ill-behaved, except when they
　　    are uncomfortable in their inside, which unfortunately often
　　    happens at their age."
　　    Thus each mother spoke of her baby, and their babies
　　    talked after their own fashion, and made use of the little
　　    nippers they have in their tails to nip the beard of the
　　    beetle.
　　    "They are always busy about something, the little rogues,"
　　    said the mother, beaming with maternal pride; but the beetle
　　    felt it a bore, and he therefore inquired the way to the
　　    nearest dung-heap.
　　    "That is quite out in the great world, on the other side
　　    of the ditch," answered an earwig, "I hope none of my children
　　    will ever go so far, it would be the death of me."
　　    "But I shall try to get so far," said the beetle, and he
　　    walked off without taking any formal leave, which is
　　    considered a polite thing to do.
　　    When he arrived at the ditch, he met several friends, all
　　    them beetles; "We live here," they said, "and we are very
　　    comfortable. May we ask you to step down into this rich mud,
　　    you must be fatigued after your journey."
　　    "Certainly," said the beetle, "I shall be most happy; I
　　    have been exposed to the rain, and have had to lie upon linen,
　　    and cleanliness is a thing that greatly exhausts me; I have
            
            

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　　    also pains in one of my wings from standing in the draught
　　    under a piece of broken crockery. It is really quite
　　    refreshing to be with one's own kindred again."
　　    "Perhaps you came from a dung-heap," observed the oldest
　　    of them.
　　    "No, indeed, I came from a much grander place," replied
　　    the beetle; "I came from the emperor's stable, where I was
　　    born, with golden shoes on my feet. I am travelling on a
　　    secret embassy, but you must not ask me any questions, for I
　　    cannot betray my secret."
　　    Then the beetle stepped down into the rich mud, where sat
　　    three young-lady beetles, who tittered, because they did not
　　    know what to say.
　　    "None of them are engaged yet," said their mother, and the
　　    beetle maidens tittered again, this time quite in confusion.
　　    "I have never seen greater beauties, even in the royal
　　    stables," exclaimed the beetle, who was now resting himself.
　　    "Don't spoil my girls," said the mother; "and don't talk
　　    to them, pray, unless you have serious intentions."
　　    But of course the beetle's intentions were serious, and
　　    after a while our friend was engaged. The mother gave them her
　　    blessing, and all the other beetles cried "hurrah."
　　    Immediately after the betrothal came the marriage, for
　　    there was no reason to delay. The following day passed very
　　    pleasantly, and the next was tolerably comfortable; but on the
　　    third it became necessary for him to think of getting food for
　　    his wife, and, perhaps, for children.
　　    "I have allowed myself to be taken in," said our beetle to
　　    himself, "and now there's nothing to be done but to take them
　　    in, in return."
　　    No sooner said than done. Away he went, and stayed away
　　    all day and all night, and his wife remained behind a forsaken
　　    widow.
　　    "Oh," said the other beetles, "this fellow that we have
　　    received into our family is nothing but a complete vagabond.
　　    He has gone away and left his wife a burden upon our hands."
            
            

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　　    "Well, she can be unmarried again, and remain here with my
　　    other daughters," said the mother. "Fie on the villain that
　　    forsook her!"
　　    In the mean time the beetle, who had sailed across the
　　    ditch on a cabbage leaf, had been journeying on the other
　　    side. In the morning two persons came up to the ditch. When
　　    they saw him they took him up and turned him over and over,
　　    looking very learned all the time, especially one, who was a
　　    boy. "Allah sees the black beetle in the black stone, and the
　　    black rock. Is not that written in the Koran?" he asked.
　　    Then he translated the beetle's name into Latin, and said
　　    a great deal upon the creature's nature and history. The
　　    second person, who was older and a scholar, proposed to carry
　　    the beetle home, as they wanted just such good specimens as
　　    this. Our beetle considered this speech a great insult, so he
　　    flew suddenly out of the speaker's hand. His wings were dry
　　    now, so they carried him to a great distance, till at last he
　　    reached a hothouse, where a sash of the glass roof was partly
　　    open, so he quietly slipped in and buried himself in the warm
　　    earth. "It is very comfortable here," he said to himself, and
　　    soon after fell asleep. Then he dreamed that the emperor's
　　    horse was dying, and had left him his golden shoes, and also
　　 ;   promised that he should have two more. All this was very
　　    delightful, and when the beetle woke up he crept forth and
　　    looked around him. What a splendid place the hothouse was! At
　　    the back, large palm-trees were growing; and the sunlight made
　　    the leaves- look quite glossy; and beneath them what a
　　    profusion of luxuriant green, and of flowers red like flame,
　　    yellow as amber, or white as new-fallen snow! "What a
　　    wonderful quantity of plants," cried the beetle; "how good
　　    they will taste when they are decayed! This is a capital
　　    store-room. There must certainly be some relations of mine
　　    living here; I will just see if I can find any one with whom I
　　    can associate. I'm proud, certainly; but I'm also proud of
            
            

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　　    being so. Then he prowled about in the earth, and thought what
　　    a pleasant dream that was about the dying horse, and the
　　    golden shoes he had inherited. Suddenly a hand seized the
　　    beetle, and squeezed him, and turned him round and round. The
　　    gardener's little son and his playfellow had come into the
　　    hothouse, and, seeing the beetle, wanted to have some fun with
　　    him. First, he was wrapped, in a vine-leaf, and put into a
　　    warm trousers' pocket. He twisted and turned about with all
　　    his might, but he got a good squeeze from the boy's hand, as a
　　    hint for him to keep quiet. Then the boy went quickly towards
　　    a lake that lay at the end of the garden. Here the beetle was
　　    put into an old broken wooden shoe, in which a little stick
　　    had been fastened upright for a mast, and to this mast the
　　    beetle was bound with a piece of worsted. Now he was a sailor,
　　    and had to sail away. The lake was not very large, but to the
　　    beetle it seemed an ocean, and he was so astonished at its
　　    size that he fell over on his back, and kicked out his legs.
　　    Then the little ship sailed away; sometimes the current of the
　　    water seized it, but whenever it went too far from the shore
　　    one of the boys turned up his trousers, and went in after it,
　　    and brought it back to land. But at last, just as it went
　　    merrily out again, the two boys were called, and so angrily,
　　    that they hastened to obey, and ran away as fast as they could
　　    from the pond, so that the little ship was left to its fate.
　　    It was carried away farther and farther from the shore, till
　　    it reached the open sea. This was a terrible prospect for the
　　    beetle, for he could not escape in consequence of being bound
　　    to the mast. Then a fly came and paid him a visit. "What
　　    beautiful weather," said the fly; "I shall rest here and sun
　　    myself. You must have a pleasant time of it."
　　    "You speak without knowing the facts," replied the beetle;
　　    "don't you see that I am a prisoner?"
　　    "Ah, but I'm not a prisoner," remarked the fly, and away
            
            

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　　    "Well, now I know the world," said the beetle to himself;
　　    "it's an abominable world; I'm the only respectable person in
　　    it. First, they refuse me my golden shoes; then I have to lie
　　    on damp linen, and to stand in a draught; and to crown all,
　　    they fasten a wife upon me. Then, when I have made a step
　　    forward in the world, and found out a comfortable position,
　　    just as I could wish it to be, one of these human boys comes
　　    and ties me up, and leaves me to the mercy of the wild waves,
　　    while the emperor's favorite horse goes prancing about proudly
　　    on his golden shoes. This vexes me more than anything. But it
　　    is useless to look for sympathy in this world. My career has
　　    been very interesting, but what's the use of that if nobody
　　    knows anything about it? The world does not deserve to be made
　　    acquainted with my adventures, for it ought to have given me
　　    golden shoes when the emperor's horse was shod, and I
　　    stretched out my feet to be shod, too. If I had received
　　golden shoes I should have been an ornament to the stable; now
　　    I am lost to the stable and to the world. It is all over with
　　    me."
　　    But all was not yet over. A boat, in which were a few
　　    young girls, came rowing up. "Look, yonder is an old wooden
　　    shoe sailing along," said one of the younger girls.
　　    "And there's a poor little creature bound fast in it,"
　　    said another.
　　    The boat now came close to our beetle's ship, and the
　　    young girls fished it out of the water. One of them drew a
　　    small pair of scissors from her pocket, and cut the worsted
　　    without hurting the beetle, and when she stepped on shore she
　　    placed him on the grass. "There," she said, "creep away, or
　　    fly, if thou canst. It is a splendid thing to have thy
　　    liberty." Away flew the beetle, straight through the open
　　    window of a large building; there he sank down, tired and
　　    exhausted, exactly on the mane of the emperor's favorite
　　    horse, who was standing in his stable; and the beetle found
            
            

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　　    himself at home again. For some time he clung to the mane,
　　    that he might recover himself. "Well," he said, "here I am,
　　    seated on the emperor's favorite horse,- sitting upon him as
　　    if I were the emperor himself. But what was it the farrier
　　    asked me? Ah, I remember now,- that's a good thought,- he
　　    asked me why the golden shoes were given to the horse. The
　　    answer is quite clear to me, now. They were given to the horse
　　    on my account." And this reflection put the beetle into a good
　　    temper. The sun's rays also came streaming into the stable,
　　    and shone upon him, and made the place lively and bright.
　　    "Travelling expands the mind very much," said the beetle. "The
　　    world is not so bad after all, if you know how to take things
　　    as they come.
　　    THE END