The Monarch Butterflies and the Caterpillar
Every year monarch butterflies fly south to Mexico to escape the cold. Hundreds of thousands of orange butterflies fly together. It is an event people come and watch every year. Two of them wanted to bring one of their friends, the caterpillar, along because he could not fly yet. They were scared he would not survive the winter because he could not fly away.They called to the caterpillar asking him to come along. They devised a plan that the caterpillar could hold onto a leaf as the butterflies carried them to Mexico. So they asked, "Hello Caterpillar, do you want to come back to us to Mexico? It is beautiful and warm there. You will definitely survive the winter there."
"How can you bring me along,? I cannot fly" the caterpillar asked.
The butterflies replied, "You will hold onto a leaf we will carry all the way there, but you cannot let go to wave to the children who wave to butterflies."
So when it was time to leave, the butterflies started to carry the caterpillar to Mexico. The journey was long, so the caterpillar had to hold on for a long time. Eventually, they passed a group of tourists who were watching the butterflies make their travels to Mexico. A young girl decided to wave at the butterflies, and the caterpillar saw, got excited, and let go and waved back. He then fell off the leaf down to the ground.
The butterflies flew on sad because their friend could just not wave.
 |
| Monarch Butterfly |
Author's Note
The story, The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking, is a very sad story. The original story is about a two geese who befriended a turtle and wanted to bring him home, but turtles cant fly. So to get around this, the turtle had to close his mouth around a stick while the geese carried him. But, the turtle opened his mouth to talk, so he fell. I changed the story to different animals and a different event. It made the story more happy, while retaining the moral of the story.
Hey Caitlin,
ReplyDeleteI liked your take on the story about the “The Turtle Who Couldn’t Stop Talking.” Rather than the two geese carrying the turtle, I like how you changed it to the two monarch butterflies and the caterpillars. The story made the caterpillar seem more enthusiastic than like a chatterbox. Also, the butterflies were much nicer in this story than in the geese in the Jataka. Overall, I really liked the story.
Hi Caitlin, I enjoyed reading your short story! The way you wrote your story and structured it is similar to the way I structured mine, I changed the characters and the setting. I also enjoyed learning a few fun facts about monarch butterflies. Pretty ridiculous such small little insects can fly and travel so far! I wonder what the typical lifespan of a monarch butterfly is? I did not think butterflies lived for more than a couple of months.
ReplyDeleteHi Caitlin,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your version of the story! I agree with you that this take on is much more cheerful than the original. The butterflies seemed like they were good friends with the caterpillar and they were really nice to him.I also liked how you chose to use butterfly and Caterpillar instead. Because Caterpillar's turn into butterflies it's sad that he never got to fly.
Reading your story, before having read the author's note, it was very easy to tell what story you used as inspiration. I agree with you, the original story is very sad. Especially since it does end with the turtle dying. Your take on this classic was definitely more up beat and it was very cute. I enjoyed reading it and I imagined the animals as I read it. Awesome job.
ReplyDeleteHey there, Caitlin! I really like how you twisted the original story by including similar traits in more similar animals. I personally think it makes more sense for a caterpillar to know a butterfly than it does for a turtle to know a goose. I wonder why the caterpillar waves despite his knowledge of pending death... is he immature and very young perhaps? Maybe the butterflies are his parents? I think including that information could give your story a little more context! What if they chose to carry a cocoon rather than a caterpillar... maybe it would have hatched in time to survive the fall. I'm always a fan of a happy ending, though I'm sure it would diminish part of the lesson. I really enjoyed your story!
ReplyDelete