Tale #4 is from the “Fairy Tales to Tell Science” collection, from the Creative Writing Lab of Leah Maino.
Butterfly swallowtail
One summer’s day, amidst swaths of flowers of all colors from red to purple on a small leaf, there was a beautiful butterfly eagerly waiting for her three eggs to hatch. The first to be born was a caterpillar all black with a white spot. But his siblings were different from him: they were all beautiful and colorful except for him. Their names were Agostina, Agostino, and the black caterpillar Angela. Angela had made fun of her brothers and all of her friends. One day Angela asked her mother: “Mom why is everyone making fun of me? Why? I just don’t get it!” Mother Maria: “Well!! Maybe because you are different from others and you are also ugly” Angela: “Mom, why do you say that? It’s not true!” And she walked away crying. After about two weeks, Mother Maria’s babies, having grown up, are ready to cocoon and transform into butterflies. One day Angela decided to find a place to convert. He tied himself to a branch and waited. 15 days later a beautiful swallowtail butterfly appeared and it was really her, Angela. They were very colorful and were the most beautiful of their siblings because they were all yellow with blue tips and on a small part of the wings were two red spots which were used to ward off predators. Mama Maria: “Oh, Angela, you have become beautiful!” Angela: “Thank you, Mom, but when I was little you and my siblings used to make fun of me!” Mama Maria: “Yeah, I know, but now I’m sorry about it, I understand all the caterpillars can be ugly when they’re young, but as adults they’ll be just as beautiful as you!” And they all lived happily ever after, both caterpillars and butterflies. Sofia Pastore, Enrico Ferrandis, Roberto Regent, 1 ^ I am from the Vaccina School.
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