CHAPTER XXXVII
THE INSECTS, APILIBISHES, OR BUTTERFLIES, AND OSELIS, OR LIZARDS
One day there was a great uproar among the insects and butterflies. They had just escaped being devoured by the bashikouay ants and the birds which had followed them. They called out to one another in their dialect: “We have so many enemies of all kinds that we never know when we are to be pounced upon, killed, and eaten up. The birds are after us. The ants are prowling in every direction seeking our lives. The spiders, the lizards, the frogs and toads, and many other of our enemies are seeking for us. It is wonderful that we are able to live long enough to grow to our full size.”
An insect, looking toward another which was of the exact color of the dead leaves, observed: “You are lucky, for it is your good fortune to look like one of the dead leaves which are covering the ground. So you can escape the eyes of your enemies.”
“Well,” replied the insect to whom the remark was made, “do you think I am better off than you? What have you to complain of? Is not your body of the color of a dead tree limb?—and it takes a pretty cunning enemy to find you where you are. You are also a lucky fellow. But,” he added, mournfully, “in spite of our color, many of us have been caught; for our enemies are very cunning.”
A vengela, or grasshopper, said: “It is fortunate for me that I am of the color of the grass and of the green leaves, so that I am not easily seen by my enemies, the birds, and those horrid mogara and ozoni ants, who are always prowling around and seeking my life. How we dislike them! Also those long-legged cranes! How they pick us up with their long, pointed beaks, and how quick they are to espy us! I wonder that I have thus far escaped.”
Another grasshopper said: “And I am glad that I am gray, like the earth and the dry leaves and grass in which I live.”
An apilibish, or butterfly, exactly of the color of a dead leaf, said: “I am fortunate, for I am not easily noticed when I stand still; but as soon as I fly I am espied by those horrid birds. How I hate birds! So many of them are seeking the lives of us poor butterflies who do not harm them.”
Another butterfly of brilliant colors said: “How thankful I am to be able to fly so quickly and erratically! If it were not for this, I should have very little chance to live, for the birds can espy me so far away with my bright colors. They make for me, and try to seize me in their horrid ugly bills. My fleetness is a great gift indeed, and helps me to escape from them.”
A tiny viviki, or mosquito, said: “How I hate spiders, dragon flies, and their kind, for they like to feed upon us poor mosquitoes.” These blood-thirsty little creatures never thought of those whom they plagued to death, and who wished they were all dead.
An oseli, or lizard, said: “I am glad I am so green, so that I can approach my prey.” The frogs and the toads also praised their colors, for they too could draw near their prey and not be so easily seen by their enemies.
Every insect, every fly, small or large, was complaining of an enemy. Every animal and bird of the forest was doing the same thing, according to its own point of view; but they said nothing of their own doings of the same kind to every creature they persecuted or preyed upon. These had also their own point of view in regard to them.
Furthermore, a wise insect, while listening to the woes of one of his kind, said: “If we had no enemies, we should multiply so fast that there would be no room for all the insects in the forest.”
A totangoli, or chameleon, said: “Great gifts have been given to me; my skin changes color according to my surroundings. If I am walking in the grass, it turns green; farther on, if I find myself on a fallen tree, it takes the color of the bark. During the day I cannot tell the different shades of color which it takes. This continual change of color keeps me from being easily seen by my enemies, and allows me to approach flies and insects on which I feed.”