In this meadow, as in every other meadow since the world began, there
were some people who were always tired of the way things were, and
thought that, if the world were only different, they would be perfectly
happy. One of these discontented ones was a certain Mosquito, a fellow
with a whining voice and disagreeable manners. He had very little
patience with people who were not like him, and thought that the world
would be a much pleasanter place if all the insects had been made
Mosquitoes.
"What is the use of Spiders, and Dragon-flies, and Beetles, and
Butterflies?" he would say, fretfully; "a Mosquito is worth more than
any of them."
You can just see how unreasonable he was. Of course, Mosquitoes and
Flies do help keep the air pure and sweet, but that is no reason why
they should set themselves up above the other insects. Do not the Bees
carry pollen from one flower to another, and so help the plants raise
their Seed Babies? And who would not miss the bright, happy Butterflies,
with their work of making the world beautiful?
But this Mosquito never thought of those things, and he said to himself:
"Well, if they cannot all be Mosquitoes, they can at least try to live
like them, and I think I will call them together and talk it over." So
he sent word all around, and his friends and neighbors gathered to hear
what he had to say.
"In the first place," he remarked, "it is unfortunate that you are not
Mosquitoes, but, since you are not, one must make the best of it. There
are some things, however, which you might learn from us fortunate
creatures who are. For instance, notice the excellent habit of the
Mosquitoes in the matter of laying eggs. Three or four hundred of the
eggs are fastened together and left floating on a pond in such a way
that, when the babies break their shells, they go head first into the
water. Then they----"
"Do you think I would do that if I could?" interrupted a motherly old
Grasshopper. "Fix it so my children would drown the minute they came out
of the egg? No, indeed!" and she hurried angrily away, followed by
several other loving mothers.
"But they don't drown," exclaimed the Mosquito, in surprise.
"They don't if they're Mosquitoes," replied the Ant, "but I am thankful
to say my children are land babies and not water babies."
"Well, I won't say anything more about that, but I must speak of your
voices, which are certainly too heavy and loud to be pleasant. I should
think you might speak and sing more softly, even if you have no pockets
under your wings like mine. I flutter my wings, and the air strikes
these pockets and makes my sweet voice."
"Humph!" exclaimed a Bee, "it is a very poor place for pockets, and a
very poor use to make of them. Every Bee knows that pockets are handiest
on the hind legs, and should be used for carrying pollen to the babies
at home."
"My pocket is behind," said a Spider, "and my web silk is kept there. I
couldn't live without a pocket."
Some of the meadow people were getting angry, so the Garter Snake, who
would always rather laugh than quarrel, glided forward and said: "My
friends and neighbors; our speaker here has been so kind as to tell us
how the Mosquitoes do a great many things, and to try to teach us their
way. It seems to me that we might repay some of his kindness by showing
him our ways, and seeing that he learns by practice. I would ask the
Spiders to take him with them and show him how to spin a web. Then the
Bees could teach him how to build comb, and the Tree Frog how to croak,
and the Earthworms how to burrow, and the Caterpillars how to spin a
cocoon. Each of us will do something for him. Perhaps the Measuring Worm
will teach him to walk as the Worms of his family do. I understand he
does that very well." Here everybody laughed, remembering the joke
played on the Caterpillars, and the Snake stopped speaking.
The Mosquito did not dare refuse to be taught, and so he was taken from
one place to another, and told exactly how to do everything that he
could not possibly do, until he felt so very meek and humble that he was
willing the meadow people should be busy and happy in their own way.
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