The Butterfly Zoo

 

Once upon a time there was a zoo very much like the zoo we visited today, but it wasn't in our neighborhood. It was a small zoo, so the animals all knew each other. All except the butterflies.

The butterfly house was unique. It sat on top of the hill at the centre of the property. It was made of glass, so the other animals could see inside. But they couldn't call out to the butterflies, because for some reason, the butterflies spoke a different language to the other creatures.

The lion, elephant, giraffe, monkeys, birds and ants all understood each other. They snuffled and grunted and mewled and everyone got along well. But no-one understood the butterflies.

Perhaps this was because the butterflies spoke in a language that was half flying and half singing.

Every day, as the sun set, the butterflies sang. Even though they were all different shapes and colours, and from different parts of the world, their various tunes sounded beautiful together.

There were golden butterflies that whispered, gigantic blue butterflies (as big as your head) that hummed, tiny butterflies (no bigger than a fingernail) that made a pit-pit-pit sound. Some butterflies glowed like fireflies and sang in a whole-hearted voice as they swooped, and there were others that glittered all the colours of the rainbow, who could speak in tongues. Finally there were butterflies who were invisible when they flew, because their wings beat so fast, and theirs voices seemed to be in every part of the room at once. Together, all these voices sounded like a symphony of sighs and flutters.

The other animals listened to this song and went to bed every night feeling as though their zoo was the most wonderful place in the world. They wanted to tell the butterflies how much they enjoyed their song, but because they didn't speak a butterfly language, they couldn't. One morning, as they chatted over breakfast, they tried to solve this problem.

Doomba-doomba-doomba, rumbled the brown bear. He was slow and couldn't think of a way to speak to the butterflies.

Duh. Duh. Duh went the giraffe, who was a bit daffy. He couldn't even remember the question.

Oooda-dooda went the elephant, who was reasonably bright but quite self-absorbed. He might have thought of a solution, but then caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the pond, and forgot it. 

Eh-heh-eh-heh-eh said the monkey. This little fellow was clever and curious, and decided to think of a way.

The next morning the monkey came across his friend, the caterpillar. "I've got an idea," said the monkey. "Can you help me?"

"What do you need?" asked the caterpillar, who was a very helpful creature.

"I'm going to tell you a message for the butterflies, and I'm hoping you'll remember it as you make your cocoon and turn into a butterfly, and when you come out, you'll be able to deliver it to them."

"That sounds difficult," said the caterpillar, "because when I come put of the cocoon I'll be a different animal, speaking a different language. But I'll try."

The caterpillar decided to weave the message into his cocoon, so that when she turned into a butterfly and chewed her way out, she might remember parts of the message. She worked very hard on the cocoon, much harder than the other caterpillars, because it had a special design. The monkey brought fruit and flowers for her to nibble on, for sustenance, as she wove. Finally the caterpillar was sealed in her cocoon. The monkey faithfully sat guard outside it. He hoped everything would work, and the caterpillar would remember the message when she woke up.

The cold months passed and finally Spring returned to the zoo. Eventually the caterpillar woke in her cocoon, and wriggled, and began to nibble her way out. Of course, she wasn't a caterpillar any more, but a lovely butterfly. As a new creature, she was a bit puzzled by the way she felt as he chewed through the layers of the cocoon. It was though a story was being told to her, and she had the strongest desire to share it.

The monkey watched his friend emerge from the cocoon, and simply smiled at her, because she wouldn't understand anything he said. She flew off in the direction of the butterfly house.

That evening, at twilight, something different happened in the butterfly house. All the butterflies flew together in unison, as though their flying was the music itself. They glowed and swooped in a marvellous dance of colours and flashes of light. The song was strong and triumphant, like a dance that you never want to stop dancing. It was as though they were chanting and cheering. All the animals in the zoo looked up at the awesome display, and they knew their message had gotten though. 

This had been the message:

You don't know who we are, or that we are out here listening, but we hear you every night, as we are going to sleep. We want you to know how happy you make us, as we snuggle into bed. Your voices make us feel as though we are living in the most wonderful place in the world.

As the butterflies sang, the monkey realised the flashes had a regular pattern. He went to an old firefly, to ask what she thought about it. The old firefly settled onto a comfortable leaf and watched for a long time. Finally, she said:

It reminds me of the old firefly greeting song. It's the song of joy you sing when you are first born, and meet your first firefly, and realise that you aren't alone in the world. It is a tune that lets everyone know how happy you are, because you feel as though you are living in the most wonderful place in the world.