He was quite right in saying that it was the worst stalk he had ever
seen, because he had never seen any other, but he was much mistaken in
saying that it didn't pay to pump sap, and as for saying that "it didn't
pay, so there!" we all know that when insects begin to talk in that way
the best thing to do is to leave them quite alone until they are
better-natured.
The other Frog-Hopper children couldn't leave him alone, because they
hadn't changed their skins for the last time. They had to stay in their
foam until that was done. After the big brother spoke in this way, they
all began to wonder if the sap didn't pump hard. Before long the big
sister wiggled impatiently and said, "My beak is dreadfully tired."
Then they all stopped eating and began to talk. They called their home
stuffy, and said there wasn't room to turn around in it without hitting
the foam. They didn't say why they should mind hitting the foam. It was
soft and clean, and always opened up a way when they pushed against it.
"I tell you what!" said the big brother, "after I've changed my skin
once more and gone out into the great world, you won't catch me hanging
around this old golden-rod."
"Nor me!" "Nor me!" "Nor me!" said the other young Frog-Hoppers.
"I wonder what the world is like," said the little sister. "Is it just
bigger foam and bigger golden-rod and more Frog-Hoppers?"
"Huh!" exclaimed her big brother. "What lots you know! If I didn't know
any more than that about it, I'd keep still and not tell anybody." That
made her feel badly, and she didn't speak again for a long time.
Then the little brother spoke. "I didn't know you had ever been out into
the world," he said.
"No," said the big brother, "I suppose you didn't. There are lots of
things you don't know." That made him feel badly, and he went off into
the farthest corner of the foam and stuck his head in between a
golden-rod leaf and the stalk. You see the big brother was very cross.
Indeed, he was exceedingly cross.
For a long time nobody spoke, and then the big sister said, "I wish you
would tell us what the world is like."
The big brother knew no more about the world than the other children,
but after he had been cross and put on airs he didn't like to tell the
truth. He might have known that he would be found out, yet he held up
his head and answered: "I don't suppose that I can tell you so that you
will understand, because you have never seen it. There are lots of
things there--whole lots of them--and it is very big. Some of the things
are like golden-rod and some of them are not. Some of them are not even
like foam. And there are a great many people there. They all have six
legs, but they are not so clever as we are. We shall have to tell them
things."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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