Dispute with a Peacock Butterfly. 41 



" Of course ; you must withdraw it, now you know 

 that I have hardly eaten any honey all this morning 

 — not so much as you have, I daresay." 



" Very good," replied the butterfly; " but before 

 I do so, tell me if I am wrong in thinking you said 

 the honey was stored for your use during the winter." 



" That's just what I said." 



" May I ask how you use it ? " 



" Why, we eat it, of course," said Buz. 



" Then all this morning you must have been 

 thinking — not of what you were eating, certainly — 

 but of what you are going to eat in the winter. 

 Dear me ! dear me ! This is even worse than I 

 thought," said the butterfly, almost sadly. 



" But it isn't greediness on our part," said Buz ; 

 "we call it, being provident." 



" It sounds greedy tome though," said the butter- 

 fly. " According to your own account, you think all 

 the summer of what you are going to eat all the 

 winter. You think of nothing else, and work like 

 slaves, and never have any fun. Well, I wouldn't be a 

 bee ! " 



Buz was rather disconcerted at the turn the con- 

 versation had taken, and, more to gain time than for 

 any other reason, she asked the butterfly how she 

 spent /2i?r time. 



