44 Buz. 



can possibly be in your case, who live only for self- 

 indulgence; and, even if it be true, as you afifirm it is, 

 that my existence is utterly in vain, the very fact of 

 my longing to be of use, and of your being unwilling 

 to be useful even if you could, makes me certain 

 that it is better to be a bee than a butterfly." 



"Pity we can't agree ! " said the butterfly. " Fine 

 day, ain't it ? " 



Buz was so annoyed at the flippant manner in 

 which the butterfly put an end to the conversation, 

 in which she had really become interested, that she 

 turned to leave without saying another word, when 

 she heard a thick, muffled voice, so close to her that 

 she quite started — 



" I'm very old." Then there was a pause. "Very 

 old indeed," continued the voice, which Buz now 

 found proceeded from a large snail, stuck close to 

 the edge of the sundial. " Hundreds of years, per- 

 haps," said the snail slowly, as if he was reckoning 

 up. 



" Thousands, I should say," remarked the butter- 

 fly, in a low voice. 



"And I know a lot." Here there was a long 

 pause. 



" He knows how to keep silence, at any rate," said 

 the butterfly to Buz. 



