A Traveller in Little Things by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson
page 126 of 218 (57%)
page 126 of 218 (57%)
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the caterpillar has undergone his transformation and emerging spreads
his wings and forthwith takes his flight a full-grown butterfly with all its senses and faculties complete. Walking on the sea front at Worthing one late afternoon in late November, I sat down at one end of a seat in a shelter, the other end being occupied by a lady in black, and between us, drawn close up to the seat, was a perambulator in which a little girl was seated. She looked at me, as little girls always do, with that question--What are you? in her large grey intelligent eyes. The expression tempted me to address her, and I said I hoped she was quite well. "O yes," she returned readily. "I am quite well, thank you." "And may I know how old you are?" "Yes, I am just three years old." I should have thought, I said, that as she looked a strong healthy child she would have been able to walk and run about at the age of three. She replied that she could walk and run as well as any child, and that she had her pram just to sit and rest in when tired of walking. Then, after apologising for putting so many questions to her, I asked her if she could tell me her name. "My name," she said, "is Rose Mary Catherine Maude Caversham," or some such name. |
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