FABLE XXIV
by John Gay · from Fables of John Gay (Somewhat Altered)
Adapted Version
A new butterfly sits on a big rose. She just got her wings today. She is very happy. “Look at my wings!” she says. They are new and pretty. She feels very, very proud. The world looks bright and new to her.
Her wings are very bright. They are blue like the sky. They are black like the night. They have spots of bright gold. She opens her wings in the sun. She closes them. She opens them again. "I am so pretty," she thinks.
A snail moves on the ground below. He is an old, slow neighbor. He carries his house on his back. He moves very slowly past the rose. He watches the happy butterfly. He is quiet and wise.
The butterfly looks down. She sees the slow snail. She does not like what she sees. "Hello down there," she says. Her voice is not very friendly. The snail stops and looks up at her.
"You are very slow," says the butterfly. "You cannot fly like me. You cannot sit on a flower. This garden is for pretty things. It is not for slow things. You should go away. Go away from my pretty rose."
The snail is not mad. He is not sad. He is calm. He thinks before he speaks. His voice is very slow and quiet. "You are very proud," he says.
"But you forget a thing," says the snail. "You forget about the day before. The day before you were not a butterfly. You were a small caterpillar. You did not have any pretty wings. You crawled on the ground. You crawled on a small green leaf. You were very, very slow then. I saw you crawling."
The snail looks at his own shell. "I was born a snail," he says. "I am a snail today. The next day I will be a snail. I am always the same. I do not change. But you change. You were a caterpillar. Now you are a butterfly."
The butterfly is quiet. She looks at her wings. She thinks of being a small caterpillar. She does not say mean words now.
Original Story
FABLE XXIV.
Butterfly and Snail.
All upstarts, insolent in place,
Remind us of their vulgar race.
A butterfly, but born one morning,
Sat on a rose, the rosebud scorning.
His wings of azure, jet, and gold,
Were truly glorious to behold;
He spread his wings, he sipped the dew,
When an old neighbour hove in view—
The snail, who left a slimy trace
Upon the lawn, his native place.
"Adam," he to the gard'ner cried,
"Behold this fellow by my side;
What is the use with daily toil
To war with weeds, to clear the soil,
And with keen intermittent labour
To graft and prune for fruit with flavour
The peach and plum, if such as he,
Voracious vermin, may make free?
Give them the roller or the rake,
And crush as you would crush a snake."
The snail replied: "Your arrogance
Awakes my patience from its trance;
Recalls to mind your humble birth,
Born from the lowliest thing on earth.
Nine times has Phœbus, with the hours,
Awakened to new life, new flowers,
Since you were a vile crawling thing!
Though now endowed with painted wing,
You then were vilest of the vile—
I was a snail, but housed the while;
Was born a snail, and snail shall die;
And thou, though now a butterfly,
Will leave behind a baneful breed
Of caterpillar sons—thy seed."
Story DNA
Moral
Those who rise in status should not forget their humble origins or scorn those who remain in their original state.
Plot Summary
A newly transformed butterfly, proud of its beautiful wings, scorns a nearby snail and demands the gardener crush it as vermin. The snail, however, calmly reminds the arrogant butterfly that it was once a 'vile crawling thing' itself (a caterpillar) just a short time ago. The snail contrasts its own unchanging nature with the butterfly's past transformation and predicts its future legacy of 'caterpillar sons', exposing the butterfly's hypocrisy and arrogance.
Themes
Emotional Arc
pride to rebuke
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
John Gay's fables often satirized contemporary society and politics, using animal characters to critique human behavior and social climbing.
Plot Beats (11)
- The fable opens with a moral about upstarts being insolent.
- A butterfly, newly born and beautiful, sits on a rose, scorning it.
- The butterfly's wings are described as glorious.
- An old neighbor, a snail, appears, leaving a slimy trace.
- The butterfly addresses the gardener, Adam, complaining about the snail.
- The butterfly questions the point of gardening if 'vermin' like the snail are allowed to exist.
- The butterfly demands the gardener crush the snail.
- The snail responds, stating the butterfly's arrogance reminds it of its humble birth.
- The snail points out that only nine 'Phoebus' cycles ago, the butterfly was a 'vile crawling thing' (caterpillar).
- The snail contrasts its own consistent identity ('born a snail, and snail shall die') with the butterfly's transformation.
- The snail concludes by predicting the butterfly will leave behind a 'baneful breed of caterpillar sons'.
Characters
The Butterfly ★ protagonist
A creature of delicate build, with a slender body and large, vibrant wings. Its form is light and airy, designed for flight.
Attire: Not applicable, as it is an insect. Its 'clothing' is its natural wing coloration.
Wants: To enjoy its newfound beauty and status, to be admired, and to distance itself from its humble origins.
Flaw: Excessive pride and a short memory regarding its past form. It is vulnerable to the gardener's potential actions.
The story captures it at the peak of its arrogance, before any potential downfall or lesson learned. It does not change within the fable.
Arrogant, scornful, proud of its current beauty, dismissive of its past, ungrateful.
Image Prompt & Upload
A vibrant butterfly with wings of azure blue, jet black, and golden yellow patterns, perched delicately on a red rosebud. Its body is slender and dark. It faces forward, wings spread wide, antennae slightly curved. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
The Snail ◆ supporting
A creature with a soft, elongated body, leaving a visible slimy trail. It carries a sturdy, spiraled shell on its back.
Attire: Not applicable, as it is a snail. Its 'clothing' is its natural shell.
Wants: To maintain the natural order, to remind others of their true origins, and to highlight the value of consistency and humility.
Flaw: Its slow pace and perceived low status make it vulnerable to being overlooked or dismissed.
The Snail serves as a voice of reason and does not undergo a personal arc within the fable. It remains consistent in its character.
Patient, observant, wise, grounded, critical of arrogance, steadfast.
Image Prompt & Upload
An old, common garden snail, with a brown and grey spiraled shell, slowly moving across a surface. Its soft body is extended, and its two pairs of tentacles are visible. It leaves a faint, glistening trail behind it. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
Adam (The Gardener) ○ minor
A working man, likely with a sturdy build from daily toil in the garden. His hands would be calloused.
Attire: Practical, sturdy working clothes suitable for a gardener, such as a linen shirt, canvas trousers, and perhaps a leather apron. Colors would be earthy and functional.
Wants: To cultivate and maintain a productive and beautiful garden.
Flaw: Could be swayed by the Snail's complaint without fully understanding the context.
Does not have an arc within this short fable; he is merely an addressed figure.
Diligent, hardworking, focused on maintaining the garden, potentially susceptible to persuasion regarding 'pests'.
Image Prompt & Upload
A middle-aged man with a sturdy build, wearing a simple, earth-toned linen shirt and practical canvas trousers, standing in a garden. His hands are calloused. He holds a wooden-handled rake over his shoulder. He has a focused, attentive expression. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
Locations
Rose Bush in a Garden
A vibrant rose bush with a scorned rosebud, likely in a well-tended European-style garden. The butterfly is perched on a rose, sipping dew.
Mood: initially serene and beautiful, quickly turns confrontational and arrogant
The butterfly, newly born, displays its beauty and arrogance, encountering the snail for the first time.
Image Prompt & Upload
A close-up view of a dew-kissed, fully bloomed red rose on a thorny bush, with a single, tightly furled rosebud slightly below it. The leaves are a deep, healthy green, and the background suggests a soft-focus, well-maintained English garden with hints of other flowering plants. Gentle morning light illuminates the scene from the left, highlighting the delicate petals and glistening dew. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
Garden Lawn
A manicured lawn, the native place of the snail, where it leaves a slimy trace. This is part of the larger garden.
Mood: grounded, natural, but also a place of perceived 'toil' and 'vermin' by the snail
The snail, observing the butterfly, complains to the gardener about 'vermin' and later delivers a scathing retort to the butterfly.
Image Prompt & Upload
A low-angle view across a meticulously kept, dewy green lawn in a traditional English garden. Patches of short, vibrant grass are visible, with a subtle, glistening trail of slime winding across the blades. In the soft background, the dark, rich soil of a flowerbed is visible, suggesting cultivation. The morning sun casts a gentle, even light across the scene. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
