then he translated the beetle's name into Latin， and said a GREat deal upon the creature'snature and history. The second person， who was older and a scholar， proposed to carry thebeetle home， as they wanted just such good specimens as this. Our beetle considered thisspeech a great insult， so he flew suddenly out of the speaker's hand. His wings were drynow， so they carried him to a great distance， till at last he reached a hothouse， where asash of the glass roof was partly open， so he quietly slipped in and buried himself in the warmearth. “It is very comfortable here，” he said to himself， and soon after fell asleep. Then hedreamed that the emperor's horse was dying， and had left him his golden shoes， and alsopromised that he should have two more. All this was very delightful， and when the beetlewoke up he crept forth and looked around him. What a splendid place the hothouse was! Atthe back， large palm-trees were growing; and the sunlight made the leaves—look quiteglossy; and beneath them what a profusion of luxuriant green， and of flowers red likeflame， yellow as amber， or white as new-fallen snow! “What a wonderful quantity ofplants，” cried the beetle; “how good they will taste when they are decayed! This is a capitalstore-room. There must certainly be some relations of mine living here; I will just see if I canfind any one with whom I can associate. I'm proud， certainly; but I'm also proud of being so.Then he prowled about in the earth， and thought what a pleasant dream that was about thedying horse， and the golden shoes he had inherited. Suddenly a hand seized the beetle， andsqueezed him， and turned him round and round. The gardener's little son and his playfellowhad come into the hothouse， and， seeing the beetle， wanted to have some fun with him.First， he was wrapped， in a vine-leaf， and put into a warm trousers' pocket. He twisted andturned about with all his might， but he got a good squeeze from the boy's hand， as a hintfor him to keep quiet. Then the boy went quickly towards a lake that lay at the end of thegarden. Here the beetle was put into an old broken wooden shoe， in which a little stick hadbeen fastened upright for a mast， and to this mast the beetle was bound with a piece ofworsted. Now he was a sailor， and had to sail away. The lake was not very large， but to thebeetle it seemed an ocean， and he was so astonished at its size that he fell over on hisback， and kicked out his legs. Then the little ship sailed away; sometimes the current of thewater seized it， but whenever it went too far from the shore one of the boys turned up histrousers， and went in after it， and brought it back to land. But at last， just as it wentmerrily out again， the two boys were called， and so angrily， that they hastened to obey，and ran away as fast as they could from the pond， so that the little ship was left to its fate. Itwas carried away farther and farther from the shore， till it reached the open sea. This was aterrible prospect for the beetle， for he could not escape in consequence of being bound tothe mast. Then a fly came and paid him a visit. ”What beautiful weather，“ said the fly; ”I shallrest here and sun myself. You must have a pleasant time of it.“
“You speak without knowing the facts，” replied the beetle; “don't you see that I am aprisoner?”
“Ah， but I'm not a prisoner，” remarked the fly， and away he flew.
“Well， now I know the world，” said the beetle to himself; “it's an abominable world; I'mthe only respectable person in it. First， they refuse me my golden shoes; then I have to lieon damp linen， and to stand in a draught; and to crown all， they fasten a wife upon me.Then， when I have made a step forward in the world， and found out a comfortable position，just as I could wish it to be， one of these human boys comes and ties me up， and leaves meto the mercy of the wild waves， while the emperor's favorite horse goes prancing aboutproudly on his golden shoes. This vexes me more than anything. But it is useless to look forsympathy in this world. My career has been very interesting， but what's the use of that ifnobody knows anything about it? The world does not deserve to be made acquainted withmy adventures， for it ought to have given me golden shoes when the emperor's horse wasshod， and I stretched out my feet to be shod， too. If I had received golden shoes I shouldhave been an ornament to the stable; now I am lost to the stable and to the world. It is allover with me.”
But all was not yet over. A boat， in which were a few young girls， came rowing up. “Look， yonder is an old wooden shoe sailing along，” said one of the younger girls.
“And there's a poor little creature bound fast in it，” said another.
the boat now came close to our beetle's ship， and the young girls fished it out of thewater. One of them drew a small pair of scissors from her pocket， and cut the worstedwithout hurting the beetle， and when she stepped on shore she placed him on the grass. “There，” she said， “creep away， or fly， if thou canst. It is a splendid thing to have thyliberty.” Away flew the beetle， straight through the open window of a large building; there hesank down， tired and exhausted， exactly on the mane of the emperor's favorite horse， whowas standing in his stable; and the beetle found himself at home again. For some time heclung to the mane， that he might recover himself. “Well，” he said， “here I am， seated onthe emperor's favorite horse，—sitting upon him as if I were the emperor himself. But what wasit the farrier asked me? Ah， I remember now，—that's a good thought，—he asked me whythe golden shoes were given to the horse. The answer is quite clear to me， now. They weregiven to the horse on my account.” And this reflection put the beetle into a good temper.The sun's rays also came streaming into the stable， and shone upon him， and made theplace lively and bright. “Travelling expands the mind very much，” said the beetle. “The worldis not so bad after all， if you know how to take things as they come.