theRE was once an Emperor who had a horseshod with gold. He had a golden shoe on each foot，and why was this? He was a beautiful creature，with slender legs， bright， intelligent eyes， and amane that hung down over his neck like a veil. Hehad carried his master through fire and smoke in thebattle-field， with the bullets whistling round him;he had kicked and bitten， and taken part in thefight， when the enemy advanced; and， with his master on his back， he had dashed overthe fallen foe， and saved the golden crown and the Emperor's life， which was of more valuethan the brightest gold. This is the reason of the Emperor's horse wearing golden shoes.
A beetle came creeping forth from the stable， where the farrier had been shoeing thehorse. “GREat ones， first， of course，” said he， “and then the little ones; but size is notalways a proof of greatness.” He stretched out his thin leg as he spoke.
“And pray what do you want?” asked the farrier.
“Golden shoes，” replied the beetle.
“Why， you must be out of your senses，” cried the farrier. “Golden shoes for you，indeed!”
“Yes， certainly; golden shoes，” replied the beetle. “Am I not just as good as that GREatcreature yonder， who is waited upon and brushed， and has food and drink placed beforehim? And don't I belong to the royal stables?”
“But why does the horse have golden shoes?” asked the farrier; “of course youunderstand the reason?”
“Understand! Well， I understand that it is a personal slight to me，” cried the beetle. “It is done to annoy me， so I intend to go out into the world and seek my fortune.”
“Go along with you，” said the farrier.
“You're a rude fellow，” cried the beetle， as he walked out of the stable; and then heflew for a short distance， till he found himself in a beautiful flower-garden， all fragrant withroses and lavender. The lady-birds， with red and black shells on their backs， and delicatewings， were flying about， and one of them said， “Is it not sweet and lovely here? Oh， howbeautiful everything is.”
“I am accustomed to better things，” said the beetle. “Do you call this beautiful? Why，there is not even a dung-heap.” Then he went on， and under the shadow of a large haystackhe found a caterpillar crawling along. “How beautiful this world is!” said the caterpillar. “Thesun is so warm， I quite enjoy it. And soon I shall go to sleep， and die as they call it， but Ishall wake up with beautiful wings to fly with， like a butterfly.”
“How conceited you are!” exclaimed the beetle. “Fly about as a butterfly， indeed! whatof that. I have come out of the Emperor's stable， and no one there， not even the Emperor'shorse， who， in fact， wears my cast-off golden shoes， has any idea of flying， exceptingmyself. To have wings and fly! why， I can do that already;” and so saying， he spread hiswings and flew away. “I don't want to be disgusted，” he said to himself， “and yet I can't helpit.” Soon after， he fell down upon an extensive lawn， and for a time pretended to sleep，but at last fell asleep in earnest. Suddenly a heavy shower of rain came falling from the clouds.The beetle woke up with the noise and would have been glad to creep into the earth forshelter， but he could not. He was tumbled over and over with the rain， sometimes swimmingon his stomach and sometimes on his back; and as for flying， that was out of the question.He began to doubt whether he should escape with his life， so he remained， quietly lyingwhere he was. After a while the weather cleared up a little， and the beetle was able to rub thewater from his eyes， and look about him. He saw something gleaming， and he managed tomake his way up to it. It was linen which had been laid to bleach on the grass. He crept into afold of the damp linen， which certainly was not so comfortable a place to lie in as the warmstable， but there was nothing better， so he remained lying there for a whole day and night，and the rain kept on all the time. Towards morning he crept out of his hiding-place， feeling in avery bad temper with the climate. Two frogs were sitting on the linen， and their bright eyesactually glistened with pleasure.
“Wonderful weather this，” cried one of them， “and so refreshing. This linen holds thewater together so beautifully， that my hind legs quiver as if I were going to swim.”
“I should like to know，” said another， “If the swallow who flies so far in her manyjourneys to foreign lands， ever met with a better climate than this. What delicious moisture!It is as pleasant as lying in a wet ditch. I am sure any one who does not enjoy this has no lovefor his fatherland.”
“Have you ever been in the Emperor's stable?” asked the beetle. “There the moisture iswarm and refreshing; that's the climate for me， but I could not take it with me on my travels.Is there not even a dunghill here in this garden， where a person of rank， like myself， couldtake up his abode and feel at home?” But the frogs either did not or would not understandhim.
“I never ask a question twice，” said the beetle， after he had asked this one three times，and received no answer. Then he went on a little farther and stumbled against a piece of brokencrockery-ware， which certainly ought not to have been lying there. But as it was there， itformed a good shelter against wind and weather to several families of earwigs who dwelt in it.Their requirements were not many， they were very sociable， and full of affection for theirchildren， so much so that each mother considered her own child the most beautiful and cleverof them all.