Once upon a time, three caterpillars traveled very far. One day, they arrived at a tree next to a river, and saw a bush full of flowers on the other side of the river. They started to think of a way to cross the river. The green caterpillar said, “Let's find a bridge and cross it.” The white caterpillar said, “That's too much trouble! Let's climb onto a leaf and float across the river!” The yellow caterpillar said, “We have been traveling for so long. Let's rest for a few days, and fly across the river after turning into butterflies.” The green caterpillar said, “Can't you see that the other caterpillars are drinking nectar from the flowers? Soon there will be none left for us! Furthermore, we didn't travel all the way here to rest!” The white caterpillar chimed in, “Yes! How could we rest now?”
Having spoken, the green caterpillar climbed toward the riverbank and searched for a bridge to cross the river. The white caterpillar found a leaf and climbed upon it to float across the river. The yellow caterpillar climbed up the tree, and found the most comfortable leaf to lie down and take a nap. After a few days, the yellow caterpillar woke up, and saw that he had turned into a beautiful yellow butterfly! He flapped his wings and flew across the river to the flowery bushes. After drinking the sweet and fragrant nectar, He suddenly remembered his companions, and flew around looking for them. In the end, he found the green caterpillar who had died of starvation on the bridge, and the white caterpillar who had drowned in the river, and ended up upon the muddy shore. The yellow caterpillar said to himself, “Why couldn't they wait until they turned into butterflies before crossing the river? Look at what impatience cost them.”
