noy me, and therefore I am
going into the world to seek my fortune."

"Go along!" said the smith.

"You're a rude fellow!" cried the beetle; and then he went out of the
stable, flew a little way, and soon afterwards found himself in a
beautiful flower garden, all fragrant with roses and lavender.

"Is it not beautiful here?" asked one of the little lady-birds that
flew about, with their delicate wings and their red-and-black shields
on their backs. "How sweet it is here--how beautiful it is!"

"I'm accustomed to better things," said the beetle. "Do you call
_this_ beautiful? Why, there is not so much as a dung-heap."

Then he went on, under the shadow of a great stack, and found a
caterpillar crawling along.

"How beautiful the world is!" said the caterpillar: "the sun is so
warm, and everything so enjoyable! And when I go to sleep, and die, as
they call it, I shall wake up as a butterfly, with beautiful wings to
fly with."

"How conceited you are!" exclaimed the stag-beetle. "Fly about as a
butterfly, indeed! I've come out of the stable of the emperor, and no
one there, not even the emperor's favourite horse--that by the way
wears my cast-off golden shoes--has any such idea. To have wings to
fly! why, we can fly now;" and he spread his wings and flew away. "I
don't want to be annoyed, and yet I am annoyed," he said, as he flew
off.

Soon afterwards he fell down upon a great lawn. For awhile he lay
there and feigned slumber; at last he fell asleep in earnest.

Suddenly a heavy shower of rain came falling from the clouds. The
beetle woke up at the noise, and wanted to escape into the earth, but
could not. He was tumbled over and over; sometimes he was swimming on
his stomach, sometimes on his back, and as for flying, that was out of
the question; he doubted whether he should escape from the place with
his life. He therefore remained lying where he was.

When the weather had moderated a little, and the beetle had rubbed the
water out of his eyes, he saw something gleaming. It was linen that
had been placed there to bleach. He managed to make his way up to it,
and crept into a fold of the damp linen. Certainly the place was not
so comfortable to lie in as the warm stable; but there was no better
to be had, and therefore he remained lying there for a whole day and a
whole night, and the rain kept on during all the time. Towards morning
he crept forth: he was very much out of temper about the climate.

On the l