The Project Gutenberg eBook ofComic InsectsThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Comic InsectsAuthor: F. A. S. ReidIllustrator: Berry F. BerryRelease date: September 28, 2013 [eBook #43834]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Emmy and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file wasproduced from images generously made available by TheInternet Archive)*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMIC INSECTS ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Comic InsectsAuthor: F. A. S. ReidIllustrator: Berry F. BerryRelease date: September 28, 2013 [eBook #43834]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Emmy and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file wasproduced from images generously made available by TheInternet Archive)
Title: Comic Insects
Author: F. A. S. ReidIllustrator: Berry F. Berry
Author: F. A. S. Reid
Illustrator: Berry F. Berry
Release date: September 28, 2013 [eBook #43834]Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Emmy and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file wasproduced from images generously made available by TheInternet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMIC INSECTS ***
insects looking at an open book
bugs
bugs
THE ILLUSTRATIONS ENGRAVED BY DALZIEL BROTHERS.THE COLOURED PLATES BY KRONHEIM & CO.
bugs by a beehive and flowering tree
BYThe Rev. F. A. S. REID, M.A.WITH ILLUSTRATIONSBYBERRY F. BERRY.
Frederick Warne Emblem
LONDON:FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.,BEDFORD STREET, STRAND.
Camden Press DALZIEL BROTHERS ENGRAVERS & PRINTERS
CONTENTS.PAGETHE CATERPILLAR1THE MOTH7THE SNAIL13THE BEE19THE BLACK-BEETLE25THE SPIDER31
PAGETHE CATERPILLAR1THE MOTH7THE SNAIL13THE BEE19THE BLACK-BEETLE25THE SPIDER31
Beetles dancing around sight that reads "Preface"
OH, wonder I much what this book contains!Can Insects talk, and do they have brains?I always thought that these queer little thingsWere made up entirely of legs, wings, and stings.A Black-Beetle teach me! And what, Bumble-Bee,In all the wide world can you say unto me?And surely a Caterpillar never has read?With green leaves for books, he would eat them instead;While neither a Moth nor a Spider could tellHow a pen should be held, or correctly could spell.And as for poor Snailey,—it's more than absurd,He never could read a one-syllable word!But I've heard of the School Board, and now it's appallingTo think that a Moth or a Snail may be callingAnd telling me too, as their little eyes glisten,Their funny wee lessons, if only I'll listen.* * * * * *Yes! they talk in a language that all is their own,And here into English you'll find it has grown;Where pictures will shew, and the rhymes they will say,How Insects can work, talk, and laugh, and be gay.
OH, wonder I much what this book contains!Can Insects talk, and do they have brains?I always thought that these queer little thingsWere made up entirely of legs, wings, and stings.A Black-Beetle teach me! And what, Bumble-Bee,In all the wide world can you say unto me?And surely a Caterpillar never has read?With green leaves for books, he would eat them instead;While neither a Moth nor a Spider could tellHow a pen should be held, or correctly could spell.And as for poor Snailey,—it's more than absurd,He never could read a one-syllable word!But I've heard of the School Board, and now it's appallingTo think that a Moth or a Snail may be callingAnd telling me too, as their little eyes glisten,Their funny wee lessons, if only I'll listen.* * * * * *Yes! they talk in a language that all is their own,And here into English you'll find it has grown;Where pictures will shew, and the rhymes they will say,How Insects can work, talk, and laugh, and be gay.
Tiles with drawings of bugs
Caterpillar smoking a pipe in front of a fan that reads "Introduction"
Howqueer a procession is passing this way,Of insects all talking; come, hear what they say!The sight is as strange as their words they are true,And you'll laugh as they offer their lessons to you.
Girl talking to large caterpillar
Caterpillar floating away on lily pad"Led astray."
"Led astray."
I'ma Caterpillar green,Not the prettiest you have seen,And my Chrysalis I enter rather loth;Though I know that in the springI shall rise on feathered wingIn the costume of a fascinating Moth.
Caterpillar and chyrsalis"I'm a Caterpillar green."
"I'm a Caterpillar green."
Little likeness you will spy,With the cleverest little eye,'Twixt your green-coated friend of to-dayAnd the airy form that sailsWhen the golden sunlight pales,And the owl flies abroad for his prey.
Caterpillar climbing into chrysalis"And my Chrysalis I enter rather loth."
"And my Chrysalis I enter rather loth."
Yet the same we are indeed,Though the riddle's hard to read,One, the Moth and the Caterpillar green;And still stranger things than this,Which no little one should miss,In the Picture Book of Nature can be seen.
Caterpillar as large as girl whispering in her ear"If you'll only deign to lend your ear."
"If you'll only deign to lend your ear."
So I think, my little friend,If you'll only deign to lendYour ear to these few words that I say,Ne'er again will you relyFor convictions on the eye,As appearances have often led astray.
Girl riding on moth
Moth looking in mirror"Oh, what a beautiful Moth am I."
"Oh, what a beautiful Moth am I."
Oh, what a beautiful Moth am I!Colours so gay, and sparkling each eye,Nobody ever would guess, I ween,I once was a Caterpillar all in green.
moth on table with jewelry wearing ring around shoulders"With silver and gold I have decked me too."
"With silver and gold I have decked me too."
I've taken me feathers of brightest hue,With silver and gold I have decked me too:No, no! you never would guess, I ween,I once was a Caterpillar all in green.With a tardy foot no longer I crawl'Neath the shady leaves, or on ivied wall;But, joyously floating in airy height,I wander abroad in the pale moonlight;
moth flying by flower in moonlight"I wander abroad in the pale moonlight."
"I wander abroad in the pale moonlight."
Or join the Elves as they dance and singIn the circle green of the fairy ring,Or tease a poor Daisy that's trying to keepIts big yellow eye from my curious peep.
Moth dead with singed wing from candle"Want of discretion."
"Want of discretion."
But sometimes I fly to a treacherous light,That mimics a star in a darkling night;And too late I learn, with my poor singed wings,The evil that want of discretion oft brings.
Girl and very large snail
snail with broken shell and bird flying above"How very pale."
"How very pale."
Poorlittle Snail,How very pale,Your cheek is blanched with fear!What horrid dreadHas made you shedSo many a slimy tear?Come! faster crawlAlong the wall,Leave care behind,—all's well!That seeming packUpon your backIs near an empty shell.
Snail weeping with hanky and leaving long trail"Leave care behind."
"Leave care behind."
Come! smile again,And let the rainOf tears at once be dry;Faint-hearted quite,And far from right,Before you're hurt to cry.No one will doubtWho thinks aboutThis great world spinning round,That all have hoursWhen sorrow's showersMake April all around.
Snail on long reed"That seeming packUpon your backIs near an empty shell."
"That seeming packUpon your backIs near an empty shell."
"That seeming packUpon your backIs near an empty shell."
But May and JuneFollow full soon,And joy succeeds to sorrow;So dry the tear,And from the yearYour cheering lesson borrow.
snail on tall flower looking through spy glass"Ah, Snailey! see."
"Ah, Snailey! see."
Ah, Snailey! seeTo you and meOur burdens oft appearMuch heavier farThan what they are,When we give way to fear.
Girl looking at beehive
bees and apple blossoms"Buz! buz! buz!Over blossoms heavy laden."
"Buz! buz! buz!Over blossoms heavy laden."
"Buz! buz! buz!Over blossoms heavy laden."
Buz!buz! buz!Over blossoms heavy laden with their treasures;Hear its music as it riflesFrom the flowers their seeming trifles;We may watch it in the sunshine at our leisure.
bees with wheelbarrows and carts full of honey and pollen"Hearty toil."
"Hearty toil."
See! their secrets it espyingIn their tinted depths while prying,As it works thro' the long summer day;"Be in earnest in your quest,Hearty toil brings well-earned rest,"Seems the burden of its light-hearted lay.
Bees eating honey and smoking pipe"Well-earned rest."
"Well-earned rest."
Lessons here of self-reliance,And "defence but not defiance,"As Volunteers are taught by the Bee.As it works on active wing,Self-protected with its sting,'Tis a grand working model, good to see;
bee sitting on flower playing a trumpet". . . Its music as it rifles."
". . . Its music as it rifles."
Pointing out how each is sharingIn the common task, and bearingHis just portion; where no idler is seen:All are busy in the hiveWhere these happy workmen thrive,And they're loyal, every one, to their Queen.
Kitten looking at beetle at dish of milk
beetle sitting in corner"This poor Black-Beetle's ill!."
"This poor Black-Beetle's ill!."
Oh, dear! Oh, dear!I sadly fearThis poor Black-Beetle's ill;And to him nowNo use, I trow,Is the cleverest doctor's skill.
man looking at beetle on its back on table"No medical sageHis pain can assuage."
"No medical sageHis pain can assuage."
"No medical sageHis pain can assuage."
No medical sageHis pain can assuage.You can see at a glance how badHe's made himself,All thro' his pelf:Isn't it dreadfully sad?
lots of beetles climbing up on to table while cook sleeps in a chair"When the cook was asleep."
"When the cook was asleep."
For wandering wideOn the floor he spied,Last night when the cook was asleep,And rejoiced to findSome cucumber rind,And now no more he will creep!
beetle on cucumber"Cucumber at night."
"Cucumber at night."
Yes! sad though it be,This little "B-B"Would follow his own appetite;He could never say "no,"When it tempted him; soHis epitaph is, "Serve him right!"And thus tearfull-ee,He begs you and meHis case as a warning to mind;Cucumber at nightTo regard with affright,And never to eat up the rind.
bugs caught in web in flowering cherry tree
Lots of spiders making webs"Spiders,—heugh!"
"Spiders,—heugh!"
Sp . . . i . . . ders,—heugh!Horrible forms that creep and crawl,And hang their webs from ceiling and wall!
spider walking across webline as on a high-wire"As they joy in the breeze."
"As they joy in the breeze."
From leaf and fern as they joy in the breeze,From moss-grown arch and ivy-clad trees,And catch the flies—the poor little things—That carelessly use their gossamer wings.
a lot of webs on bush"Their beautiful nets."
"Their beautiful nets."
It makes one shudder to think of the fateThat giddy bluebottles and gnats may await.Yet wonder we must, as we watch them spreadTheir beautiful nets with their silken thread;
female bug in black dress with wings and male bug in suit heading toward web behind drapes"It makes me shudder to think of the fateThat giddy blue-bottles and gnats may await."
"It makes me shudder to think of the fateThat giddy blue-bottles and gnats may await."
"It makes me shudder to think of the fateThat giddy blue-bottles and gnats may await."
And happier feel at the sign of that PowerThat guides each to weave such a fairy-like bower;And think of that Hand, that no eye can see,Which fashioned these Insects, and made you and me.