Prevod
Na tem travniku so bili, kakor na vseh drugih travnikih, odkar obstaja svet, tudi taki prebivalci, ki jim nikoli ni bilo prav, kako stvari stojijo, in so menili, da bi bili povsem srečni, če bi bil svet le drugačen. Eden teh nezadovoljnežev je bil neki Komar, možiček s cvilečim glasom in neprijetnim vedenjem. S tistimi, ki mu niso bili podobni, je imel zelo malo potrpljenja in prepričan je bil, da bi bil svet mnogo prijetnejši kraj, če bi bile vse žuželke ustvarjene kot Komarji.
»Čemu sploh služijo Pajki, Kačji pastirji, Hrošči in Metulji?« je nejevoljno govoril. »En sam Komar je vreden več kot kateri koli izmed njih.«
Saj vidite, kako nerazumen je bil. Seveda Komarji in Muhe pomagajo ohranjati zrak čist in svež, toda zato se še nimajo pravice povzdigovati nad druge žuželke. Mar Čebele ne prenašajo cvetnega prahu s cveta na cvet in tako pomagajo rastlinam vzgajati njihove Semenske otročičke? In kdo ne bi pogrešal pisanih, veselih Metuljev, ki s svojim delom lepšajo svet?
Toda ta Komar ni nikoli pomislil na kaj takega in si je rekel: »No, če že ne morejo biti vsi Komarji, lahko vsaj poskusijo živeti kakor mi. Mislim, da jih bom sklical in se z njimi pogovoril.« Tako je razposlal vabilo na vse strani in njegovi prijatelji in sosedje so se zbrali, da bi slišali, kaj jim ima povedati.
»Najprej,« je pripomnil, »je škoda, da niste Komarji, toda ker pač niste, se je treba s tem čim bolje sprijazniti. Vendar bi se lahko marsičesa naučili od nas srečnih bitij, ki to smo. Poglejte na primer odlično navado Komarjev pri odlaganju jajčec. Tristo ali štiristo jajčec pritrdimo drugo ob drugo in jih pustimo plavati na ribniku tako, da mladički, ko predrejo svoje lupinice, zdrsnejo z glavo naprej v vodo. Potem pa—«
»Misliš, da bi to storila, tudi če bi lahko?« ga je prekinila stara, materinska Kobilica. »Da bi poskrbela, da se moji otroci utopijo v trenutku, ko prilezejo iz jajčeca? Nikakor ne!« In jezno je odhitela proč, za njo pa še več drugih ljubečih mater.
»Ampak saj se ne utopijo!« je presenečeno vzkliknil Komar. »Ne, če so Komarji,« je odvrnila Mravlja, »a hvaležna sem, da lahko rečem, da so moji otroci kopenski otročički, ne pa vodni.«
»No, o tem ne bom več govoril, moram pa omeniti vaše glasove, ki so vsekakor pregloboki in preglasni, da bi bili prijetni. Mislim, da bi lahko govorili in peli bolj tiho, četudi pod krili nimate takih žepkov, kot jih imam jaz. Zaprhutam s krili in zrak udari ob te žepke ter ustvari moj mili glas.«
»Hm!« je vzkliknila Čebela. »To je prav slabo mesto za žepke in tudi uporabljati jih tako ni nič kaj pametno. Vsaka Čebela ve, da so žepki najpriročnejši na zadnjih nogah in da jih je treba uporabljati za prenašanje cvetnega prahu otročičkom doma.«
»Moj žepek je zadaj,« je rekel Pajek, »in v njem hranim svilo za svojo mrežo. Brez žepka ne bi mogel živeti.« Nekateri travniški prebivalci so se že začeli jeziti, zato je Podvezna kača, ki se je vedno raje smejala kakor prepirala, zdrsnila naprej in rekla: »Prijatelji in sosedje! Naš govornik je bil tako prijazen, da nam je povedal, kako Komarji počnejo marsikaj, in nas skušal naučiti svojih navad. Zdi se mi, da bi mu lahko vsaj del te prijaznosti povrnili tako, da mu pokažemo svoje navade in poskrbimo, da se jih nauči v praksi. Prosila bi Pajke, naj ga vzamejo s seboj in mu pokažejo, kako se plete mreža. Potem bi ga Čebele lahko naučile graditi satje, Drevesna žaba regljati, Deževniki kopati rove, Gosenice pa presti kokon. Vsak izmed nas bo nekaj storil zanj. Morda ga bo Gosenica pedica naučila hoditi tako, kakor hodijo gosenice iz njene družine. Kolikor vem, ji gre to zelo dobro.« Ob tem so se vsi zasmejali, saj so se spomnili potegavščine, ki so jo ušpičili Gosenicam, Kača pa je nehala govoriti.
Komar si ni upal odkloniti pouka, zato so ga vodili od kraja do kraja in mu natančno razlagali, kako naj počne vse tisto, česar nikakor ni mogel početi, dokler ni postal tako krotek in ponižen, da je bil pripravljen pustiti travniškim prebivalcem, naj delajo in so srečni vsak po svoje.
Izvirnik
In this meadow, as in every other meadow since the world began, there were some people who were always tired of the way things were, and thought that, if the world were only different, they would be perfectly happy. One of these discontented ones was a certain Mosquito, a fellow with a whining voice and disagreeable manners. He had very little patience with people who were not like him, and thought that the world would be a much pleasanter place if all the insects had been made Mosquitoes.
"What is the use of Spiders, and Dragon-flies, and Beetles, and Butterflies?" he would say, fretfully; "a Mosquito is worth more than any of them."
You can just see how unreasonable he was. Of course, Mosquitoes and Flies do help keep the air pure and sweet, but that is no reason why they should set themselves up above the other insects. Do not the Bees carry pollen from one flower to another, and so help the plants raise their Seed Babies? And who would not miss the bright, happy Butterflies, with their work of making the world beautiful?
But this Mosquito never thought of those things, and he said to himself: "Well, if they cannot all be Mosquitoes, they can at least try to live like them, and I think I will call them together and talk it over." So he sent word all around, and his friends and neighbors gathered to hear what he had to say.
"In the first place," he remarked, "it is unfortunate that you are not Mosquitoes, but, since you are not, one must make the best of it. There are some things, however, which you might learn from us fortunate creatures who are. For instance, notice the excellent habit of the Mosquitoes in the matter of laying eggs. Three or four hundred of the eggs are fastened together and left floating on a pond in such a way that, when the babies break their shells, they go head first into the water. Then they----"
"Do you think I would do that if I could?" interrupted a motherly old Grasshopper. "Fix it so my children would drown the minute they came out of the egg? No, indeed!" and she hurried angrily away, followed by several other loving mothers.
"But they don't drown," exclaimed the Mosquito, in surprise.
"They don't if they're Mosquitoes," replied the Ant, "but I am thankful to say my children are land babies and not water babies."
"Well, I won't say anything more about that, but I must speak of your voices, which are certainly too heavy and loud to be pleasant. I should think you might speak and sing more softly, even if you have no pockets under your wings like mine. I flutter my wings, and the air strikes these pockets and makes my sweet voice."
"Humph!" exclaimed a Bee, "it is a very poor place for pockets, and a very poor use to make of them. Every Bee knows that pockets are handiest on the hind legs, and should be used for carrying pollen to the babies at home."
"My pocket is behind," said a Spider, "and my web silk is kept there. I couldn't live without a pocket."
Some of the meadow people were getting angry, so the Garter Snake, who would always rather laugh than quarrel, glided forward and said: "My friends and neighbors; our speaker here has been so kind as to tell us how the Mosquitoes do a great many things, and to try to teach us their way. It seems to me that we might repay some of his kindness by showing him our ways, and seeing that he learns by practice. I would ask the Spiders to take him with them and show him how to spin a web. Then the Bees could teach him how to build comb, and the Tree Frog how to croak, and the Earthworms how to burrow, and the Caterpillars how to spin a cocoon. Each of us will do something for him. Perhaps the Measuring Worm will teach him to walk as the Worms of his family do. I understand he does that very well." Here everybody laughed, remembering the joke played on the Caterpillars, and the Snake stopped speaking.
The Mosquito did not dare refuse to be taught, and so he was taken from one place to another, and told exactly how to do everything that he could not possibly do, until he felt so very meek and humble that he was willing the meadow people should be busy and happy in their own way.
