The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Butterfly's Ball, by R.M. Ballantyne

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Title: The Butterfly's Ball
The Grasshopper's Feast

Author: R.M. Ballantyne

Illustrator: R.M. Ballantyne

Release Date: June 13, 2007 [EBook #21823]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BUTTERFLY'S BALL ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast, by R.M. Ballantyne.

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This one of the half-dozen or so little books that Ballantyne wrote for
young children. Many of these, and certainly the earlier ones, were
written under the pseudonym of Comus, but this one went out under his
own name, perhaps because by the time it was published in 1874 his own
name had become much more celebrated than that of his pseudonym.

It was written for very young children, and very amusing they must have
found it, with its characters being the little insects and small mammals
of the fields and woods, who assemble together for a feast. Naturally
they must have become vegetarian for the day! Anyway, they put away
their warring instincts, and had a good time together, though one or two
incidents caused by the over exuberant during the dancing, threatened to
cause serious mishaps, though all were avoided.

It's a tiny book, perhaps a twentieth of the size of one of Ballantyne's
novels for older children, but it is certainly fun.

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THE BUTTERFLY'S BALL AND THE GRASSHOPPER'S FEAST, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
The Butterfly's Ball--by RM Ballantyne

CHAPTER ONE.

THE BUTTERFLY'S BALL AND THE GRASSHOPPER'S FEAST.

Come, take up your hats, and away let us haste
To the Butterfly's ball and the Grasshopper's feast;
For the trumpeter Gadfly has summoned his crew,
And the revels are now only waiting for you.

On the smooth-shaven grass by the side of the wood,
Beneath a broad oak that for ages has stood,
See the children of earth, and the tenants of air,
For an evening's amusement together repair.

And there came the Bee