Kyaw Myint Aye - Myanmar Stories from the Beautiful New World

Once upon a time, a butterfly was flying in a flower garden, sucking nectar from flowers. While sucking nectar and resting on a branch of a tree, it heard the flowers talking.

"It's lucky for a butterfly to be alone in such a large garden."

"Yes. It's a beautiful, yellow, and unique butterfly."

The butterfly thought he was lucky after hearing the flowers talking to each other. He then boasted that the garden was his.

One day, another little butterfly came into the garden. When he saw the little butterfly, he said, "Hey... my friend, this is my garden. You shouldn't come in here. Go back to your place. These flowers have nothing to do with you." And he chased it away.

Then the butterfly told him, "Grandpa, gardens are made by people. Grandpa can't be made. All the butterflies in the world have the right to live in gardens."

But the arrogant butterfly did not understand this. He thought that the garden was his property. He did not welcome the guest butterfly well and forcibly drove him away. The guest butterfly left the garden in a sad mood.

The little butterfly was alone in the garden for a long time. He was happy among the colorful and beautiful flowers and thought of himself as a king who could protect this garden. One night, a strong storm came. Thunder roared in the sky and lightning flashed. The storm became so strong that it destroyed many things on the ground. Some trees were uprooted and fell. The beautiful flowers in the garden also fell and fell to pieces. The little butterfly had to stay in a safe place all night and brave the storm.

The storm had passed by at dawn. When dawn broke, the butterfly emerged from its hiding place into the world. Everything around it was in ruins. The garden that it had once thought was the most beautiful in the world was gone. The beautiful flowers were scattered on the ground. Everything it owned was destroyed in a moment by the storm. 200

A few days later, people came and started recreating the garden. They were working hard to make it a beautiful garden. The little butterfly looked at them and realized that she had come to her senses. She regretted thinking that the garden belonged to her and that she was the only one who could protect it. She decided that she would try to be a good host to other butterflies who came to the garden.

Lesson: This story teaches us that we should not be proud of what we have acquired without our own efforts.