"A co-
coon? What's
that?" asked Asad, who
was always a curious boy.
"Let me explain from the be-
ginning," said the butterfly as it
took a deep breath. "We but-
terflies hatch out of the egg as
tiny caterpillars. We feed our-
selves by nibbling
leaves. Later we
use a liquid which
comes out of our
bodies like thread
and wrap ourselves
up in it. That little
package we weave is called
a cocoon. We spend a while inside
that package as we wait to grow.
When we wake up and come
out of the cocoon we have
brightly colored wings. We spend
the rest of our lives flying and feed-
ing ourselves from flowers."
Asad nodded thoughtfully "You
mean all those colorful butterflies
were once caterpillars before they
grew wings?"
11
Everything
in the heavens
and the earth
glorifies Allah...
(Surat al-Hadid, 1)
