Princess and the butterfly

Once upon a time there lived a king and queen. They had a lovely little princess. She was very beautiful. She loved to play in the garden.

One day when she was playing in the garden, a huge butterfly flew onto a tree and its shadow fell upon the princess.

The princess felt this and promptly looked up. When she saw the huge butterfly, she was very surprised by its size.

She ran as fast as her little feet would take her towards the palace. However, before she could enter the palace, the huge butterfly hailed her, and said,

“Stop little princess, stop! I only want to see your beauty and speak with you.”

The little princess was startled.

“What, a talking butterfly! I must be dreaming,” she cried out before she could stop herself.

“Yes,” it said, “I am a talking butterfly.”

Now the princess was not frightened at all. She took huge strides towards the butterfly.

“Come to a lower branch,” said the princess.

So, it flew down to a lower branch. Then the princess tried to touch it, but the butterfly flew up to a higher branch.

“Don’t be afraid. I just want to touch you,” said the princess.

“If you touch me, my wings will get damaged and I won’t be able to fly,” said the butterfly.

The princess was very sorry about it, and promised not to touch it again. So, the butterfly flew down to a lower branch and onto the princess’s arm. It looked at the expression on her face and thought to itself...

“What a beautiful, gentle, kindhearted little girl she is.”

So, they talked to each other about the world. They had no idea about how fast the time was passing by. Soon it was getting dark.

“I must go to my land,” said the butterfly.

The princess looked around and said,

“I think you won’t have enough time to go home. You had better stay here for the night.”

It agreed. Then the princess ran to her room and opened the window for the butterfly to come inside. The room was very neat and tidy. The princess ushered the butterfly to the table.

“I will bring some honey from the dinner table,” said the princess and when she went to have dinner she ate so quickly that the queen questioned her about it,

“What’s the matter? Are you in trouble?”

“No, I’m just so drowsy,” said the princess.

Then she hurried to her room with a bottle of honey. She opened the door very quietly, and said,

‘Come my friend, I’m your little princess.”

It just peeped through the curtain, and said,

“Hello, princess!”

She then gave the honey to it. Then the butterfly was admiring her beauty.

“I never saw a big and beautiful butterfly like you,” said the princess.

Till midnight, they talked to each other. The next morning the butterfly got ready to leave. But the princess was still fast asleep. It came close to her and looked at the expression on her face. Then it gently touched her and she immediately woke up. She saw the butterfly smiling at her, and said,

“Good morning.”

The butterfly greeted her back and said, “It’s time. I must go now.”

It was a very sad moment for both. The princess asked it to come again, but it gave a very sad reply.

“Our lifespan is very short. I don’t think I will be able to come again.”

Then the princess burst into tears. The butterfly tried to comfort the little princess.

“When you grow older, you will realise what life is. Everyone has to face this fate someday. However, humans have a longer lifespan than us. So, don’t cry my little princess. I will ask my children to visit you. This is a promise,” it said.It then bade “Goodbye” and gave a gentle kiss to the princess’s rosy cheeks. The princess looked through the window pane till the butterfly faded away from her sight. Two tear drops fell on to her pink nightdress and faded away just like the butterfly.

Time passed very rapidly. One day, she saw two little butterflies fly into her garden.

“My friend has kept its promise,” she thought to herself.Then the princess played with them and lived happily ever after.

J. Randhula Gajadheera,
Willesden College International,
Battaramulla.

New hope for threatened freshwater dolphins in Asia

The endangered freshwater dolphins, Ganges River dolphin and the Irrawaddy dolphin will be protected in the world’s largest mangrove ecosystem - Sundarbans, located in Bangladesh.

The Government of Bangladesh declared three new wildlife sanctuaries for the endangered freshwater dolphins on January 29 to protect the last two remaining species of freshwater dolphins in Asia.The dolphins are threatened by fatal entanglements in fishing gear, depletion of their prey from the enormous by-catch of fish and crustaceans in fine-mesh “mosquito” nets used to catch fry for shrimp farming, and increasing salinity and sedimentation caused by sea-level rise and changes in the availability of upstream freshwater flow.

The three sanctuaries may serve as a global safety net for preventing their extinctions, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) whose conservation work helped pinpoint the locations of the protected areas.Although there is no global population estimate for either species, both have disappeared from major portions of their range. However, both species occur in the Sundarbans in sufficient numbers.

The three wildlife sanctuaries safeguard 19.4 mi (31.4 km) of channels with a total area of 4.1 sq mi (10.7 sq km). The locations and sizes of the sanctuaries in the Sundarbans were determined according to a study conducted by WCS and Bangladesh Forest Department and published in the journal Oryx in 2010. The study found that the habitat of Ganges River and Irrawaddy dolphins were clumped in waterways where human activities are most intense.

News of the declared sanctuaries is particularly welcome considering the recent extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin whose last confirmed sighting was in 2002. Fatal entanglement in nets and habitat degradation killed off this species after having survived in the Yangtze River of China for more than 10 million years.

“Declaration of these Wildlife Sanctuaries is an essential first step in protecting Ganges River and Irrawaddy dolphins in Bangladesh,” said Brian D. Smith, Director of the WCS’s Asian Freshwater and Coastal Cetacean Programme, and first author of the study. “As biological indicators of ecosystem-level impacts, freshwater dolphins can inform adaptive human-wildlife management to cope with climate change suggesting a broader potential for conservation and sustainable development.”

Dr. Tapan Kumar Dey, Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, Forest Department, Bangladesh, said: “A critical component will be to engage local human communities. The wildlife sanctuaries will be used as a natural laboratory for developing management practices that balance wildlife conservation with the resource demands of a large and growing human population.”

Starting February 18, WCS, through its Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project,initiated a boat-based dolphin exhibition called the “Shushuk Mela” to local communities bordering the Sundarbans mangrove forest.

Science Daily