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Myrmidone the Caterpillar

- Second Part  -
A story by Mediana Stan, translated by Irith Manory, illustrated by Liviu Boar

Myrmidone was brought to General Tar. Without losing sight of the princess, he told the six messenger-locusts aligned in front of him: "Go to Bud and let them know that Myrmidone will be freed in exchange of two…" he weighed the queen again with his eyes a little bit before continuing, "…no, let's make it four apple orchards."
The queen spoke arrogantly and scornfully, while chewing: "You should make a more realistic proposition, since my caterpillars know better than giving up their land in exchange for a queen."
"Shut up, grub!" said General Tar.
This was a terrible insult. Myrmidone became very furious and spat her gum in the general's face, which was now covered in a sticky, hard-to- remove mask.

The lady locusts, stupefied, commented that Myrmidone “is so vain that she cannot fit in her own skin." They did not imagine how true their statement was, though.
To soften the glue, Tar had to sit with his face facing the fire while the servants were pulling his beard and shaving him with a razor blade. Myrmidone was transferred to the Orange Tower, where she was fed just one leaf and one drop of water an hour. When they brought the food, the executioner-locusts also entered the room, together with three soldier-locusts that were pinning Monarch butterflies to the wall with needles, and Myrmidone was spitting gum on their faces or showing them her very long tongue.
Myrmidone sat by the table on a chair, her back to the pierced butterflies, for four hours straight. The locusts were talking to her, but she didn't even turn her head. "What happened to her that she doesn't spit at us anymore?” the executioner and the soldiers wondered.

Since the caterpillars did not reply to Tar's demands, as if they didn't care that their Queen would be pinned among butterflies, Tar sent messengers to the caterpillars' kingdom, which was ruled during Myrmidone's absence by General Hop-on-Flower. The guards led the ten messenger locusts to the Throne room, but all of a sudden they stopped; their eyes nearly popped out, and grew as big as quinces, since sitting solemnly on the golden throne was no other than Myrmidone, the one they knew was jailed in their tower!
The messengers returned hopping and told Tar what they saw. He climbed to the Tower, took Myrmidone in his paws and realised…that the princess was only a skin in perfect form, but empty inside. She has shed her shell and escaped using some butterfly wings. Enraged, he and his locusts launched an ambush, kidnapped Hop-on-Flower and locked him in the Tower in Myrmidone's place, where he was kept under constant supervision, after checking his mouth.

Myrmidone sent twelve messengers to General Tar, with a letter saying: "If you dare fight me with a spear and I win, you will set Hop-on-Flower free, and if you win, we will surrender two orchards."
"No!" replied the General in a letter. "If we win, you'll be my wife!"
"So be it!" she replied.
Within an hour the Green Caterpillars' and the Gray Locusts' armies have lined up facing each other on a neutral territory between the orchards, at a great distance from one another, to watch the fight between Myrmidone and General Tar, both wearing armor and helmets.

Myrmidone did not wait for the General to come near, and immediately threw the spear and pinned him to a tree trunk.
"Now, set Hop-on-Flower free," said Myrmidone to the adjunct-general locust. The adjunct-general locust saluted and said: "General Tar has to set him free, but since he is pinned down he cannot do that".
"How's that? Our understanding was that if he was defeated or killed, the locusts would set him free," said Myrmidone.
The adjunct-general opened her letter, which he has kept rolled under his belt and pointed with his gloved hand: "You have not specified what happens in case he was dead."
"Hmm…" Myrmidone realised that he was trying to find a pretext. Who could be so cunning in the gray locusts' kingdom?"

The caterpillars were trampling their feet eagerly. Captain Thick-Fluffy signaled to attack, while General Twenty-Two-Running-Legs shouted: "Brothers, this could be our last battle. For our Queen Myrmidone, attaaaack!"
That was what the caterpillars were waiting for. They fought with ferocious pleasure spearing the locusts and pinning them to the trees, so much so that the orchard started to look like an insectarium.

The adjunct-general was captured and dragged to Myrmidone.
When they took off his helmet, they realized that it was...General Tar.
“Ha, ha!" he said, "I too like to fool around, Your Majesty". "You coward, you didn't dare fight a woman," angry voices were heard saying.
Myrmidonels eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and she rubbed two pairs of palms with amazement. "Let's go to the council room and decide what to do about him!" she said. The queen entered the room and saw that only half of the council members were present. "Where are the other members?" she asked.
General Twenty-Two-Easy-Legs was livid and pointed towards a few green looking bags hanging from the windows and said: "They have entered their chrysalides, My Queen!"
Their clothes were scattered on the ground.

 "Oh!" was all the queen could utter. "I don't have time to select another council, but we have the scaffold already built and standing in place."
The General was seized and brought to the scaffold. The entire caterpillar nation gathered to watch the execution. Myrmidone was sitting on the throne, watching while thumping her feet.
"General Tar likes to play with words," she said, addressing the caterpillars. She then turned to Tar and said: "You'll have to guess a word. You can guess by saying whole words or letters, as you like.

Myrmidone whispered the word to a caterpillar, who than wrote it with charcoal on a white tree trunk, first and last letter and a few dashes in between for the missing letters.

B- - - - - - - -Y


"Once you guess a letter that repeats itself, it will be written in the word as many times as needed."
Tar bowed and said: "Thank you for your kindness, My Queen".
"No kindness here," she replied, "just the rules of the game. You're entitled to five guesses. Each error brings you c’oser to the gallows".
General Tar took a face that seemed to be attentive, tame and even affectionate. "Could I please know if B or Y also occur more than once in the word? If so, this will have to be disclosed."

Myrmidone smiled sweetly: "No, they do not."
Tar thought, thought and thought some more, analysing the orchard, the caterpillars, and the hanging noose.
"Does it contain the letter M?" The caterpillars all answered together:
"Nooo!"

General Tar was lifted on to the chair. "A?"
The noose was put around his neck. 
"TT?"

 

Myrmidone signaled and the caterpillar entered the two T's in the word. "You are entitled to one more guess," she said. Tar fretted and rubbed his wings. "Hmm, it's a word all the caterpillars know, it's something of their own, but what could it be? What?" he thought to himself; and then he said: "Butterfly."
The crowd burst in cheers. A caterpillar climbed on the scaffold and freed him from the noose. He bowed and was allowed to leave, and after signing a document that he will never again spear butterflies, he sealed it with the personal seal he always carried in his coat.
Myrmidone announced that within two hours her marriage with General Thirty-Legs-on-Flower would be officiated. In the fortress the preparations have started. But Myrmidone was worried because changes were occurring.

As they were growing older, the caterpillars were becoming butterflies and were leaving Bud. The soldiers, captains and generals, all hated metamorphosis. What's this stupid game of playing butterfly? They lose legs (retaining just six out of sixteen), become frail, with wings that are easily damaged, they cannot drink wine, binge or put on weight, and most importantly, they cannot fight with spears and use heavy bark shields. They would be beautiful though, but who needs beauty? But it was not up to them. Wailing, the famous generals with tens of legs entered their chrysalides.

Myrmidone and the council had to choose others to replace them.
At about the time the wedding was about to take place, Myrmidone entered the Butterfly Temple, but the groom was not there. She remained facing the altar, her head turned towards the door, to where the folds of her long robe reached. In front of the altar, she waited motionless, for many, many minutes, while the temple was full of bustle and whispers. Suddenly, through the massive door entered a butterfly with black wings with orange circles. It was Hop-on-Flower, who just got out of his chrysalide.
A big party started in the caterpillar's kingdom. The groom embraced the bride and took off with her to a quince bud.