said his mother , setting him down again as quickly as possible , for orderly Daisy hated to be `` interruckted , '' as Nan expressed it . `` I read about one who used to do it very slyly . I tried to make Topaz , but she did not like the water , and scratched me . She does like tea , and when I play in my kitchen she pats the teapot with her paw , till I give her some . She is a fine cat , she eats apple-pudding and molasses . Most cats do not . '' `` That 's a first-rater , '' called out Nat , and Daisy retired , pleased with the praise of her friend . `` Demi looks so impatient we must have him up at once or he wo n't hold out , '' said Uncle Fritz , and Demi skipped up with alacrity . `` Mine is a poem ! '' he announced in a tone of triumph , and read his first effort in a loud and solemn voice : `` I write about the butterfly , It is a pretty thing ; And flies about like the birds , But it does not sing . `` First it is a little grub , And then it is a nice yellow cocoon , And then the butterfly Eats its way out soon . `` They live on dew and honey , They do not have any hive , They do not sting like wasps , and bees , and hornets , And to be as good as they are we should strive . `` I should like to be a beautiful butterfly , All yellow , and blue , and green , and red ; But I should not like To have Dan put camphor on my poor little head . '' This unusual burst of genius brought down the house , and Demi was obliged to read it again , a somewhat difficult task , as there was no punctuation whatever , and the little poet 's breath gave out before he got to the end of some of the long lines . `` He will be a Shakespeare yet , '' said Aunt Jo , laughing as if she would die , for this poetic gem reminded her of one of her own , written at the age of ten , and beginning gloomily , `` I wish I had a quiet tomb , Beside a little rill ; Where birds , and bees , and butterflies , Would sing upon the hill . '' `` Come on , Tommy . If there is as much ink inside your paper as there is outside , it will be a long composition , '' said Mr. Bhaer , when Demi had been induced to tear himself from his poem and sit down . `` It is n't a composition , it 's a letter . You see , I forgot all about its being my turn till after school , and then I did n't know what to have , and there was n't time to read up ; so I thought you would n't mind my taking a letter that I wrote to my Grandma . It 's got something about birds in it , so I thought it would do . ''
With this long excuse , XXXXX plunged into a sea of ink and floundered through , pausing now and then to decipher one of his own flourishes .
Bhaer Demi First Jo Nan Nat Tommy rill teapot wasps