Hurrah ! '' And he flew away into the air , and began catching gnats . `` Oh ! come back , come back , '' cried Tom , `` you beautiful creature . I have no one to play with , and I am so lonely here . If you will but come back I will never try to catch you . '' `` I do n't care whether you do or not , '' said the dragon-fly ; `` for you ca n't . But when I have had my dinner , and looked a little about this pretty place , I will come back , and have a little chat about all I have seen in my travels . Why , what a huge tree this is ! and what huge leaves on it ! '' It was only a big dock : but you know the dragon-fly had never seen any but little water-trees ; starwort , and milfoil , and water - crowfoot , and such like ; so it did look very big to him . Besides , he was very short-sighted , as all dragon-flies are ; and never could see a yard before his nose ; any more than a great many other folks , who are not half as handsome as he . The dragon-fly did come back , and chatted away with Tom . He was a little conceited about his fine colours and his large wings ; but you know , he had been a poor dirty ugly creature all his life before ; so there were great excuses for him . He was very fond of talking about all the wonderful things he saw in the trees and the meadows ; and Tom liked to listen to him , for he had forgotten all about them . So in a little while they became great friends . And I am very glad to say , that Tom learned such a lesson that day , that he did not torment creatures for a long time after . And then the caddises grew quite tame , and used to tell him strange stories about the way they built their houses , and changed their skins , and turned at last into winged flies ; till Tom began to long to change his skin , and have wings like them some day . And the trout and he made it up -LRB- for trout very soon forget if they have been frightened and hurt -RRB- . So Tom used to play with them at hare and hounds , and great fun they had ; and he used to try to leap out of the water , head over heels , as they did before a shower came on ; but somehow he never could manage it .
He liked most , though , to see them rising at the flies , as they sailed round and round under the shadow of the great oak , where the beetles fell flop XXXXX the water , and the green caterpillars let themselves down from the boughs by silk ropes for no reason at all ; and then changed their foolish minds for no reason at all either ; and hauled themselves up again into the tree , rolling up the rope in a ball between their paws ; which is a very clever rope-dancer 's trick , and neither Blondin nor Leotard could do it : but why they should take so much trouble about it no one can tell ; for they can not get their living , as Blondin and Leotard do , by trying to break their necks on a string .
Besides after at if in into like that while with