“What a day it has been!” you thought to yourself as you leant against a buttercup to rest, and fanned yourself with one of the leaves.You looked all round at the flowers and the blades of grass. There was a large mushroom growing near you, about the same height as yourself; and when you had looked under it, and on both sides of it, and behind it, it occurred to you that you might as well look and see what was on the top of it.

 

You stretched yourself up on tippy-toe, and peeped over the edge of the mushroom, and your eyes immediately met those of a large caterpillar, that was sitting on the top with its arms folded, quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the smallest notice of you or of anything else.

 

You and The Caterpillar looked at each other for some time in silence: and at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed you in a languid, sleepy voice.