“You seem troubled, sir, if you don’t mind me saying so,” said the caterpillar. Zacharias experienced a brief internal struggle, but decided upon candour. “I am simply at a loss to account for the preternatural intelligence of you and your brethren,” he said. “I thank you for the compliment, but I am not certain my brethren are so very intelligent,” said the caterpillar cheerfully. “They seem tolerably addlepated to me!” “Oh pipe down, Gilbert,” said one of its fellows, without rancour.
