They are chosen every now and then, out of all the others, as being the most industrious and the cleverest of all the world-flower-painters, and then they are allowed to rest, and are fed on the finest essences, so that they grow as splendid as you see.

But even now they are not idle; they superintend all the work that is done, and choose all the new colours." "Dear me!" said Griselda, under her breath, "how clever they must be." Just then the butterfly king and queen stretched out their magnificent wings, and rose upwards, soaring proudly into the air.
"Are they going away ?" said Griselda in a disappointed tone.
"Oh no," said the cuckoo; "they are welcoming you.

Hold out your hands." Griselda held out her hands, and stood gazing up into the sky.

In a minute or two the royal butterflies appeared again, slowly, majestically circling downwards, till at length they alighted on Griselda's little hands, the king on the right, the queen on the left, almost covering her fingers with their great dazzling wings.
"You _do_ look nice now," said the cuckoo, hopping back a few steps and looking up at Griselda approvingly; "but it's time for the feast to begin, as it won't do for us to be late." The king and queen appeared to understand.

They floated away from Griselda's hands and settled themselves, this time, at one end of a beautiful little grass plot or lawn, just below the terrace where grew the large-leaved plant.