"I remembered one morning when I discovered a cocoon in the bark of a tree, just
as the butterfly
was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out. I waited a while, but it was too long
appearing and I was impatient. I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I warmed it as quickly
as
I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster than life. The case opened, the
butterfly started slowly crawling out and I shall never forget my horror when I saw how its wings
were folded back and crumpled; the wretched butterfly tried with its whole trembling body to unfold
them. Bending over it, I tried to help it with my breath. In vain. It needed to be hatched out patiently
and the unfolding of the wings should be a gradual process in the sun. Now it was too late. My
breath had forced the butterfly to appear, all crumpled, before its time. It struggled desperately and,
a few seconds later, died in the palm of my hand."
Nikos Kazantzakis