"The Butterfly." James Henley.

One-minute review: The boy has missed mass. Brother Timothy is in a rage. The boy meets Brother Timothy’s rage with stoical silence. Brother Timothy’s rage grows at this response of silence. He confines the boy to his room. They boy is sensitive. The reason he missed mass was his exploring the grounds with a friend and they did not hear the bell. On this exploration of nature, he has found and put in a box with air holes a green caterpillar that will grow into a butterfly. He treats the caterpillar gently. The caterpillar seems like a friend in the face of Brother Anthony’s rage. Brother Anthony crushes the caterpillar and the boy cries.

Comment: Each time I go into a rage like Brother Anthony’s, and I tend to do so, I will remember this story. That will be my “anger management.” RayS.

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature. Ed. Roger B. Goodman. New York: Bantam Books. 1961.