SPIDER AND THE FLY - Mary Botham Howitt

       

She was born Mary Botham at Coleford, in Gloucestershire, the temporary residence of her parents, while her father, Samuel Botham, a prosperous Quaker of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, was looking after some mining property. Samuel had married his wife Ann in South Wales in 1796, when he was 38 and she was 32. They had four children Anna, Mary, Emma and Charles. Their Queen Anne house is now known as Howitt Place. Mary Botham was educated at home, read widely, and began writing verse at a very early age.

         The spider is at its charming best. It decides to talk its way to the fly’s heart through flattery and praise. The spider speaks eloquently about the fly’s thin translucent wings and its sparkling eyes. If the fly comes in, it can feast its eyes in its own beauty using the spider’s mirror.
The flattery seemed to have its desired effect. The fly is excited about seeing itself in the spider’s mirror. Thanking the spider for the kind words, it flies if saying that it will return in a few days time.