Berci, the centipede, had some qualms of conscience in the beginning.
He, and his insect counterparts, were both referred to as centipedes, even though he had only 84 legs for his age. It was also made up of pairs, 42 pairs to be precise.
But the passage of time will sort that out. Because as you get older, "older" every year, the number of your legs will increase. So he didn't have to worry about that.
At the same time, he was very concerned that he had no shoes. In fact, he walked barefoot, barefoot on the bumpy paths of life.
He heard some nice stories about similar problems and wishes, like the one about a cinquefoil in Versbe who wanted shoes for himself, but couldn't get them, so he couldn't go on a long journey with the other birds when autumn came.
In another tale, he learned that the poor, vain bird had even temporarily acquired a pair of slippers in the form of an acorn cap, but when it lost one of its shoes, it was forced to part with the other. Don't be a laughing stock among the forest animals with your one-legged slipper! And so, forced by necessity, he continued to live his life without footwear.
At least I would have a sock! Well, not one, but one for each pair of feet. How nice life would be! I wouldn't have to walk barefoot for food. 'I'm almost worn out from all the chasing,' thought Berci.
Then he unexpectedly stumbled.
He looked under his feet - forwards and backwards - to see what was stopping him from moving forward, when he saw that he had stepped into a huge, intricately coiled cobweb, which had temporarily stalled him, almost tied him up.
The spider wasn't at home, obviously on a foraging trip himself, so he left his somewhat battered and unfit to catch flies.
As Berci tried to crawl out of the knee-length net, she suddenly noticed that the net obeyed her, letting her go on, snugly covering and protecting her legs.
What's more, it looks quite good. A kind of transparent, pleasant-looking, modern silk stocking that covers the legs, decorating them.
- I'll keep it - that was Berci's first thought. Why should I not take the opportunity that life - or the wind - had brought me such a great piece of clothing.
And so he did. He walked on, 42 pairs of feet in his newly acquired "silk stockings". She liked it, and hoped others would appreciate it.
He didn't even continue his search for food - worms, larvae - but went straight on to the big clearing where his insect friends gather at this time of year.
As he expected, it worked out. As she had anticipated, everyone admired and even complimented her new acquisition, the fine woven tights woven from spider webs.
Berci secretly hoped that her special outfit would last. Or, if not, as she got older, she would find a new cobweb and have something to wear on her legs in the future.
