Once Upon a Time Page #7

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Pinky, come over here

and bring Curly with you.

Perhaps you'd care to watch

a performance, Professor.

Play, Pinky.

Look in there, Professor Drapor.

We don't want to look

in the box, Mr. Flynn.

There isn't a single iota

of scientific evidence...

to show that the caterpillar

has ever danced.

Now wait. Curly's been seen

by all his colleagues...

men who've been trained

to observe carefully.

Now look, Professor.

Their opinions can hardly

be considered reliable.

- Am I right, Dr. Van Dorn?

- Always, Professor.

Only a scientific examination

is accurate...

and that we should do

in our own laboratory.

- What?

- Phone. Important.

Oh. Excuse me.

- Who is it?

- Dunhill.

Oh. Keep 'em occupied.

Hello.

Oh, he is. Well, I'm sorry.

I'm not interested.

The price I quoted still goes.

No more, no less.

Really, Mr. Flynn,

you're still being unreasonable.

I admit this fad's had

a lot of publicity in 48 hours...

but there's no reason why

Mr. Disney should increase his offer.

This might be a dead issue

next week.

I happen to know a way

to keep it alive.

Thanks for calling.

Good-bye.

Now, my dear Professor,

as I understand it...

you wish to make a guinea pig

out of this caterpillar.

Well, Mr. Flynn,

we would like to spend...

a few intimate hours with it,

if you don't mind.

I think that can be arranged,

but let's not be too intimate about it.

If I'm going to be exposed to the

public, I wanna be exposed in a big way.

I'll see to it. I'll bring along all the

newspaper boys who fell for your hoax.

- You will, and the photographers too.

- Anything to help you out.

Oh. Fine. Then shall we say 10:00

in the morning, Professor?

- In the morning at the museum.

- Good.

It's been a great pleasure

to meet you learned gentlemen.

I hope our meeting tomorrow

proves beneficial to all of us.

- So kind of you.

- I'll meet you in the insect room.

Wear a red carnation

so I'll know you.

Now if you'll all be quiet,

gentlemen...

we're ready to start

the examination.

Caterpillar, please?

My scalpel.

Forceps.

- Oh, please be careful.

- Shh.

Magnifier.

- Looks kind of pale, don't he?

- He's got more color than I have.

- Ready, Dr. Van Dorn?

- Ready.

The first five pairs of abdominal feet

remarkably elongated.

Mandibles, normal.

Unusually conspicuous first maxillae.

Eyes on either side of head.

Head extremely well chitinized.

Extraordinary chitinization!

What does that mean?

It means extraordinary chitinization.

Notice the remarkable elongation

of the abdominal feet.

And now, gentlemen,

I'm inclined to say...

despite a few rather

unusual features...

this is just

an ordinary caterpillar.

And now we shall determine

whether this caterpillar...

reacts to sound vibrations...

as we've been told.

Miss Fleming,

the oscillator, please.

Set it at 1,000 cycles.

Not a movement.

Three thousand cycles.

What are they trying to do,

bust his eardrum? Curly, I mean.

No movement at all.

Advance it to 5,000 cycles.

You're just wasting your time,

Professor. Curly's asleep.

You may be right.

Five thousand cycles and still

no movement. Turn it off, please.

Quiet, please.

Young man,

will you please cease playing?

He's up.

He's on his tail.

Faster, please.

See what I mean?

He stopped when the music stopped.

Amazing!

Stopped right with him.

- Play again, please.

- No, no, that's enough.

Pinky, pick up Curly.

Gentlemen, you've had

your experiment.

Now I want a statement.

Well, Mr. Flynn, you see-

Aren't you convinced now

that this is not a hoax?

But the point is-

The point is do you admit that he's the

greatest thing ever known to science?

- One thing.

- Yes?

- He is not a hoax.

- I already know that.

- And...

- Yes?

- he's no ordinary caterpillar.

- Right.

Now, the most important thing-

does he or does he not dance?

Well, he-

he dances.

You hear that? He dances.

There's your story, gentlemen!

Brandt, you won't forget

to tell your readers about...

the findings of these

learned lepidopterists, will you?

You'll find my apologies

in the morning paper.

Page one.

It's too bad that such a wonderful thing

has to belong to a guy like you.

Oh, glad you got here.

Do you think Mr. Disney would be

a little more interested now?

- I'll write him tonight.

- We haven't that much time. Phone him.

Very well.

Young man, you mustn't

take that caterpillar away.

- Why not?

- We intend to keep him for more study.

Well, I'm sorry, Professor,

but I'm afraid that's impossible.

We insist that he stay in our possession

because we may have to dissect him.

Dissect him?

You mean cut him up

into little pieces?

Jerry, cut up Curly?

You're not gonna touch him.

Well, I should say they're not.

Let's get out of here.

Wait, Mr. Flynn. Wait!

This worm must remain here

for the advancement of science.

A phenomenon like this occurs

once in a million years.

Then sit down and wait

for the next one.

- This caterpillar belongs to posterity.

- So do you.

Mr. Flynn?

Mr. Flynn, I'm warning you.

Unless you give us possession

of this caterpillar...

we will bring this issue

to the attention of the public.

Very well, gentlemen. If it's a fight

you want, that's what you'll get.

That caterpillar belongs

to this boy and me.

You can't take our personal property

away, not even in the name of science.

You can't do it.

It's against the Bill of Rights.

This isn't just taking away

something that belongs to one kid.

It's liable to happen to your kid,

my kid and everybody's kid.

You're right.

You know, I was in London,

Chungking and Malta...

and I saw kids dodging bombs

just to rescue a mangy dog they loved.

Well, Captain,

there's your Curly.

- Very good job, Conway.

- Thanks, Captain.

I'll say it again,

Flynn has got his nerve.

No say that.

What's this country coming to when a guy

from Broadway tells science what to do?

Please, I'm on bended knee,

I beg of you, no talk like that.

- I'll say as I please!

- Look, mister.

The customer is always right,

and you're right...

but you're wrong like anything!

Read the Constitution-

"life, liberty. "

If Flynn wants to hold on to the

caterpillar, then he's got a right.

- I know. I-

- Oh, you- Oh, you don't agree, huh?

What is your opinion now?

I- At a time like this,

who has an opinion?

That's -a fine.

The whole course of civilization

has been charted by science.

Now it's a question whether

the civilization of self-interest...

of non-sacrifice,

is fit to survive.

A caterpillar in itself

is only a small thing, but-

On the other hand, Flynn feels

that an attempt is being made...

to subject him to regimentation.

When I first told you

the story of Curly...

I didn't think it would raise

this storm of controversy.

Because what I saw in Curly

is even more significant...

than what both sides

are fighting for.

Cheer up,Jerry. You've gotta admit

Curly's got the whole world excited.

Yeah. And you gotta admit

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