Benjamin Bat, who lived in Cedar Swamp, was one of those who found fault
with the merry dancers. He grumbled a good deal about them--and
especially about Freddie Firefly.

"He's so proud of that light he carries!" Benjamin often exclaimed,
"Now, if he could hang by his feet from the limb of a tree--and SLEEP at
the same time--he'd have something to boast of!"

No doubt Benjamin Bat was jealous. Anyhow, Solomon Owl declared that
there was still another reason why Benjamin did not like Freddie
Firefly. Solomon claimed that Benjamin would have liked to EAT Freddie.
But he didn't quite dare to grab him for fear of getting burned by
Freddie's light.

If that was so, then it was no wonder that Freddie kept flashing his
light in the dark. And it was lucky that he had a light, because--like
Benjamin Bat himself--he was a night-prowler.

Unlike Farmer Green, Freddie believed that the night air was very
healthful. And together with all his family, he thought that a damp
place was much to be preferred to a dry one.

He often remarked that the pollen upon which he frequently dined tasted
best when the dew was upon it. And he never could understand why Buster
Bumblebee's sisters, the ill-tempered workers, always gathered nectar
for their honey-making in the daytime.

"Everyone to his own taste!" Freddie sometimes said. "And I suppose that
those who sleep from sunset to dawn don't know what they're missing."