The document tells the story of a caterpillar over the course of a week. Each day the caterpillar eats a different fruit - one apple on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, four cherries on Thursday, and five oranges on Friday. That evening, the caterpillar gets a terrible stomach ache. The next day it eats a green leaf and feels better. It is no longer hungry and has grown into a large, fat caterpillar. It builds a cocoon around itself and stays inside for over two weeks. Eventually a butterfly emerges from the cocoon, concluding the story.