the spider and the butterfly

i once heard a tale.
what made this tale so distinct was its verisimilitude - it's lack of frills and plot devices. it was a simple, yet powerful tale which, in the 6+ years it's been since initially hearing it, has not eluded me in the bowels of forgetfulness commonly inhabited by the trivial and inconsequential. in fact, the tale and the themes or ideals it boasts revisited me last night as lucidity eluded me in both mental and physical fatigue. as i engaged in my pre-slumber rituals, i pondered the sharply contrasting ideals borne of the tale, and sought to align myself with one of them. my position - at least, at present - is irrelevant. for the time being, i merely wish to share the tale (as best i can), and offer up conceivable arguments for and against the varying sides. due to the length of both the related tale and the offered arguments, i'll split this into two posts: the story, then the arguments.
(note, this version of the story is painted by my own authorial colorings. the theme and events portrayed are pretty much perfectly translated, but i'm relating the tale in my own tongue/style)

two boys were walking through a utopian garden - lush and vibrant with color and life, all seemingly complementing the beauty of the rest and the entire. their stroll came to an abrupt end as one spotted activity in a spider's web. the spider was making its way to an entangled butterfly. he moved toward the web for closer inspection. the butterfly was struggling with a tenacity familiar only those living creatures who can feel death's hold tightening with every passing second. the spider appeared knowingly victorious, taking its time in its approach. as the spider reached its victim, preparing to ensnare it in the web-spun coccon which would serve for its entombment, the nearer boy bore his fingers into the spider's web, destroying an area larger than both the spider and the butterfly, halting the spider's procession as it struggled to maintain balance on the altered web structure. suddenly, the hand retracted from the hole, just before the boy could swipe his hand at the spider and save the butterfly. the other, the nearer boy's brother, had yanked the butterfly's would-be savior back before thrusting him to the ground. "What are you doing?!" he shot, attempting to regain his bearings. his eyes widened, having gorged themselves on the horror still unfolding - the spider, so near to the butterfly, was able to secure itself by hanging on to the butterfly and the undisturbed portion of the web. now, fearful of losing its dinner and the rest of its home, it toiled with a mad quickness in subduing its prey, which was fighting all the more vigorously with the taste of escape on the tip of its proboscis. the boy made an attempt to stand and force his way back to the web to halt the abomination in progress, but was knocked back to his previous crab-walk position by his brother's foot upon his chest. "I'm trying to save that butterfly!" the grounded brother pleaded. with a wild, defiant look about him foreign to his face, the standing brother fired, "Don't you get it?! If you save that butterfly, the spider will starve! Is that what you want?" silence. the grounded boy could muster no words with which to respond. he could only watch as the butterfly's movements slowed with each bite suffered from the spider. a retaliatory fervor ignited in his eyes. seeking to offer his shattered brother's resolve, the spider's savior uttered up a sympathetic "Hey, don't beat yourself up over this. One of them has to die in order for the other to live. If you save the butterfly, the spider will starve. At least this way is in the natural order of things." a quiet rage was brewing inside the speechless brother. he slowly stood up, looking only at the ground. his eyes scanned upward bit by bit, almost afraid to behold what had become of the butterfly. finally, he saw the motionless corpse tied fast to the spider's web, the victor toiling more slowly, its victory assured. his face lit up with rage and he lit into his brother, driving him into the ground. he assailed him with a flurry of pounds to his brother's blocking forearms. "You idiot! I wanted to save them both!" his brother would catch him by his wrists, then throw him over, allowing him to take the higher position. switching his hold, grabbing his both of his brother's wrists with one hand, he freely beat on his face with the other hand, clenched into a tight fist. when he felt his brother's resistance weakening and saw his squirms subsided, he stopped. angrily, tears streaming down his face, he spat out the same justification he'd used before. his brother, face equally wet with tears, bit his lip to obscure and restrict its quivering. he would say nothing. he could say nothing. he desperately sought refutation, but it was in vain. in his head, only the biting words of his brother existed, resounding painfully, seemingly echoing louder and louder amidst the silence in which the two walked.

(what'd you think? of the tale itself, and how i presented it?
hit me up. take care)