The Larks in the Cornfield

The Larks in the Cornfield


There was once a family of little Larks
who lived with their mother in a nest in a
cornfield. When the corn was ripe the
mother Lark watched very carefully to see
if there were any sign of the reapers'
coming, for she knew that when they came
their sharp knives would cut down the
nest and hurt the baby Larks. So every
day, when she went out for food, she told
the little Larks to look and listen very
closely to everything that went on, and to
tell her all they saw and heard when she
came home.

One day when she came home the little
Larks were much frightened.

"Oh, Mother, dear Mother," they said,
"you must move us away to-night! The
farmer was in the field to-day, and he said,
`The corn is ready to cut; we must call in
the neighbors to help.' And then he told his
son to go out to-night and ask all the neighbors
to come and reap the corn to-morrow."

The mother Lark laughed. "Don't be
frightened," she said; "if he waits for his
neighbors to reap the corn we shall have
plenty of time to move; tell me what he
says to-morrow."

The next night the little Larks were quite
trembling with fear; the moment their
mother got home they cried out, "Mother,
you must surely move us to-night! The
farmer came to-day and said, `The corn
is getting too ripe; we cannot wait for our
neighbors; we must ask our relatives to
help us.' And then he called his son and
told him to ask all the uncles and cousins
to come to-morrow and cut the corn. Shall
we not move to-night?"

"Don't worry," said the mother Lark;
"the uncles and cousins have plenty of
reaping to do for themselves; we'll not
move yet."

The third night, when the mother Lark
came home, the baby Larks said, "Mother,
dear, the farmer came to the field to-day,
and when he looked at the corn he was
quite angry; he said, `This will never do!
The corn is getting too ripe; it's no use to
wait for our relatives, we shall have to cut
this corn ourselves.' And then he called
his son and said, `Go out to-night and
hire reapers, and to-morrow we will begin
to cut.'"

"Well," said the mother, "that is
another story; when a man begins to do his
own business, instead of asking somebody
else to do it, things get done. I will
move you out to-night."