Aesop's tales #
23 - The Lark and her Young Ones
A Lark made
her nest in a field of young wheat. As the days passed, the wheat stalks grew
tall and the young birds, too, grew in strength. Then one day, when the ripe
golden grain waved in the breeze, the Farmer and his son came into the field.
"This
wheat is now ready for reaping," said the Farmer. "We must call in
our neighbors and friends to help us harvest it."
The young
Larks in their nest close by were much frightened, for they knew they would be
in great danger if they did not leave the nest before the reapers came. When
the Mother Lark returned with food for them, they told her what they had heard.
"Do not
be frightened, children," said the Mother Lark. "If the Farmer said
he would call in his neighbors and friends to help him do his work, this wheat
will not be reaped for a while yet."
A few days
later, the wheat was so ripe, that when the wind shook the stalks, a hail of
wheat grains came rustling down on the young Larks' heads.
"If this
wheat is not harvested at once," said the Farmer, "we shall lose half
the crop. We cannot wait any longer for help from our friends. Tomorrow we must
set to work, ourselves."
When the young
Larks told their mother what they had heard that day, she said "Then we
must be off at once. When a man decides to do his own work and not depend on
any one else, then you may be sure there will be no more delay."
There was much
fluttering and trying out of wings that afternoon, and at sunrise next day,
when the Farmer and his son cut down the grain, they found an empty nest.
Moral: Self-help is the best help. Procrastination is the thief
of time.
