The Sun's Babies Page 11

  Have you found out yet how kind Hen-Mother was?

  CHICK-A-PICK'S CROW

  The chickens ate fast and grew fast, and feathers came where down hadbeen. Chick-a-pick was the strongest of the whole family. Hecertainly ate the most.

  One day Hen-Mother said: "You are old enough now to take care ofyourselves. I am going to lay eggs. Chick-a-pick, you are thebiggest. Look after the others, and always remember that the strongestshould help the weaker ones."

  At first the chickens could not understand the change. They followedHen-Mother as they had always done, and ran to be fed whenever they sawher eating. "This will not do," she said. "You must learn to findyour own food, or you will never be ready to take your places in thebig world." At last she pecked them and drove them away from her, forshe was wise.

  "Come with me," said Chick-a-pick to the others. "I will take care ofyou."

  He found food for them, and called them to it as he had heard the BigRooster call to the hens. At night they huddled together for warmth intheir coop. It was then that they missed their mother most.

  "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" sang the Big Rooster from the top of the fence.How Chick-a-pick wished he could do that! It was such a beautifulsong. The notes rang out so far that he felt sure they must be heardall over the world. If only he could make a song like that!

  "I will try," he thought.

  He jumped on a tub. The others crowded round to look at him.

  "What are you going to do?" they asked.

  "I am going to sing like the Big Rooster," he said.

  He flapped his wings and tried, but no sound came. Again he flappedand tried. This time a sound came, but such a sound! He nearly jumpedoff the tub with surprise at the queer noise. His brothers and sistersran away in a fright.

  "Don't do that," they begged. "It is terrible. It sounds like a dogbarking."

  "Perhaps it will be better next time," said Chick-a-pick. "I'll tryagain."

  He tried again, whilst the others stood against the fence to watch.Flap, flap, flap! "Adoo! Adoo!" he shouted. Oh dear! why wouldn't itcome right? It was really a very ugly noise.

  "It is dreadful," said the others. "You will never be able to singlike the Big Rooster, so you may as well give up trying."

  "I shall go on trying," said Chick-a-pick, "for that is the only way tolearn. Go away if you don't like the noise. I am going to practise."

  He practised. Presently the sound grew a little better. He practisedagain the next day; the sound grew better still. He practised againthe third day, and at last, hurrah! out came a real "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

  He did it again and again. Yes, there was no mistake. The song wasnot so loud and clear as the Big Rooster's, but it was the real songfor all that. Some day it would grow more powerful.

  The brothers and sisters heard him, and came to listen.

  "Well done, big brother," said the sisters. "Now we see what comes oftrying."

  "If you can do it, so can we," said the brothers. They jumped on thetub and practised as he had done, and by-and-by they could all crow.

  THE GORSE-MOTHER

  The Gorse-Mother lived hidden away in the middle of a big gorse bush ona hill. She was an extremely busy person, for, like the old woman wholived in a shoe, she had so many children she scarcely knew what to do.She had not whipped them all soundly, for she had a tender heart, forall her thorny looks; but she had put them to bed. Wrapped in theirlittle brown blankets, they lay in hundreds all round her. You wouldhave called them buds, but they were little Gorse Babies.

  The Gorse-Mother was tired, for the making of all those blankets hadbeen a great work. But she knew there was no rest for her yet. "Thesunshine grows hotter every day," she said. "The children will soonfind the blankets too warm. I must make their satin-tents."

  She set to work at the satin-tents. After several weeks of labour shehad them ready. How beautiful they were! They were yellow andscented, with fluted sides, and a peaked top, and the daintiest greenvelvet mats for the floor. The children sprang out of bed and dancedwith pleasure at finding their tents all ready for them. And theGorse-Mother's heart was glad, for now for a while she could rest. Thesun shone, the birds sang, the golden satin-tents swayed in the wind,and everybody was happy.

  In the afternoon a bee came. "May we ask him in, mother?" asked one ofthe children.

  "Certainly. He is your best friend," said the Gorse-Mother.

  They asked him in, giving him nectar from their little cups, and makinghim very welcome. As he left the Gorse-Mother said: "Tell the otherbees that we invite them to a nectar-feast to-morrow."

  The bee flew off. He told the other bees of the Gorse-Mother's kindinvitation, and next day they came in scores to the nectar-feast.

  What a day that was! Nectar cups were filled to the brim, and the beeswere feasted royally. They stored the sweet juice in their bags forthe hive, and filled their little hair-baskets with pollen. They flewfrom tent to tent, and became most friendly with the children.

  Weeks passed by, and the Gorse-Mother roused herself to work again."The children are growing fast," she said. "I must make theirelastic-houses."

  She unfastened the walls of the satin-tents and let them fall away.Where each tent had stood she built a green elastic-house. Strong andtightly shut were these little green houses; on each floor stood a rowof tiny stools.

  The children were tired after their weeks of pleasure. They were quitecontent to do nothing all day but sit on their stools and grow.

  "Sit still and be good," said the Gorse-Mother, "and remember to growbig. Your houses will grow with you. As you turn brown they will turnbrown, and as you turn black they will turn black. After that you maygo out into the world."

  Things happened exactly as the Gorse-Mother said they would. As thechildren grew, their elastic-houses stretched so that there was alwaysroom for them. When the children turned brown the houses turned brown;and when the children turned black the houses turned black.

  "Now remember what I tell you," said the Gorse-Mother. "When yourhouses pop open, jump as far out into the world as you can, for if youfall close to me you will have no room to grow and spread. When youreach the ground, the first thing to do is to find a soft place, andthe next thing is to grow. And don't forget to grow plenty of thorns.Now good-bye. Make big bushes all round me, and I shall be proud ofyou."

  One by one, with a noise like tiny pistols, the houses popped open.The children remembered their mother's advice. They jumped far outinto the world, found a soft place, and grew. In a few years they werebig bushes all round the Gorse-Mother, and she was proud of them.

  THE PROUD PALING FENCE

  "Such common-looking little things! Whatever are you?" asked thePaling Fence.

  He was new and very proud. He stood up so straight that he could seeall over the garden. Indeed, he thought himself the master of it. Theseeds had been planted close to his feet, so he felt he had the rightto question them.

  The biggest seed spoke up from her place in the ground. "Just now weare only seeds," she said; "but we think we shall be something biggerand finer some day. We have a feeling inside us."

  "Feeling, indeed!" snapped the Fence. "Ugly little black things thatyou are, what feelings can you have? I can't think why the gardenerput you near me." He stood straighter than ever, and would not lookdown again.

  The little seeds felt shy and rather sad, but they said nothing. Dayafter day they lay quietly in the ground, waiting for something tohappen.

  And something did happen, for by-and-by they all began to swell.Bigger they grew, and rounder and softer. One fine day several of themcracked open, and the next day several more. From every crack a littlewhite shoot pushed itself out. It pushed and it grew, and it turneddown and burrowed into the earth, for all it wanted was water anddarkness.

  From the top of each little shoot another shoot peeped out. It pushedand it grew, and it turned up and peeped through the top of the gro
und,for all it wanted was fresh air and sunshine. At last a long row ofwhite little shoots looked out through their holes in the ground.

  The Sun looked down and saw them. "Dear me!" he said. "This won't do.Go down, Sunbeams, and tell those shoots to change their colour."

  The Sunbeams came flying down. "You must change your colour, littleshoots," they said. "Hurry up and turn green. The great Sun cannotbear to see white shoots above the ground."

  The shoots turned green at once.

  The Paling Fence was angry. "The idea of the Sun taking notice of suchcommon things!" he grumbled. "He has never yet sent a message to me,though I have been here quite two months. I hope those shoots are notgoing to grow tall. They will hide me if they do."

  Now that is just what the little shoots did. They grew taller everyday; they sent out leaves and branches on every side; soon theystretched out waving hands towards the Fence.

  "Please allow us to hold to you," they begged. "We are not strongenough to grow so tall alone."

  The Fence stood more stiffly than ever. "No! don't you dare to touchme!" he cried.

  They turned themselves this way and that, they tried to cling to him;but he would not help them. "This is dreadful," they sighed."Whatever shall we do?"

  Next day the gardener came. He brought a hammer and nails and cord.He drove the nails into the fence and tied the cord up and down andacross. Now the waving hands had something to cling to.

  The Fence was so angry that it really could not speak. "Then I am tobe hidden," he thought. "So new and handsome as I am, too! Thegardener must be mad."

  The sun shone, the birds sang, the green plants grew; only the Fencewas unhappy and cross. At last he was almost hidden from sight. "Oh,well, it is everybody's loss!" he said loudly--only nobody waslistening.

  Buds formed on the plants. They burst open. Out sprang bright flowerslike fairy boats to sail on the summer winds. Rose and blue and purpleand lilac, how their soft colours glowed in the sunshine! Tinyyellow-hatted ladies sat in each boat to spread the sails. Theyscattered scent about, and invited the bees to afternoon tea. The teawas delicious, and the bees went away, buzzing their thanks. "Suchbeautiful boats! Such dainty little ladies!" they said.

  The Paling Fence could hardly bear it. "Stupid things!" he muttered."But wait till the gardener comes. He will surely cut them down whenhe sees how I am hidden."

  The gardener came. A friend walked with him. "How beautiful yoursweet-peas are!" he said. "They make a splendid covering for theFence."

  "Yes," the gardener said. "The Fence was necessary, but it was veryugly. Now the sweet-peas have made it beautiful."

  The Fence heard the words. At last it understood, and its foolishpride was broken. For a long time it stood thoughtful and silent."Well, well," it said slowly; "I have been very much mistaken. But ifI can't be beautiful I can at least be kind and friendly to those whoare beautiful." And from that day the Paling Fence and the sweet-peasstood happily together.

  TAIL-UP

  Tail-up was the queerest-looking caterpillar in the garden. He wouldpersist in walking on his front three pairs of legs and sticking allthe rest of his long body into the air. Nobody could help laughing athim. He had several pairs of legs at the back, but after one look atthem he refused to use them.

  "Nobody could call them legs," he said scornfully. "They are onlysuckers." So he walked on the front legs, with his tail stuck high inthe air. No wonder everybody called him Tail-up.

  Before he was a day old he started off to see the world. His motherhad never left the little basket-house in her life, but Tail-up wasdifferent. He wanted to see everything there was to be seen, and alsoto eat everything there was to be eaten.

  What an appetite he had! Nothing came amiss to him. He had no teeth,but his strong jaws could do quite enough damage to the plants in thegarden.

  "What a greedy fellow you are!" said a woolly brown caterpillar oneday. "I have a good appetite, I know, but your life is one long meal."

  "Let him alone," said a passing bee. "Let him eat all he can. Thetime will come when he will live quite without food."

  Both caterpillars stared. "Whatever do you mean?" asked Tail-up.

  "Wait and see," said the Bee.

  "I believe you are talking nonsense," said Tail-up. He hurried away tofind another meal.

  He was never at a loss for food, for when he had devoured all thechoicest bits off one tree, he dropped to the ground by a silk rope andmade his way to a fresh one.

  This silk rope was another of his oddities. He kept whole coils of itin his body. When he wanted to reach the ground he brought the end ofone of the coils out of his mouth and gummed it on to the branch wherehe sat. He then slid off the branch, hanging by the rope. Slowly andcarefully he came down, letting out more rope as he needed it, until hereached the ground. There he broke the rope and hurried away to climbthe next tree.

  After a day or two he thought: "I will make a house. It shall be justlike mother's, smooth and cosy inside, but so strong that nothing canbreak its way in."

  He set to work to weave a basket-house, doing a little each day betweenhis many meals. He drew the silk thread out of his own body, and wovethe house round and round his upreared tail. "It would be tiresome tohave to go back to it each night," he said, so he carried it with him.He looked more comical than ever now, going about with his partly-builthouse on his tail.

  He fastened tiny twigs here and there on the outside, to deceive thebirds. "They will think it is a stick," he said, "and thus I shall besafe." He put a strong silk thread round the wide end as a draw-cord.Now the little house was finished. He could crawl in, pull the cord toshut the door, and safely go to sleep.

  Just about this time he began to lose his appetite. "Dear me! this isvery remarkable," he thought. "I wonder if that bee was right, afterall? I certainly feel queer. I think I'll have a good long sleep."

  He hung his house to a branch of a tree, crept into it, tied the frontdoor securely, and went to sleep. And there he slept on and on, dayafter day, night after night, without ever waking to eat.

  While he slept, skin and little legs shrivelled up and fell away fromhim, and a new skin, hard and thick and scaly, took their place.

  "This is a queer state of affairs," he said, waking for a moment. "Ifeel quite different."

  He slept again. Another change came. Six long, thin legs grew,tightly packed away under him; softly feathered wings and feelersslowly came.

  He woke again. "I must go out into the world," he said.

  Wriggling and pushing, he worked himself half out through the back doorof his house. Wriggling and pushing still, he cracked the hardchrysalis skin and sprang on to the top of his house.

  He unrolled his feathery wings and waved them fast in the air to drythem. What a fine fellow he was now! How the sun shone, after thelong darkness of his house! How beautiful was the day!

  "Good-bye, old house," he said. "I shall never need you again, for nowI can fly from my enemies." He darted swiftly through the air to leadhis new life--a new life indeed, for he never again needed to eat.

  THE RAIN-FAIRY

  A rain-fairy sat up from her sleep in a pink poppy, stretched herself,and yawned. "Oh, dear!" she said. "It is morning again, and I have towork. The same old work, day after day, on the same old earth. Howtired I am of it! I think I will go up to the blue sky and play withthe sunbeams and clouds. It must be lovely up there."

  She flew up to the sky. For some time she wandered about admiring thestrange and beautiful things in this new land. When she grew tired ofthat she went to the Sunbeams and said: "May I play with you?"

  "We are not playing," said one of the Sunbeams politely. "We all haveour day's work to do. I am just going to ripen the early strawberries,and my little sisters are coming to help me. Our cousins over therehave to look after the roses. Indeed, we are all too busy to play."

  She flew off.

  The Fairy
went to the white morning clouds. "Play with me, please,"she begged.

  "We really have no time just now," said the Little Clouds. "We have ashower and a rainbow to prepare before noon."

  "Dear me! Everybody seems to be as busy here as we are down on theearth," thought the Fairy. She wandered about again till theafternoon. Then she went to the Afternoon Clouds and asked them toplay with her.

  "She went to the Afternoon Clouds and asked them to playwith her"]

  "We are far too busy," said the Afternoon Clouds. "We have to shadetwo hills and a valley from the heat of the Sun, and make a crown forthe mountains you see below you."

  The Rain-Fairy could not find anyone who had time to play, so she hadto spend the day by herself. It was dull and lonely, but she would notgo down to the earth. "They surely must play some time. I will waitand see," she thought.

  Sunset came, and the Clouds and Sunbeams all passed in turn before thegreat Sun to report to him on their day's work. The Rain-Fairy wentwith them, for she saw that each one passed on from the Sun to a greatcloud-hall, where a star-dance was to be held that night. Soon sheherself stood before the Sun.

  "A Rain-Fairy in the sky!" said the Sun in surprise. "What have youdone to-day, little Rain-Fairy?"

  The Rain-Fairy hung her head. "I have done no work," she said. "I wastired of working on the earth, so I came up here to play."