A LARK1 had made her nest in the early spring on the young green
wheat. The brood had almost grown to their full strength and
attained the use of their wings and the full plumage of their
feathers, when the owner of the field, looking over his ripe
crop, said, "The time has come when I must ask all my neighbors
to help me with my harvest." One of the young Larks2 heard his
speech and related it to his mother, inquiring of her to what
place they should move for safety. "There is no occasion to move
yet, my son," she replied; "the man who only sends to his friends
to help him with his harvest is not really in earnest." The owner
of the field came again a few days later and saw the wheat
shedding the grain from excess of ripeness. He said, "I will
come myself tomorrow with my laborers3, and with as many reapers
as I can hire, and will get in the harvest." The Lark on hearing
these words said to her brood, "It is time now to be off, my
little ones, for the man is in earnest this time; he no longer
trusts his friends, but will reap the field himself."
Self-help is the best help.
