THE DAY WHEN THE GRASS WAS CUT.
There came a day when all the meadow people rushed back and forth,waving their feelers and talking hurriedly to each other. The fat oldCricket was nowhere to be seen. He said that one of his legs was lameand he thought it best to stay quietly in his hole. The young Cricketsthought he was afraid. Perhaps he was, but he said that he was lame.
All the insects who had holes crawled into them carrying food. Everybodywas anxious and fussy, and some people were even cross. It was allbecause the farmer and his men had come into the meadow to cut thegrass. They began to work on the side nearest the road, but every stepwhich the Horses took brought the mower nearer to the people who livedin the middle of the meadow or down toward the river.
"I have seen this done before," said the Garter Snake. "I got away fromthe big mower, and hid in the grass by the trees, or by the stumps wherethe mower couldn't come. Then the men came and cut that grass with theirscythes, and I had to wriggle away over the short, sharp grass-stubbleto my hole. When they get near me this time, I shall go into my hole andstay there."
"They are not so bad after all," said the Tree Frog. "I like them betterout-of-doors than I did in the house. They saw me out here once anddidn't try to catch me."
A Meadow Mouse came hurrying along. "I must get home to my babies," shesaid. "They will be frightened if I am not there."
"Much good you can do when you are there!" growled a voice down underher feet. She was standing over the hole where the fat old Cricket waswith his lame leg.
The mother Meadow Mouse looked rather angry for a minute, and then sheanswered: "I'm not so very large and strong, but I can squeak and letthe Horses know where the nest is. Then they won't step on it. Last yearI had ten or twelve babies there, and one of the men picked them up andlooked at them and then put them back. I was so frightened that my furstood on end and I shook like June grass in the wind."
"Humph! Too scared to run away," said the voice under her feet.
"Mothers don't run away and leave their children in danger," answeredthe Meadow Mouse. "I think it is a great deal braver to be brave whenyou are afraid than it is to be brave when you're not afraid." Shewhisked her long tail and scampered off through the grass. She did notgo the nearest way to her nest because she thought the Garter Snakemight be watching. She didn't wish him to know where she lived. She knewhe was fond of young Mice, and didn't want him to come to see her babieswhile she was away. She said he was not a good friend for youngchildren.
"We don't mind it at all," said the Mosquitoes from the lower part ofthe meadow. "We are unusually hungry today anyway, and we shall enjoyhaving the men come."
"Nothing to make such a fuss over," said a Milkweed Butterfly. "Justcrawl into your holes or fly away."
"Sometimes they step on the holes and close them," said an Ant. "Whatwould you do if you were in a hole and it stopped being a hole and wasjust earth?"
"Crawl out, I suppose," answered the Milkweed Butterfly with a carelessflutter.
"Yes," said the Ant, "but I don't see what there would be to crawl outthrough."
The Milkweed Butterfly was already gone. Butterflies never worry aboutanything very long, you know.
"Has anybody seen the Measuring Worm?" asked the Katydid. "Where is he?"
"Oh, I'm up a tree," answered a pleasant voice above their heads, "but Isha'n't be up a tree very long. I shall come down when the grass iscut."
"Oh, dear, dear, dear!" cried the Ants, hurrying around. "We can't thinkwhat we want to do. We don't know what we ought to do. We can't thinkand we don't know, and we don't think that we ought to!"
"Click!" said a Grasshopper, springing into the air. "We must hurry,hurry, hurry!" He jumped from a stalk of pepper-grass to a plantain."We _must_ hurry," he said, and he jumped from the plantain back to thepepper-grass.
Up in the tree where the Measuring Worm was, some Katydids were sittingon a branch and singing shrilly: "Did you ever? Did you ever? Ever?Ever? Ever? Did you ever?" And this shows how much excited they were,for they usually sang only at night.
Then the mower came sweeping down the field, drawn by the Blind Horseand the Dappled Gray, and guided by the farmer himself. The dust rose inclouds as they passed, the Grasshoppers gave mighty springs which tookthem out of the way, and all the singing and shrilling stopped until themower had passed. The nodding grasses swayed and fell as the sharpknives slid over the ground. "We are going to be hay," they said, "andlive in the big barn."
"Now we shall grow some more tender green blades," said the grass roots.
"Fine weather for haying," snorted the Dappled Gray. "We'll cut all thegrass in this field before noon."
"Good feeling ground to walk on," said the Blind Horse, tossing his headuntil the harness jingled.
Then the Horses and the farmer and the mower passed far away, and themeadow people came together again.
"Well," said the Tree Frog. "That's over for a while."
The Ants and the Grasshoppers came back to their old places. "We didjust the right thing," they cried joyfully. "We got out of the way."
The Measuring Worm and the Katydids came down from their tree as theMilkweed Butterfly fluttered past. "The men left the grass standingaround the Meadow Mouse's nest," said the Milkweed Butterfly, "and theCows up by the barn are telling how glad they will be to have the haywhen the cold weather comes."
"Grass must grow and hay be cut," said the wise old Tree Frog, "and whenthe time comes we always know what to do. Puk-rup! Puk-r-r-rup!"
"I think," said the fat old Cricket, as he crawled out of his hole,"that my lame leg is well enough to use. There is nothing like rest fora lame leg."
The GRASSHOPPER and the MEASURING WORM RUN a RACE
A few days after the Measuring Worm came to the meadow he met theGrasshoppers. Everybody had heard of the Caterpillars' wish to befashionable, and some of the young Grasshoppers, who did not know thatit was all a joke, said they would like to teach the Measuring Worm afew things. So when they met him the young Grasshoppers began to makefun of him, and asked him what he did if he wanted to run, and whetherhe didn't wish his head grew on the middle of his back so that he couldsee better when walking.
The Measuring Worm was good-natured, and only said that he found hishead useful where it was. Soon one fine-looking Grasshopper asked him torace. "That will show," said the Grasshopper, "which is the bettertraveller."
The Measuring Worm said: "Certainly, I will race with you to-morrow, andwe will ask all our friends to look on." Then he began talking aboutsomething else. He was a wise young fellow, as well as a jolly one, andhe knew the Grasshoppers felt sure that he would be beaten. "If I cannotwin the race by swift running," thought he, "I must try to win it bygood planning." So he got the Grasshoppers to go with him to a placewhere the sweet young grass grew, and they all fed together.
The Measuring Worm nibbled only a little here and there, but he talked agreat deal about the sweetness of the grass, and how they would not getany more for a long time because the hot weather would spoil it. And theGrasshoppers said to each other: "He is right, and we must eat all wecan while we have it." So they ate, and ate, and ate, and ate, untilsunset, and in the morning they awakened and began eating again. Whenthe time for the race came, they were all heavy and stupid from so mucheating,--which was exactly what the Measuring Worm wanted.
The Tree Frog, the fat, old Cricket, and a Caterpillar were chosen to bethe judges, and the race was to be a long one,--from the edge of thewoods to the fence. When the meadow people were all gathered around tosee the race, the Cricket gave a shrill chirp, which meant "Go!" and offthey started. That is to say, the Measuring Worm started. TheGrasshopper felt so sure he could beat that he wanted to give theMeasuring Worm a little the start, because then, you see, he could sayhe had won without half trying.
The Measuring Worm started off at a good, steady rate, and when he hadgone a few feet the Grasshopper gave a couple of great leaps, whichlanded him far ahead of the Worm. Then he stopp
ed to nibble a blade ofgrass and visit with some Katydids who were looking on. By and by hetook a few more leaps and passed the Measuring Worm again. This time hebegan to show off by jumping up straight into the air, and when he camedown he would call out to those who stood near to see how strong he wasand how easy it would be for him to win the race. And everybody said,"How strong he is, to be sure!" "What wonderful legs he has!" and "Hecould beat the Measuring Worm with his eyes shut!" which made theGrasshopper so exceedingly vain that he stopped more and more often toshow his strength and daring.
That was the way it went, until they were only a short distance from theend of the race course. The Grasshopper was more and more pleased tothink how easily he was winning, and stopped for a last time to nibblegrass and make fun of the Worm. He gave a great leap into the air, andwhen he came down there was the Worm on the fence! All the meadow peoplecroaked, and shrilled, and chirped to see the way in which the raceended, and the Grasshopper was very much vexed. "You shouldn't call himthe winner," he said; "I can travel ten times as fast as he, if I try."
"Yes," answered the judges, "we all know that, yet the winning of therace is not decided by what you might do, but by what you did do." Andthe meadow people all cried: "Long live the Measuring Worm! Long livethe Measuring Worm!"
MR GREEN FROG AND HIS VISITORS
One day a young Frog who lived down by the river, came hopping upthrough the meadow. He was a fine-looking fellow, all brown and green,with a white vest, and he came to see the sights. The oldest Frog on theriver bank had told him that he ought to travel and learn to know theworld, so he had started at once.
Young Mr. Green Frog had very big eyes, and they stuck out from his headmore than ever when he saw all the strange sights and heard all thestrange sounds of the meadow. Yet he made one great mistake, just asbigger and better people sometimes do when they go on a journey; hedidn't try to learn from the things he saw, but only to show off to themeadow people how much he already knew, and he boasted a great deal ofthe fine way in which he lived when at home.
Mr. Green Frog told those whom he met that the meadow was dreadfullydry, and that he really could not see how they lived there. He said theyought to see the lovely soft mud that there was in the marsh, and thatthere the people could sit all day with their feet in water in among therushes where the sunshine never came. "And then," he said, "to eat grassas the Grasshoppers did! If they would go home with him, he would showthem how to live."
The older Grasshoppers and Crickets and Locusts only looked at eachother and opened their funny mouths in a smile, but the young onesthought Mr. Green Frog must be right, and they wanted to go back withhim. The old Hoppers told them that they wouldn't like it down there,and that they would be sorry that they had gone; still the young onesteased and teased and teased and teased until everybody said: "Well, letthem go, and then perhaps they will be contented when they return."
At last they all set off together,--Mr. Green Frog and the young meadowpeople. Mr. Green Frog took little jumps all the way and bragged andbragged. The Grasshoppers went in long leaps, the Crickets scamperedmost of the way, and the Locusts fluttered. It was a very gay littleparty, and they kept saying to each other, "What a fine time we shallhave!"
When they got to the marsh, Mr. Green Frog went in first with a soft"plunk" in the mud. The rest all followed and tried to make believe thatthey liked it, but they didn't--they didn't at all. The Grasshopperskept bumping against the tough, hard rushes when they jumped, and thenthat would tumble them over on their backs in the mud, and there theywould lie, kicking their legs in the air, until some friendly Cricketpushed them over on their feet again. The Locusts couldn't fly at allthere, and the Crickets got their shiny black coats all grimy andhorrid.
They all got cold and wet and tired--yes, and hungry too, for there wereno tender green things growing in among the rushes. Still they pretendedto have a good time, even while they were thinking how they would liketo be in their dear old home.
After the sun went down in the west it grew colder still, and all theFrogs in the marsh began to croak to the moon, croaking so loudly thatthe tired little travellers could not sleep at all. When the Frogsstopped croaking and went to sleep in the mud, one tired Cricket said:"If you like this, _stay_. I am going home as fast as my six little legswill carry me." And all the rest of the travellers said: "So am I," "Soam I," "So am I."
Mr. Green Frog was sleeping soundly, and they crept away as quietly asthey could out into the silvery moonlight and up the bank towards home.Such a tired little party as they were, and so hungry that they had tostop and eat every little while. The dew was on the grass and they couldnot get warm.
The sun was just rising behind the eastern forest when they got home.They did not want to tell about their trip at all, but just ate a lotof pepper-grass to make them warm, and then rolled themselves in betweenthe woolly mullein leaves to rest all day long. And that was the lasttime any of them ever went away with a stranger.
THE DIGNIFIED WALKING-STICKS.
Three Walking-Sticks from the forest had come to live in the big mapletree near the middle of the meadow. Nobody knew exactly why they hadleft the forest, where all their sisters and cousins and aunts lived.Perhaps they were not happy with their relatives. But then, if one is aWalking-Stick, you know, one does not care so very much about one'sfamily.
These Walking-Sticks had grown up the best way they could, with nofather or mother to care for them. They had never been taught to doanything useful, or to think much about other people. When they werehungry they ate some leaves, and never thought what they should eat thenext time that they happened to be hungry. When they were tired theywent to sleep, and when they had slept enough they awakened. They hadnothing to do but to eat and sleep, and they did not often take thetrouble to think. They felt that they were a little better than thosemeadow people who rushed and scrambled and worked from morning untilnight, and they showed very plainly how they felt. They said it was notgenteel to hurry, no matter what happened.
One day the Tree Frog was under the tree when the large BrownWalking-Stick decided to lay some eggs. He saw her dropping themcarelessly around on the ground, and asked, "Do you never fix a placefor your eggs?"
"A place?" said the Brown Walking-Stick, waving her long and slenderfeelers to and fro. "A place? Oh, no! I think they will hatch where theyare. It is too much trouble to find a place."
"Puk-r-r-rup!" said the Tree Frog. "Some mothers do not think it toomuch trouble to be careful where they lay eggs."
"That may be," said the Brown Walking-Stick, "but they do not belong toour family." She spoke as if those who did not belong to her familymight be good but could never be genteel. She had once told her brother,the Five-Legged Walking-Stick, that she would not want to live if shecould not be genteel. She thought the meadow people very common.
The Five-Legged Walking-Stick looked much like his sister. He had thesame long, slender body, the same long feelers, and the same sort oflong, slender legs. If you had passed them in a hay-field, you wouldsurely have thought each a stem of hay, unless you happened to see themmove. The other Walking-Stick, their friend, was younger and green. Youwould have thought her a blade of grass.
It is true that the brother had the same kind of legs as his sister,but he did not have the same number. When he was young and green he hadsix, then came a dreadful day when a hungry Nuthatch saw him, flew down,caught him, and carried him up a tree. He knew just what to expect, sowhen the Nuthatch set him down on the bark to look at him, he unhookedhis feet from the bark and tumbled to the ground. The Nuthatch tried tocatch him and broke off one of his legs, but she never found him again,although she looked and looked and looked and looked. That was becausehe crawled into a clump of ferns and kept very still.
His sister came and looked at him and said, "Now if you were only aSpider it would not be long before you would have six legs again."
Her brother waved first one feeler and then the other, and said: "Do youthink I would be a Spider for
the sake of growing legs? I would ratherbe a Walking-Stick without any legs than to be a Spider with ahundred." Of course, you know, Spiders never do have a hundred, and aWalking-Stick wouldn't be walking without any, but that was just his wayof speaking, and it showed what kind of insect he was. His relatives allwaved their feelers, one at a time, and said, "Ah, he has the trueWalking-Stick spirit!" Then they paid no more attention to him, andafter a while he and his sister and their green little friend left theforest for the meadow.
On the day when the grass was cut, they had sat quietly in their treesand looked genteel. Their feelers were held quite close together, andthey did not move their feet at all, only swayed their bodies gracefullyfrom side to side. Now they were on the ground, hunting through the flatpiles of cut grass for some fresh and juicy bits to eat. The Tree Frogwas also out, sitting in a cool, damp corner of the grass rows. Theyoung Grasshoppers were kicking up their feet, the Ants were scramblingaround as busy as ever, and life went on quite as though neither men norHorses had ever entered the meadow.
"See!" cried a Spider who was busily looking after her web, "there comesa Horse drawing something, and the farmer sitting on it and driving."
When the Horse was well into the meadow, the farmer moved a bar, and thequeer-looking machine began to kick the grass this way and that with itsmany stiff and shining legs. A frisky young Grasshopper kicked in thesame way, and happened--just happened, of course--to knock over two ofhis friends. Then there was a great scrambling and the Cricketsfrolicked with them. The young Walking-Stick thought it looked likegreat fun and almost wished herself some other kind of insect, so thatshe could tumble around in the same way. She did not quite wish it, youunderstand, and would never have thought of it if she had turned brown.
Among the Meadow People Page 5