But that was
not enough. The field must be tended as well as nourished, and
planted, and dug, and enriched, and cleaned before its great wish
could really come true. So the field called for the last time to
Mother Nature, and Mother Nature spoke to her humble child, the toad.
"Toad," she said, "will you tend the field? The four winds have swept
it, and the trees have given their leaves to make it rich. The earth
worms have dug the field, and my children in feathers and soft coats
have planted it. The sky has sent rain and sun to nourish it, but it
must be guarded from enemies before it can grow."
So the toad and all his brothers, who had been hiding beneath the
stones of the field that they might not be killed, came out, and
tended the field. They ate the insects and other creatures that would
have destroyed the sprouts, and so the field grew.
It lay in the sunshine, bright with flowers, and green with the
sprouts of growing food and trees.
"A fertile field!" said the farmer. "I shall help it to grow."
"The field is alive!" cried the children. "We can go in it and help
the farmer."
"The field is rich!" said all the people who lived near by. "It is
growing, and will help us to live."
And the field was cleaned, and enriched, and ploughed, and planted,
and nourished, and tended each year by the hands of children and men.
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