what the little Prince brought them.

It was a piece of brown bread and butter!

THE FIELD

The field was small, and full of stones, and barren. Although it lay
beside a much travelled road and not far from the town, no one had
noticed it except to say how useless it was.

"It would take a great deal of time to cultivate that field," the
farmer said as he drove by in the fall with his team full of ripe
vegetables and fruit for market. He had bought a farm that was
ploughed and planted. There had been no stones for him to dig out and
take away.

"That would be a fine field to play in," said the children as they
passed by on their way to school, "only it is too rough. It would hurt
our feet."

"If only something could be raised in the field," said the people who
had houses close by. "Then we should be sure of having food for the
winter."

But no one paid any further attention to the field.

There was a secret about it, though.

The field was alive. Deep down in its earth, under its thick clods and
heavy stones, the field had a great wish to grow. And to grow, the
field must be clean, so it called to Mother Nature for help. Mother
Nature spoke to her winds about it.

"Four Winds," she said, "will you sweep the field clean, and so help
it to grow?"

The winds heard Mother Nature calling and they got out their four
brooms and swept the field as clean as they could. But that was not
enough. The field must be rich as well as clean before it could grow.
So the field called once more to Mother Nature, and Mother Nature
spoke to her trees.

"Trees of the roadside," she said, "will you give your leaves to cover
the field, and lose their beautiful colors, and become loam? The four
winds have swept the field clean, but it must be rich before it can
grow."

The trees heard Mother Nature calling, and they gave all their leaves
to the field. But that was not enough. The field must be dug, as well
as enriched and cleaned, before it could grow.

So the field called a third time to Mother Nature, and Mother Nature
spoke to her children, the earth worms.

"Earth Worms," she said, "will you creep and dig underneath the field
and turn up the earth in furrows? The four winds have swept the earth
clean, and the trees have given their leaves to make it rich, but it
must be dug before it can grow."

Although the earth worms are very small, they heard Mother Nature
calling. They crept down under the earth and began