mother birds. The light winds stay with us and caress us." And the
leaves felt very proud and important.

"What you say is all very true, but you should not forget us," said a
voice from the earth. "We are surely worth something."

"And who are you? Where do you grow?" asked the leaves.

"We are buried deep in the ground, far below you, but we feed the stem
and make you grow. We are the roots. You owe your beauty to us. We are
not beautiful as you are, but we do not die. Winter does not change us,
but when it comes you fall. The tree stands firm, for it is held in
place by us. If we should die, the tree would die and you would die
with it."

THE BULL AND THE GNAT

A gnat perched upon the horn of a bull. "Dear sir," he said to the
bull, "I am sorry to trouble you, but I am too worn out to go any
farther. Does my weight tire you? When you can bear it no longer, I
shall go on."

"You need not leave on my account," said the bull. "I did not know when
you sat down and I shall not miss you when you leave."

THE FARMER AND HIS THREE SONS

A farmer who had worked hard all his life was taken sick. He knew that
he must soon die. He called his three sons about his bed to give them
some advice.

"My sons," said he, "keep all of the land which I leave you. Do not
sell any of it, for there is a treasure in the soil. I shall not tell
you where to hunt for it, but if you try hard to find it, and do not
give up, you will surely succeed.

"As soon as the harvest is over, begin your search with plow, and
spade, and rake. Turn every foot of earth, then turn it again and
again. The treasure is there."

After the father died, the sons gathered in the harvest. As soon as the
grain had been cared for, they planned to search for the hidden
treasure. The farm was divided into three equal parts. Each son agreed
to dig carefully his part.

Every foot of soil was turned by the plow or by the spade. It was next
harrowed and raked, but no treasure was found. That seemed very strange.

"Father was an honest man and a wise man," said the youngest son. "He
would never have told us to hunt for the treasure if it were not here.
Do you not remember that he said, 'Turn the soil again and again'? He
surely thought the treasure worth hunting for."

"Our land is in such good condition now that we might as well sow
winter wheat," said the oldest son. His brothers agreed to this and the
wheat was sown.

The next harvest was s