ourselves."

When the mother lark heard that the farmer had made up his mind to cut
the wheat himself, she said to her little ones, "Get ready to fly away.
If the farmer is to do the work himself, it will be done at once."

THE LION AND THE MOUSE

A lion was sleeping one day when a little mouse came along and ran up
and down over his face.

This awakened the lion and made him very angry.

He put his paw over the mouse and said, "What do you mean by waking me?
You shall pay for this," and he opened his big mouth to swallow the
mouse.

"Oh, do not kill me, Mr. Lion!" squealed the mouse. "I did not mean to
waken you. Do let me go and I will never trouble you again."

"No, I will not let you go," roared the lion.

"Please do," cried the frightened mouse. "If you will let me go perhaps
I can do something for you sometime."

This made the lion laugh. "You do something for ME," he said. "What a
joke! Well, you are such a little fellow that I will let you go this
time, but never let me see you about here again," and he lifted his paw.

As the little mouse scampered off, he said, "Thank you, kind lion, I
shall not forget your kindness."

Some time after this the lion was caught in a trap. The hunters tied
him to a tree while they went to get a wagon to carry him away.

The lion roared so loud that the ground shook. The little mouse heard
him.

"That lion is in trouble," he said. "I will see what I can do to help
him," and he ran to the lion.

When the mouse saw that the lion was tied with ropes, he said, "Cheer
up, Mr. Lion. Be quiet and I will set you free," and he began gnawing
the ropes.

He worked long and hard and at last the lion was free.

THE ANT AND THE DOVE

An ant went to the river to get a drink. The water rushed along so fast
that he was washed off the bank into the river.

"I shall drown!" he cried. "Help! help! help!" but his voice was so
tiny that it could not be heard.

A dove was sitting in a tree that overhung the water. She saw the ant
struggling, and quickly nipped off a leaf and let it fall into the
water. The ant climbed upon it and floated down the river until the
leaf was washed upon the bank of the stream.

The ant called out in its tiny voice, "Thank you, kind dove, you have
saved my life;" but of course the dove could not hear him.

Several days after this, the dove was again sitting in a tree. A hunter
crept carefully up to the tree. His gun was pointed at