ernoon gathering food from
the market. The animals worked all day without anything to eat,
except for the blue jay and hawk who dug for worms. (If you've ever
tried to work on an empty stomach, then you know how terrible that
can be.)

Afterwards, when all the animals were tired and hungry, the farmer
gave them a plate full of the only scraps he could find at the
market. Then the blue jay asked all the exhausted animals, "How does
it taste?" "TREMENDOUS STUPENDOUS!" they happily replied. And they
ate till their bellies were full.

XXXIV

WHY THE CRICKET CHIRPS

Before things were the way they are, the cricket could fly. He flew
faster than the bumblebee. He flew higher than the falcon. And he
flew fancier than the flying marmaduck (who was quite a fancy flier).

The cricket wanted to fly all over the world. He flew to the East.
Then he flew to the West. And then he flew to the South. But he had
never flown to the North.

The ant tried to warn him that he should not try. "It's very cold up
north," said the ant, "It's too cold for an ant and too cold for a
cricket."

The cricket, however, did not listen to the ant, because crickets do
whatever they want. He set off for the North that very night. It did
not take him long to get there because he was such a fantastically
fast and fancy flier.

The cricket landed next to a pine tree as the sun began setting.
There was snow everywhere he looked. There was snow on the trees.
There was snow on the ground. And there was snow on top of the
mountains.

The moose came walking over to him very slowly. He spoke even more
slowly. "Ohhhh...Hello," said the moose. "Bundle up, nighttime is
coming." The cricket, however, did not listen to the moose because
crickets do whatever they want.

He flew up into a pine tree to settle in for a good sleep. It did
not take him long to get there because he was such an incredibly
fast and fancy flier. The owl came flying over to the same branch.
"You should find some shelter from the cold night," said the owl.
The cricket, however, did not listen to the owl because crickets do
whatever they want.

He crawled away from the owl and the branch, and he rested on a pile
of twigs. All the remarkably fast and fancy flying made him sleepier
than he had ever been. The cricket slept all through the night until
morning.

When he woke up, he was ready to go back home and tell the ant about
his trip. He hopped high in the air to start fly