THE FIELD mOUSE AND THE ACORN
By the edge of a wood stood a big oak-tree. Tiny acorns hid among the green leaves. Day by day they became bigger and bigger. Soon the hot sun made them ripe.
Then the wind came, and shook the branches.
It rattled the acorns in their cups. This made them loose.
They fell from the tree, and lay among the dry grass by its big roots.
One day a little mouse went out to look for food.
He came to the spot where the acorns lay. Soon he found a very big round one.
He took hold of it with his little paw.
It was so smooth that it rolled away from him.
He ran after it; but it kept rolling on, till it fell down a small hole under a big root.
The little mouse went in after it.
Then he saw tiny steps going down into the ground.
Down, down went the acorn with a soft, tapping sound.
Down, down went the field-mouse.
At the bottom of the steps, the acorn struck a little door.
It flew open, and into a little room rolled the acorn.
In, after it, went the mouse. There stood a little red man!
As soon as the mouse was in, the red man shut the door.
"Ah! You are mine!" he cried. "You shall be my slave. You shall make my bed. You shall sweep my room with this little broom. Each day, you shall cook broth for my dinner."Then he took the acorn and hid it.
"It is mine," said the red man, "for you stole it.""No! no!"said the mouse; "it is mine, for I found it."In the morning, the little red man went out,
and locked the door after him.
"There stood a little red man."
In the afternoon, he came back. He did this each day.
One day he was in a hurry.
He turned the key, but the door was not quite shut, and it did not lock.
"This is my chance!" said the mouse to himself.
"I will not be a slave. I shall go away, and I mean to take my acorn with me."He looked about the room for it. He hunted on every shelf.
He peeped into every drawer.
Then he saw a wee door over the fire-place. He got up on a chair and opened the door. There was the acorn.
Quickly he snatched it up and ran out of the room, up the little steps, out under the root, and away over the fields to his home.
He set the acorn on the table, with a sharp tap.
Up flew a little lid, and there, inside, was -oh! such a pretty necklace.
It was just the size for his little mouse sister, and so he gave it to her.