The Young and Field Literary Readers, Book 2. Field Walter Taylor

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      "How warm it is!" said the man. "I must take off my cloak."

      So he took off his cloak.

      "You have beaten," said the wind. "You are stronger than I."

      THE ANT AND THE DOVE

      A little ant once fell into a pond.

      A dove was perching in a tree over the water.

      The dove saw the ant fall.

      She pulled off a leaf with her bill and let it drop into the water.

      "There, little ant! get on that leaf, and you will be safe," she said.

      The ant jumped upon the leaf, and the wind blew it to the shore of the pond.

      Not long after this, a man laid a net to catch the dove.

      He pulled it in and found the dove caught fast in it.

      The ant saw the man with the net, and ran up his leg and bit him.

      "O!" said the man, "what is that?"

      He let the net drop to the ground, and the dove flew away.

      Next time the dove saw the ant, she said:

      "Good ant, you saved my life."

      "You saved my life once, and I only tried to pay you back," said the ant.

      THE LARK AND HER NEST

      A lark had made her nest in a field of wheat.

      The wheat was almost ripe.

      One day the old lark said to her young ones:

      "The men will soon come to cut this wheat. You must watch for them and tell me all you see or hear while I am away."

      Then she left them and went to get something for them to eat.

      When she came home, she asked,

      "Did you see or hear anything?"

      "Yes, mother," said the young ones.

      "The owner of the field came and looked at the wheat. He said, 'This wheat is ripe. It must be cut at once. I will ask my neighbors to come and help me cut it.'"

      "That is good," said the old lark.

      "Must we not leave the nest?" asked the young ones.

      "No," said the mother. "If the man waits for his neighbors to come and help him, he will wait a long time."

      Next day the owner came again.

      "This wheat must be cut," said he. "I cannot wait for my neighbors. I must ask my uncles and cousins."

      When the old lark came home, the young ones said:

      "O, mother! we must leave the nest now.

      "The man said that he should ask his uncles and cousins to help him cut the wheat."

      "We will not go yet," said the mother. "If he waits for his uncles and cousins, he will wait a long time."

      The next day the man came again. His boy was with him.

      "We can't wait any longer," he said. "We must cut the wheat ourselves."

      Soon the mother lark came home.

      The young ones told her what the man had said.

      "Now we must be off," she cried. "When a man sets out to do his work himself, it will be done."

      So the lark and her young ones left the nest and found another home.

      THE DOG AND HIS SHADOW

      A dog once had a piece of meat.

      He was going home with it.

      On the way he had to go across a bridge over some water.

      He looked into the water, and there he thought he saw another dog.

      The dog looked like himself and had a piece of meat in his mouth, too.

      It was his shadow in the water.

      "That meat looks good. I want it," said the dog.

      "My piece is not big enough. I will take the meat away from that other dog."

      So he barked at the other dog.

      As he opened his mouth to bark, his piece of meat fell into the water.

      "Splash!" it went, and that was the last he ever saw of it.

      "If I had let that dog keep his piece of meat, I should not have lost my own," he said.

      THE FOX AND THE GRAPES

      A hungry fox once saw some sweet grapes hanging over a wall.

      "I want those grapes," he said to himself.

      So he jumped for them.

      He did not get them.

      He jumped again.

      Still he did not get them.

      He jumped again and again.

      They were too high.

      At last he gave it up and went away.

      "I don't want those grapes," he said.

      "They are sour grapes. I know they are sour. They are not fit to eat."

      POEMS BY MARY MAPES DODGE

      FOUR LITTLE BIRDS

      Four little birds all flew from their nest —

      Flew north, flew south, flew east and west;

      They thought they would like a wider view,

      So they spread their wings and away they flew.

      IN THE BASKET

      Hark! do you hear my basket

      Go "kippy! kippy! peek"?

      Maybe my funny basket

      Is learning how to speak.

      If you want to know the secret,

      Go ask the speckled hen,

      And tell her when I've warmed them

      I'll bring them back again.

      COUSIN JEREMY

      He came behind me and covered my eyes;

      "Who is this?" growled he, so sly.

      "Why, Cousin Jeremy, how can I tell,

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