The Nightingale and the Farmer

A nightingale, who had laid her eggs late in the season, was still hidden in the corn when it was almost ripe. She began to worry that the crop might be harvested before her young ones were able to fly away.

Whenever she left the nest, she always urged her chicks to keep their ears open and, upon her return, tell her every word that they had heard.

One evening, when she came back to the nest, she found her chicks in terror. The youngest spoke up: 'The owner of the field told his sons to go and get their friends to come tomorrow to help with the harvesting of our field.'

'Is that all,' smiled the nightingale. 'Don't be alarmed, my dears, because nothing will happen, you will see.'

And she was right. The next morning none of the friends turned up. The farmer sent them a second message, asking them to come and help the next day, and once again the nightingale was not worried in the slightest....until the day she finally heard the farmer say to his sons: 'I've had enough. Tomorrow we shall bring in the harvest ourselves. When there is work to be done, we cannot count on our friends to do it for us.'

It was only then that the nightingale took her chicks, and flew swiftly away without further delay.