11. The Boy And The Goats
Now you shall hear!
There was once a boy who had three goats. All day they leaped and pranced and skipped and climbed up on the rocky hill, but at night the boy drove them home. One night, when he went to meet them, the frisky things leaped into a turnip field, and he could not get them out. Then the boy sat down on the hillside and cried.
As he sat there, a hare came along.
"Why do you cry?" asked the hare.
"I cry because I can't get the goats out of the field," answered the boy.
"I'll do it," said the hare.
So he tried, but the goats would not come. Then the hare, too, sat down and cried.
Along came a fox.
"Why do you cry?" asked the fox.
"I am crying because the boy cries," said the hare;" and the boy is crying because he cannot get the goats out of the turnip field."
"I'll do it!" said the fox.
So the fox tried, but the goats would not come. Then the fox also sat down and cried.
Soon after a wolf came along.
"Why do you cry?" asked the wolf.
"I am crying because the hare cries," said the fox; "and the hare cries because the boy cries; and the boy cries because he can't get the goats out of the turnip field."
"I'II do it!" said the wolf.
He tried; but the goats would not leave the field. So he sat down beside the others and began to cry too.
After a little, a bee flew over the hill and saw them all sitting there crying.
"Why do you cry?" said the bee to the wolf.
"I am crying because the fox cries; and the fox cries because the hare cries; and the hare cries because the boy cries; and the boy cries because he can't get the goats out of the turnip field."
"I'll do it!" said the bee.
Then the big animals and the boy all stopped crying a moment to laugh at the tiny bee. He do it, indeed, when they could not! But the tiny bee flew away into the turnip field and lit upon one of the goats and said:
"Buz-z-z-z-z!"
And out ran the goats, everyone!