3
The burdock still stood pondering. She was thick-headed and that was why she took so long. But, in the evening, a hare jumped over the hedge.
“Hide me! Save me!” he cried. “Farmer’s Trust is after me.”
“Creep round behind the hedge,” said the burdock; “then I’ll hide you.”
“You don’t look to me as if you were cut out for the job,” said the hare; “but beggars can’t be choosers.”
And then he hid behind the hedge.
“Now, in return, you might take some of my seeds to the fields with you,” said the burdock and she broke off some of her many burs and scattered them over the hare.
Soon after, Trust came running along the hedge.
“Here’s the dog!” whispered the burdock and, with a bound, the hare leapt the hedge into the rye.
“Have you seen the hare?” asked Trust. “I can see that I’m getting too old for hunting. One of my eyes is quite blind and my nose can no longer find the scent.”
“I have seen him,” replied the burdock, “and, if you will do me a service, I will show you where he is.”
Trust agreed and the burdock stuck some of her burs on to his back and said:
“Would you just rub yourself against the stile here, inside the field? But that’s not where you’re to look for the hare, for I saw him run into the wood a little while ago.”
Trust carried the burs to the field and ran off to the wood.
“So now I’ve got my seeds settled,” said the burdock and laughed to herself contentedly. “But goodness knows how the thistle is going to manage and the dandelion and the bell-flower and the poppy!”