3
But Two-Legs and his sons heard nothing and saw nothing. They worked and worked till they had what they wanted. And then they built a strong wooden house on the hill, built two houses, then three: one for themselves, a stable for the animals and a big long house for which Two-Legs had a purpose of which he did not speak for the present.
They closed up all the chinks with moss. And round the whole farm they built a palisade of tall stakes and woven twigs, which made a good wall to protect them against their enemies.
“That’s that,” said Two-Legs. “Now to work!”
He told his wife to sew a leather bag for himself and one for each of the family. Then they went to the field and the meadow and filled their bags with seed of every sort of grass that they wanted to sow.
“Won’t you have a few of my seeds?” asked the poppy, shedding her scarlet petals. “I have thousands of them in my head and I am the prettiest in the land.”
“You may be pretty,” said Two-Legs, “but I have no use for you.”
“You’ve passed me by,” said the violet, modestly.
“You’re forgetting me,” cried the thistle. “I am the proudest and strongest in the whole meadow.”
“But I am the toughest,” cried the dock.
“Mind you take none of their seed,” said Two-Legs to his family. “Our animals don’t eat them.”
So they went home with full bags and out and home again, until they had heaped up a mighty store.
“Now we will prepare the ground,” said Two-Legs. “Come, my dear horse, and lend me your strength, as you have done before.”
He made a plough, harnessed the horse to it and drove it across the field, step by step and furrow after furrow. He rejoiced when he saw the earth turn under the stone blades of the plough.
“What’s the meaning of this?” said the poppy and was forthwith ploughed over.
“It’s no use,” cried the thistle. “Our seed will come up and tease you.”
“We’ll see about that,” said Two-Legs.
Then he told his family to pull up all the thistles and throw them away. And, when he had ploughed as much as he wanted, he took the grass-seed which they had gathered and sowed it in the good, fresh earth.
“Now we must wait for the rain,” he said, “and see how things go.”