4
And the rainy season came and things went as Two-Legs had hoped.
TWO-LEGS HAD MADE A GOOD CHOICE
Little green shoots sprouted all over the ploughed field, all alike, all grass of the kind which the animals loved. Here and there, it is true, a thistle appeared and a poppy; but most of it was good grass.
“Look!” said Two-Legs, gladly. “Now we only want the sunshine and then it will grow.”
The sun came and the whole field was a lovely green carpet which grew so that one could see it grow from day to day.
One morning, the stag came to the edge of the forest and beheld all this with amazement. Then he shouted into the forest to his family:
“Come along! Here’s the finest field of grass you ever saw in your lives! Hurry up and come. I’ve started grazing already.”
“You’ve started grazing, have you?” cried Two-Legs and came rushing up with his spear. “Out of this, you thief! Do you imagine that I have sown corn in the sweat of my brow for you to eat? Get out of it! This field belongs to me!”
The stag fled as fast as he could into the forest. But the sparrow flew round and told the news on every hand:
“Two-Legs has taken a great piece of land which no one is allowed to touch. He called the stag a thief when he tried to graze on it.”
