“What is happening?... What does he want with us?... Why must we die?” whispered the trees to one another.
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.