“You wait here,” he replied, “and I will hunt through the field for two long and stout straws to bind together.”
Off he started in quest of the straws, and the little elves sat down to wait.
Spider Eyes, who had not heard what the grasshopper said, thought he had lain there long enough, and he cried out to his three companions, “Now, Dusty Cap, Chip Wing, Pointed Toes! I call that mean. I would help you. But you sit chattering, and leave me here in distress.”
Then Spider Eyes kicked away at the straws very impatiently.
“We are very sorry for you,” said Chip Wing. “Help is coming. Grandfather Grasshopper has gone for it.”
“Well,” said Spider Eyes, almost crying, “it is dreadful to lie here. The straws stick into my back and into my ears—even into my eyes—and when I move to get them out of my way, they raise such a dust that it chokes me almost to death; and I cannot see. I wish you would hurry. Do be quick!”
“Here comes Grandfather Grasshopper,” they all cried. “Now you can get out sure.”
Soon Grandfather Grasshopper arrived with the two straws of wheat lying across his back.
They looked like two logs of wood dragging on the ground.