THE LARK AND ITS YOUNG ONES
A HINDU FABLE
BY P. V. RAMASWAMI RAJU [ADAPTED]
A CHILD went up to a lark and said: “Good lark,
have you any young ones?”
“Yes, child, I have,” said the mother lark, “and
they are very pretty ones, indeed.” Then she
pointed to the little birds and said: “This is Fair
Wing, that is Tiny Bill, and that other is Bright
Eyes.”
“At home, we are three,” said the child,
“myself and two sisters. Mother says that we are
pretty children, and she loves us.”
To this the little larks replied: “Oh, yes, our
mother is fond of us, too.”
“Good mother lark,” said the child, “will you
let Tiny Bill go home with me and play?”
Before the mother lark could reply, Bright
Eyes said: “Yes, if you will send your little sister
to play with us in our nest.”
“Oh, she will be so sorry to leave home,”
said the child; “she could not come away from
our mother.”
“Tiny Bill will be so sorry to leave our nest,”
answered Bright Eyes, “and he will not go away
from
our mother.”
Then the child ran away to her mother, saying:
“Ah, every one is fond of home!”
