Enjoy The Lark and Her Young Ones, a classic Aesop’s Fable that teaches children the importance of self-reliance, responsibility, and taking action. In this timeless tale, a mother lark and her chicks learn a valuable lesson as they listen to a farmer’s plans for harvesting his field.
The Lark and Her Young Ones
A Mother Lark built her nest in a field of young wheat.
As the days passed, the wheat grew taller and taller. The young larks grew, too. Soon, they were covered in feathers and beginning to strengthen their wings.
One day, when the wheat had turned golden and ripe, a Farmer and his son walked into the field.
The Mother Lark was away searching for food, but the young birds listened carefully.
“This wheat is ready to be harvested,” said the Farmer. “Tomorrow, I will ask our neighbors and friends to come and help us gather the crop.”
The young larks became very worried.
“If the harvesters come,” they said, “our nest will be destroyed!”
When their mother returned, they told her everything they had heard.
The Mother Lark smiled.
“Do not be afraid, my children,” she said. “If the Farmer is depending on his neighbors and friends, there is no need to worry yet. The wheat will not be harvested tomorrow.”
A few days later, the Farmer and his son returned.
The wheat was even riper now. Whenever the wind blew, ripe grains rattled down around the nest.
The young birds listened again.
“We cannot wait any longer,” said the Farmer. “Our friends have not come to help us. Tomorrow, we will harvest the wheat ourselves.”
When the Mother Lark came home that evening, the young birds quickly told her what they had heard.
This time, she did not smile.
“Now it is time for us to leave,” she said. “When people depend on others, their plans are often delayed. But when they decide to do the work themselves, the work gets done.”
The young larks fluttered their wings and practiced flying for the rest of the afternoon.
At sunrise the next morning, they left the nest with their mother and flew to a safer place.
Soon after, the Farmer and his son arrived to harvest the field.
But when they reached the spot where the nest had been, they found it empty.
The Mother Lark and her young ones were already far away.
Moral: Self-help is the best help. When you rely on your own efforts, things get done.
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