FABLE XXXVIII

Mother Turkey was bored. She did not like her food. Each day was the same. Yellow corn for breakfast. Yellow corn for lunch. And yellow corn for dinner. "This food is no fun," she said. "Let's go to the woods!" Her ten little ones were happy. They chirped, "Yes, Mother, yes!" The little turkeys followed her. They walked away from the big red barn. They went past the old white fence. They went into the cool, green woods. The sun made warm spots on the ground. Tall trees had big green leaves. It was a new world for them.

Soon, they found a big pile of dirt. It was a busy anthill. Tiny black ants were all around. They ran up and down the hill. The ants were working hard. They carried tiny bits of leaves and food. "Yummy!" said Mother Turkey. "What a good treat!" She felt very happy. "Eat the ants, my little ones!" The little ones started to eat. Peck, peck, peck went their small beaks. They gobbled up the tiny ants. The ants tasted much better than corn.

While eating, Mother Turkey stopped. She thought of the people home. Then, her good mood was gone. She got very grumpy. "People are not nice," she told her kids. Her voice was low and angry. "They give us corn each day. But they are not our friends. They eat turkeys for their dinner. It is not fair!" She looked very mad. Her face turned bright red. Her feathers puffed up all over. She stomped her big foot on the ground. The ground shook a little bit. "I am so mad at them!" she said.

High above, a little ant was on a leaf. The leaf was near the top of a tall tree. He was carrying a big crumb. It was heavy for a little ant. He heard a loud, angry voice from below. He stopped working and listened. It was the big turkey. The sound was loud to the ant. But he was not scared. He wanted to know more. The little ant walked to the leaf's edge. He looked down and saw it all. He saw the big, mad turkey. He saw the little turkeys eating his friends. He put his crumb down slowly. He called out in his tiny, clear voice. "Excuse me, down there!" he said. "You are mad at people. You say they eat turkeys." He took a small breath. "But you and your kids eat us ants. You eat all my friends. Tell me, is that nice?"

Mother Turkey looked up into the tree. She saw the tiny ant on the green leaf. His words were small, but their meaning was big. Mother Turkey was quiet. Her red face was not red now. She did not gobble or puff her feathers. She had nothing at all to say. She looked at her little ones. They had all stopped eating too. The woods were very, very still.