The Story -Book of the Fields 



us : others endowed with unwearied patience, 

 with skill that detects all stratagems, and 

 with vigilance from which nothing escapes. 

 To watch for the enemy, to seek him out in 

 his most hidden retreat, to pursue him with- 

 out ever stopping, and to exterminate him— 

 this is their only care, their ceaseless occu- 

 pation. They are eager and pitiless ; driven 

 by their own hunger and that of their 

 families. They live on those that live 

 at our expense, and are the enemies of our 

 enemies. 



The bat, the hedgehog and the mole, the 

 owl, the swift, the swallow, and all the small 

 birds ; the lizard, the adder, the frog, and 

 the toad— all carry on this great work. 

 Blessed be God Who has given us the swallow 

 and the warbler, the red-breast and the 

 nightingale, the swift and the starling, to 

 protect us against that mighty eater, the 

 insect. But these precious creatures, the 

 salvation of our earthly goods, the delight 

 of our eyes and ears, find their nests plun- 

 dered by the stupid and cruel bird-nester. 

 Blessed be God Who has given us the owl 

 and the toad, the hedgehog, the bat, and 

 the adder, the lizard and the mole, to defend 

 our daily bread. Yet these useful creatures, 



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