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About Revel and This Course

Pearson Education

About This Course

 Listen to the Audio

In order to ensure that Business Law in Canada continues to be a valuable

resource to post-secondary instructors and students, the 12th edition has

undergone a thoughtful revision, incorporating changes based on the

increased importance of the internet, information technology, and

intellectual property. It also incorporates the large amount of feedback

and many thoughtful suggestions provided by users of the 11th edition.

Changes to the 12th Edition
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada made 94 “calls to
action” in order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance

the process of Canadian reconciliation. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has

promised to implement all of the calls to action that relate to the federal

government. Also, Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) has developed

the Indigenous Education Protocol for Colleges and Institutes to support

its members’ commitment to improving and better serving Indigenous

education. The influence of Indigenous people in Canada is increasing

through treaties, the Constitution, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the

Indian Act, land claims, devolution agreements, and self-government. This

growing influence is being felt in the business world. One example

involves the impact of Indigenous groups on the approval and the

building of pipelines.

In light of these developments, it appears appropriate to incorporate

relevant Indigenous legal issues into Business Law in Canada. Doing so is

consistent with the calls to action, the CICan Protocol, and the growing

impact of Indigenous legal issues on business. Incorporating relevant

Indigenous legal issues adds a new dimension to the textbook. It signals a

moving away from the solely European or colonial view of Canadian law
and the Canadian legal system. Some issues will be framed from an

Indigenous perspective, reflecting many factors, including treaties, the

Constitution, the Charter, legislation and case law. It is hoped that this

change in approach has resulted in culturally sensitive content that will

provide all business law students with insights and knowledge that will

help them to understand the situation in Canada regarding its Indigenous

people. Such insights and knowledge are integral to sophisticated clients

making business decisions in Canada.

All of the legislative and judicial references have been updated

throughout the book. Additional key changes for each chapter are listed
here.
Chapter 1 : Managing Your Legal Affairs
The list of examples of high-profile cases involving individuals entangled
in questionable situations has been updated to include several new recent

examples. A reference to some of the Legal Aid resources available to

Indigenous persons has been added. A new Reducing Risk box has been
added. One of the Case Summaries has been replaced. A new case has

been added to the Cases and Discussion Questions.

Chapter 2 : Introduction to the Legal
System
The most significant change to this chapter is the addition of Indigenous
content. An examination of Indigenous rights, self-government, and self-
determination is undertaken. Case law has also been updated, with the
addition of the following case summaries: Attorney General of Quebec v.
Attorney General of Canada; R. v. Blackmore; Ruth Maria Adria v Attorney

General of Alberta; Frank v. Canada (Attorney General); R. v. Jordan; R. v.

Kapp; Alberta (Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development) v. Cunningham;
and Canada (Attorney General) v. Hicks.
Chapter 3 : The Resolution of Disputes:
The Courts and Alternatives to Litigation
Mention is made of R. v. Jordan in which the Supreme Court of Canada
ruled that persons charged with a criminal offence have the right to be

tried in a reasonable amount of time. The section entitled “Jurisdiction”

has been significantly revised, in light of the Supreme Court of Canada
decision in Club Resorts Ltd. v. Van Breda and subsequent decisions. The
discussion on the establishment of Indigenous courts has been updated
and enlarged. It now includes a reference to the “Gladue factors” and the

approach that judges must follow in determining the sentence of an

Indigenous offender (now before the Supreme Court). Two of the Case
Summaries have been replaced and one new Case Summary has been
added. Three of the cases in the Cases and Discussion Questions were

deleted, while four new cases have been added.

Chapter 4 : Intentional Torts and Torts
Impacting Business
Revisions to this chapter include a reduction in the number of Learning
Objectives to nine. The new case summaries include an examination of
Dr. X v. Everson regarding false imprisonment, Campbell v. Lauwers
dealing with malicious prosecution, and Hardev Kumar v. Vinod Khurana,

Funk v. Harder, and Olsen v. Facebook Inc. addressing defamation. An

additional six case summaries are likewise new.
Chapter 5 : Negligence, Professional
Liability, and Insurance
This chapter has also been shortened—its Learning Objectives are

reduced by two. New case summaries track developments in negligence

law and the law concerning insurance. They include summaries of the

following cases: Passerin v Webb, Douglas v. Kinger, Young v. Bella, Clements

v. Clements, Deloitte & Touche v. Livent Inc. (Receiver of), and Ledcor
Construction Ltd. v. Northbridge Indemnity Insurance Co.
Chapter 6 : The Elements of a Contract:
Consensus and Consideration
Four of the Case Summaries have been replaced. One of the new Case

Summaries is one of the first judicial interpretations of the need for good

faith contractual performance and the common law duty to act honestly
in the performance of contractual obligations recently created by the

Supreme Court of Canada. Two new Case Summaries have been added,
while six new cases have been added to the Cases and Discussion

Questions.
Chapter 7 : The Elements of a Contract:
Capacity, Legality, and Intention
The discussion on the effect of section 89 of the Indian Act (which
prevents the use of property on a reserve as collateral for loans) has been

enlarged. Five of the Case Summaries have been replaced and one new

Case Summary has been added. Four of the cases in the Cases and
Discussion Questions were deleted, while four new cases have been

added.
Chapter 8 : Factors Affecting the
Contractual Relationship
Two new tables have been added to this chapter. In the new case

summaries, Case Summary 8.2  involves a homeowner misled by

inflated promotional materials. In Case Summary 8.4 , evidence of fraud

precluded the vendor from being able to use a “No Representations”

clause to avoid liability. Case Summary 8.6  examines undue influence

and finds that where undue influence is presumed, the onus of rebutting

that presumption falls on the party seeking to enforce the contract.

Chapter 9 : The End of the Contractual
Relationship
Five new case summaries review the decisions in Blundon v Ashton Pools,

Nicolaou v. Sobhani, Ali v. O-Two Medical Technologies Inc., Kreway v

Kreway, and Summers Transport Ltd. v. Smith (G.M.) Ltd.
Chapter 10 : Agency and Partnership
The material for the topic of agency and for the topic of partnership has
been extensively reorganized. The presentation of the content should

make the chapter more understandable for students and more useful for

instructors. A section (including a Case Summary) on the fiduciary duty

owed to Indigenous peoples has been added. One Case Summary has

been replaced. The Questions for Review, as well as the Cases and
Discussion Questions have been significantly revised.
Chapter 11 : Corporations
Three of the Case Summaries have been replaced. Three of the cases in
the Cases and Discussion Questions were deleted, while four new cases
have been added.
Chapter 12 : Employment
Employment law is an area undergoing constant change. Developments
in occupational health and safety legislation and human rights statutes
addressing harassment in the workplace are explored. Indigenous

employment preference policies are clarified. New cases summarized

include: Peters & Co Limited v. Ward (regarding non-competition clauses);
Ivic v. Lakovic (examining vicarious liability); and a trio of cases looking at

the risks associated with misuse of social media Wasaya Airways LP v. Air
Line Pilots Assn., International (Wyndels Grievance), Alberta Union of
Provincial Employees v. Alberta (R. Grievance), and McIntosh v. Metro
Aluminum Products Ltd. and another. Also, three cases looking at sexual

harassment in the workplace are examined: Robichaud v. Canada (Treasury

Board), Janzen v. Platy Enterprises Ltd., and M.B. v. 2014052 Ontario Ltd.
(Deluxe Windows of Canada).
Chapter 13 : Intellectual Property
Enhancing value and creating strategic business advantages through
intellectual property rights and information technology is a new learning
outcome for this chapter, which covers a rapidly changing area of law. We

have added several new cases to support that goal, including: United
Airlines, Inc. v. Cooperstock in a complaint site battle; Vancouver
Community College v. Vancouver Career College in a fight over confusing a

search engine; the Apple versus Barbato dispute over the European
trademark STEVE JOBS; Bodum USA, Inc. v. Trudeau Corporation over
glassware designs; Google Inc. v. Equustek Solutions Inc. disputing rights to

communication networks for complex industrial machinery; ZeniMax v.

Oculus over VR tech; and R. v. Bostelaar over doxxing. Trademark
categories have been updated to include sound, motion, and colour

marks.
Chapter 14 : Real and Personal Property
and Protection of the Environment
We have updated information on the use of e-data in land titles

registration, and added new cases, including: Black v. Owen on

maintenance fees; The Owners, Strata Plan NW 1245 v. Linden on forced
eviction and sale by a strata; the duty of bailee to drinking and pot

smoking teenage car thieves in J.J. v. C.C.; the conviction of oil dumpers in
Ontario (Environment) v. Aqua-tech Blue et al. Ontario Ministry of the
Environment; an ongoing fuel spill into a river case in Regina v. Her
Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia1; Executive

Flight Centre Fuel Services Ltd. and Danny Lasante; water rights in Pembina
County Water Resource District v. Manitoba; seizing a golf driving range in
Performance Plus Golf Academy v. Hydeaway Golf Club; and environmental
charges over logging in the Haida Gwaii islands in R. v. Gwaii Wood

Products Ltd case.

Chapter 15 : Priority of Creditors
The discussion of bulk sales legislation has been deleted, given the repeal
of the Bulk Sales Act in Ontario. Two of the Case Summaries have been

replaced, and a new Case Summary has been added. Three of the cases in
the Cases and Discussion Questions were deleted, while six new cases
have been added.
Chapter 16 : Sales and Consumer
Protection
Consumer protection legislation has been expanding. The new case
summaries in this chapter exemplify the relief available when defective
products are purchased (Case Summary 16.4 ), refusals by courts to

enforce unfair exemption clauses (Case Summary 16.5 ), courts setting
aside unscrupulous sales (Case Summary 16.9 ), and providing students
with an indication of remedies available and practices to avoid.
1 As represented by the Ministry of Forests, Lands & Natural Resource Operations and The Ministry of Transportation

and Infrastructure.
Content Highlights

 Listen to the Audio

You will find the following text features in the 12th edition:

Learning Objectives provide an overview of the chapter content. By

providing a roadmap at the beginning of each chapter, the objectives help

students to read and understand the material more efficiently and more
effectively.

Key terms are boldfaced where they are defined in the body of the text.

They are also restated with their definitions in the margins or as pop-ups
in Revel.

Case Summaries appear throughout each chapter. They are used to

introduce topics and to provide concrete examples that help students

understand key legal issues. Many of the Case Summaries also include

Discussion Questions, which help promote a more thorough

understanding of the relevant issues, or Small Business Perspectives,

which identify the relevant legal issues facing small business owners.

Cases and Discussion Questions appear at the end of each chapter.

These cases vary in both length and difficulty. They are ideally suited to

classroom discussion, but they can also be assigned to students for

independent study. In Revel, each chapter features one assignable Shared

Writing question from one of the end-of-chapter cases. Chapters 3 , 4 ,

14 , and 15  also feature interactive case studies for students to work

through. (Solutions to all cases are provided in the Instructor’s Resource

Manual.)
Marginal notes summarize adjacent paragraphs and highlight key points.

Reducing Risk boxes are featured throughout the text. Each Reducing

Risk box describes what the sophisticated client would do in the business

situation the box presents.

Provincial content in Revel offers province-specific content detailing

legal differences for most provinces. The addition of this material will

help give students an accurate understanding of how the law applies to

their community.

Diagrams illustrate cases with complex fact patterns.

Summaries in point form promote quick review and reference.

Quizzes in Revel appear at the end of every module and chapter. Each

module concludes with a multiple-choice quiz with three to 10 questions

and each chapter concludes with a multiple-choice quiz of 20 questions.

Finally, we remind all who use this text that it is designed as a tool for

learning business law and not as an authoritative source of legal advice.

When faced with a specific legal problem, the reader is advised to seek
the assistance of a lawyer.

A Note on Indigenous Terminology

We give our thanks to Suzanne Keeptwo, our Indigenous Editor, who
took the time to read the Indigenous content in the book and advised us

regarding our use of language. In order to be relevant, sensitive,

respectful, and current, we have made these essential changes:

• The term First Nation(s) has replaced the term Indian.The term Indian is

only used when it is necessary for legal or historical contexts. In these

cases, we have either italicized the term – Indian Act, Indian Status, Indian
Band – or placed it in quotations when directly citing a document such as

the Royal Proclamation of 1763.

• The term Indigenous has replaced the term Aboriginal. Indigenous

peoples in Canada include First Nation, Inuit, and Métis peoples. The

term aboriginal is only used when directly quoting more recent historical
legal documents or when discussing groups that include Aboriginal in

their title.
Acknowledgments and Dedications

 Listen to the Audio

As has been the case in every new edition of Business Law in Canada,

reviewers have played an important role in correcting, reshaping, and

updating the book, and we would like to acknowledge their invaluable

contributions. In addition to providing encouragement and insight into

what instructors want and need, they provide an important connection to

the people this book is designed to serve.

We thank all those who have patiently gone over the text and made

suggestions for revision, including Mike Bozzo, Mohawk College; Odette

Coccola, Camosun College; Colleen Formisano Kwantlen Polytechnic

University; Weldon Green, New Brunswick Community College; Richard

McLagan, Conestoga College.

We would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Sherry Baxter in

preparing this edition. Sherry, a former business law student who is now
a lawyer, has carried out some of the research required for the last three

editions of Business Law in Canada. Her research, questions, comments,

and insights were again invaluable in the preparation of this edition. In

addition, Sherry worked with us in carrying out the research necessary for

the “indigenization” of the textbook, through the incorporation of

relevant Indigenous legal issues. Sherry has always been interested in

Indigenous matters; this, along with her irrepressible enthusiasm for the

introduction of Indigenous law into this edition, enabled her to spend

many hours on her research and to provide relevant, accurate, and up-to-
date information. Thank you very much, Sherry: your excellent assistance

is sincerely appreciated.

Our thanks also go to Dr. John Roberts, a Métis author and activist, who

provided valuable feedback on the Indigenous content added to this

edition. We appreciate his insight and contribution to the book.

Years ago, Trevor Clarke and I approached Pearson Canada seeking to

collaborate in the publication of a business law textbook. Richard Yates

graciously accepted us as co-authors and we have had the honour of

working together over the past seven editions. Thank you, Richard, for

your generosity, your warmth and your wise guidance.

It is with great pleasure to be working alongside Dean Palmer, who has

joined us in this 12th edition as a co-author. Welcome, Dean!

I wish to express my gratitude to my colleagues at the JR Shaw School of

Business at NAIT for their support and encouragement. Ellen Wilson,

department head of the School of Finance, worked her magic. Craig

Grubisich, Kim Watamaniuk, and Douglas Kennedy all made sacrifices to

enable me to co-author Business Law in Canada, for which I am humbly

grateful. I have thoroughly enjoyed designing and teaching Business Law

courses with this harmonious team, which also includes Anne

Henderson, Angus Ng, Justin Matthews, and Robin Kaulback. Thank you

for your support and your commitment to developing sophisticated

clients.

Finally, I would like to dedicate this 12th edition to my parents, Joseph and

Christine Bereznicki, whose unwavering support always inspires me to

carry on.
—Teresa Bereznicki-Korol, BA, JD

I would again like to acknowledge the unconditional support of my wife,

Peg. Preparing an edition of Business Law in Canada requires total

commitment and countless hours of time. It would not have been

possible for me to do the work required to prepare this edition without

the sacrifices that Peg made, without hesitation. Your continued support

is very humbling, Peg: thank you very much!

I would also like to acknowledge the addition of Dean Palmer as a co-

author of this edition of Business Law in Canada. From what I have seen,
Dean has provided work of a high quality, something that Richard,

Teresa, and I have always tried to maintain. Welcome, Dean!

Finally, I would like to dedicate this edition to my brother, Kevin, whose

strength and resilience after suffering a serious stroke has been inspiring.

—Trevor Clarke, BSc, MBA, LLB

It is an honour to be working alongside Trevor Clarke and Teresa

Bereznicki-Korol, and to be mentored by Richard Yates on Business Law in

Canada. I appreciate their kind welcome to me as a new colleague. I have
had the pleasure of using Business Law in Canada in classes for twenty

years, and am a great fan of the unique style and strong content that
Trevor, Teresa, and Richard have created.

I would also like to thank my teaching mentors Chris Gadsby, Lori

Becker, and Doug McLean, and am grateful for the support of Pierre
Matthee and Richard Miles in the School of Business at BCIT.

Last but not least, thanks to my wife Karen, a litigator, who not only put

up with my time away writing and editing, but also has provided great
support and feedback.

—Dean A. Palmer
The Story of Revel—Why Revel?
WATCH Why Revel?

 Listen to the Audio

Revel is an interactive learning environment designed for the way today’s

students read, think, and learn. Revel uses interactives and assessments

integrated within the narrative that enhance content as well as students’

overall learning experiences.

The story of Revel is simple: When students are engaged in the course

content, they learn more effectively and perform better.

When creating your course, you have many choices as to how to

supplement your lectures and curriculum. So ask yourself these

questions: How do I know if my students are reading their assigned

materials? Do I want my students to have a better understanding of the

concepts presented in this class through course materials and lectures?

Do I want to see my students perform better throughout the course? If

you answered “yes” to these questions, choose Revel.

Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Child's
Book of the Seasons
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: The Child's Book of the Seasons

Author: Arthur Ransome

Illustrator: Frances Craine

Release date: August 8, 2012 [eBook #40448]

Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Heather Strickland & Marc D'Hooghe

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHILD'S

BOOK OF THE SEASONS ***
THE CHILD'S BOOK OF THE
SEASONS
BY
 ARTHUR RANSOME
Author of "The Stone Lady."

NATURE BOOKS FOR CHILDREN.

With Illustrations by Frances Craine

LONDON

ANTHONY TREHERNE & COMPANY, LTD.

II, YORK BUILDINGS, ADELPHI, W.C.

1906

FOR ROBERT AND PHYLLIS.

CONTENTS.

I. Spring
II. Summer
III. Autumn
IV. Winter
 I

SPRING
Spring always seems to begin on the morning that the Imp, in a
bright pink nightgown, comes rushing into my room without
knocking, and throws himself on my bed, with a sprig of almond
blossom in his hand. You see, the almond blossom grows just
outside the Imp's window, and the Imp watches it very carefully. We
are none of us allowed to see it until it is ready, and then, as soon as
there is a sprig really out, he picks it and flies all round the house
showing it to everybody. For the Imp loves the Spring, and we all
know that those beautiful pink blossoms mean that Spring is very
near.
"Spring!" shouts the Imp, waving his almond blossoms, and we
begin to keep a little note-book, and write down in it after the
almond blossom day all the other days of the really important things,
the day when we first see the brimstone butterfly, big and pale and
golden yellow, flitting along the hedgerow near the ground, and the
day of picking the first primrose and the finding of the first bird's
nest.
And then walks begin to be real fun. No dull jig-jog, jig-jog, just so
many miles before going home to lunch, when all the time you
would much rather have stayed at home altogether. The Imp and
the Elf love Spring walks, and are always running ahead trying to
see things. There are such a lot of things to see, and every one of
them means that Summer is a little nearer. And that is a jolly piece
of news, is it not?
The Imp and the Elf have a nurse to take them for walks, and a very
nice old nurse she is, with lots of fairy tales. But somehow she is not
much interested in flowers, or birds, or mice, or even in the Spring,
so that very soon after the day of the apple blossom those two
children start coming to my door soon after breakfast. They knock
both at once very quietly. I pretend not to hear. They knock again,
and still I do not answer. Then they thunder on the door. Do you
know how to thunder on a door? You do it by doubling up your fist
and hitting hard with the podgy part that comes at the end where
your thumb is not. You can make a tremendous noise that way, And
then suddenly I jump up and roar out, "Who's there?" as if I were a
terrible giant. And the Imp and the Elf come tumbling in, and stand
in front of me, and bow and say, "Oh, Mr. Ogre, we hope you are not
very really truly busy, because we want you to come for a walk."
And then we stick our things on, and away we go through the
garden and into the fields, with our three pairs of eyes as wide open
as they will go, so as not to miss anything.
We watch the lark rise high off the ploughed lands and sing up into
the sky. He is a little speckled brown bird with a very conceited
head, if only you can get near enough to see him. The Imp says he
ought not to be so proud just because he has a fine voice. And
certainly, if you watch the way he swings into the air, with little leaps
of flying, higher and higher and higher, you cannot help thinking that
perhaps he does think a little too much of himself. He likes to climb
higher than all the other birds, just as if he were a little choir boy
perched up in the organ loft. He climbs up and up the sky till you
can scarcely see him, but he takes care that you do not forget him
even if he is so high as to be out of sight. He sings and sings and
sings. The Imp and the Elf like to wait and watch him till he drops
down again in long jumps, just as if he were that little choir boy
coming down the stairs ten steps at a time. "Now he's coming," says
the Imp, as he sees the lark poise for an instant. "Now he's coming,"
the Elf cries, as he drops a foot or two. But we always think he is
coming before he really is.
As we go through the fields we keep a good look out for primroses
and cowslips. The primroses come long before the cowslips.
Cowslips really belong to the beginning of the Summer. But early in
the Spring there are plenty of woods and banks we know, where we
are sure of finding primroses with their narrow, furry, green leaves,
and the pale yellow flowers on a long stalk sprouting out of the
heart of the leaves.
In the primrose-wood where we always go in the Spring, we find lots
and lots of primroses, and some of them are not yellow at all, but
pale pink and purple coloured. The Elf collects them for her garden,
and she carries a little trowel and digs deep down into the earth all
round them so as not to hurt their roots and then pulls them up, and
puts them in the basket to plant in her garden at home. You see,
they really belong to gardens, for they are not quite proper
primroses, but the children of primroses and polyanthuses. You
know polyanthuses. The Imp says their names are much too long for
them. But you know them quite well, just like cowslips, they are,
only all sorts of colours.
About the same time that the primroses are out the wild dog violets
begin to show themselves. We always know when to look for them,
for wild ones bloom as soon as the sweet ones in our garden are
over. The Elf watches the garden violets and picks the last bunch of
them, and ties them up with black cotton and puts them on my plate
ready for me when I come down late to breakfast. Yes, I do come
down late for breakfast. I know it is naughty, but you see even
grown-ups are naughty sometimes. The Imp thinks I am very
naughty indeed, and so one day, when I was late, he took my
porridge, and got on a high chair, and put it on the top of the
grandfather clock for a punishment. You see, whenever the Imp and
the Elf are late they have to go without porridge. That is why they
are very seldom late. Well, as soon as I came down I saw my blue
porridge bowl smiling over the top of the clock, and I just reached
up and took it down and ate it, and very good porridge it was, too.
But the Imp said, "It's horrid of you, Ogre, to be so big," and then
he laughed, and I laughed, and it was all right.
Oh, yes, I was just telling you that the Elf put the last bunch of the
sweet violets on my plate. Well, when that happens we all know that
our next walk will be to the places where the wild violets grow for
they are sure to be just coming out.
The wild violets are just like the sweet ones in liking cool, shady
places for their homes. We find them nestling in the banks under the
hedge that runs along the side of the wood. They cuddle close down
to the ground, with their tiny heart-shaped leaves and wee pale
purple flowers, just like little untidy twisted pansies.
The Elf reminds me that I am to tell you about the daffodils. I had
forgotten all about them. Really, you know it is the Imp and the Elf
who are writing this book. If it were not for them I should be
forgetting nearly everything. There are such a lot of things to
remember In the wood where we find the coloured primroses there
are great banks of daffodils under the green larches. They are just
like bright yellow trumpets growing out of pale yellow stars. The Imp
says they are the golden horns the fairies blow when they go riding
through the woodland in the moonlight on their fairy coaches. I do
not know if he is right, but anyhow they are very pretty. They have
lots of long flat leaves growing close round each flower, like sword
blades sticking up out of the ground, and the buds look at first as if
they were two leaves tightly rolled together. And then the green
opens and a pale spike comes out, and a thin covering bursts off the
spike, and the spike opens into the five-pointed star, leaving the
brilliant golden trumpet in the middle. Gardeners, and that sort of
person grow double daffodils that look like two flowers one inside
the other, but the ordinary wild daffodil is far the prettier. At least the
Imp and the Elf think so, and I think so, too.
We go to the wood and lie down on the dried leaves from last year,
and watch the flowers and talk about them and the little mice who
live in the undergrowth. Sometimes, if we are not too lazy, the Elf
makes us pick primroses and daffodils and violets to send to children
we know in town—pale-faced children who think we must be dull in
the country, with nothing to do, and no pantomimes. Really, of
course, there is such a lot to do in the country that we have always
got the next thing planned before we have done what we are doing.
And as for pantomimes this very wood is just like a theatre, with
mice and rabbits and birds for actors, and the most beautiful
transformation scenes. Why, just now in Spring it is yellow with
primroses and daffodils, with pale larches wearing their new green
dresses. But soon all the trees will be green, and the whole wood
will be carpeted in blue, deep rich blue, the colour of the wild blue-
bells, whose leaves we can see coming up all over the place. Spiky
green leaves they are, and the children see them at once. "Blue-bells
are coming," sing the Imp and the Elf, and so they are, and with the
blue-bells comes Summer.
Besides the lark and cuckoo, who is going to be talked about in a
minute, besides the flowers, there are other things we watch for
signs of Summer, and those are the trees themselves.
We watch the trees for flowers and for buds. From the high windows
of the house we can see over the fields to the woods, and see them
change colour from the dead bareness of Winter very early in the
Spring. And when we go to the woods in daffodil time we all three of
us watch the buds coming out on every branch farthest out on the
lowest boughs, which for Imps and Elves are also easiest to see.
Earlier than this we look for catkins on the hazel trees. The Elf calls
the hazels "the little children of the wood" because they grow low,
and the other trees, the oaks, and beeches, and elms, and chest-
nuts, and birches, tower above them. In some parts of the country
catkins are called lambstails, because they hang down just like the
flabby little tails of the Spring lambs. What do you think they really
are? The Elf would not believe me when I told her they were hazel
flowers. "Trees don't have flowers," she said. I reminded her of
hawthorns and wild roses, and she said, "Oh, yes, but these things
are greeny-brown and not like flowers at all." But they _are_
flowers. They are the flowers of the hazel tree, and they are almost
the very first of the Spring things that we see. If you look about
when you are in the woods you will find that lots of other trees have
green flowers, too, and many of them just the same shape as the
lambstails.
The Imp and the Elf are early on the look-out for another tree-flower
that is one of the Spring signs, and that is the flower that people
who know nothing about it call "palm." Hundreds of men and
women from the towns come out into the country to gather it, and a
horrible mess they make of our country lanes and fields. The Elf calls
them the "Ginger-beer-bottle-and-paper-bag-people" and hates
them with all her small heart.
Really, that flower that those people come to gather belongs to the
sallow, which is a kind of willow. You know it quite well, with its
beautiful straight, tall, bendable stems that look as if they were
simply made for bows and arrows. In Spring-time the sallow flowers
in pretty little silvery tufts, soft and silky to touch, clinging all along
its twigs. The Elf always picks the first bit that she can find that is
really out and carries it home in triumph, and puts it in a jampot full
of water to remind her that Winter is really over and gone.
On the way to the woods we have to pass through broad green
fields full of grey sheep with long tangled wool all nibbling at the
grass. And very early in the Spring a day comes when by the side of
one of the old grey sheep there is something small and white. And
the Elf says nothing, but slips her hand into mine, so that I can feel
it shaking with excitement. She touches the Imp, so that he sees the
white thing, too, and then we all three go across the field as quietly
as ever we can to see the little new lamb as near as possible. But
little lambs and their grey mothers are very nervous, and long before
we are really close to them the grey sheep moves away, and the
little white lamb jumps up and scampers after her.
Before the Spring is half through nearly all the grey sheep have one
or two little white woolly children trotting about with them, and we
watch the lambs chasing each other and skipping over tussocks of
grass like little wild mountain goats. The Imp and the Elf are always
wondering what they think about in those queer little heads of
theirs, with the big ears and great round puzzled eyes.
But of all the Spring signs the oldest and sweetest and dearest is the
cry of the cuckoo that comes when Spring is just going to change
into Summer. For hundreds of years English children have listened
for the cuckoo in the Spring, and the very oldest English song that
was ever written down is all about the cuckoo's cry.
"Summer is a coming in,
Loudly sing cuckoo.
Groweth seed and bloweth mead,
And springeth the wood now.
Ewe bleateth after lamb,
Lowth after calf the cow,
Bullock starteth,
Buck now verteth,
Merry sing cuckoo.
Sing cuckoo,
Well singeth thou, cuckoo, cuckoo.
Nor cease thou ever now."
The Imp and the Elf love that little song and know it by heart. It was
written by an old monk in the Spring-time years and years and years
ago, and some of the words he used are difficult to understand now.
Verteth is an old word meaning going on the green grass. Nearly all
the other words I have made as much like our own as I can.
It is much easier to hear the cuckoo than to see him. He is a biggish
grey gentleman with stripes across his middle, and he is horribly
hard to notice unless we get quite close to him. He is very shy, and
that makes it harder still. But sometimes when you hear him cry,
cuckoo, cuckoo, if you are very quick indeed, you can see him flying
across a field from hedge to hedge.
Mrs. Cuckoo is the laziest mother that ever was. The Elf thinks her
perfectly horrid. I wonder if you know why? She is so gay and fond
of flying about that she finds she has no time to build a nest or bring
up her little ones as all good mothers do. So she just leaves her egg
in someone else's home, and flies happily away, leaving the
someone else to hatch the egg and bring up the little cuckoo. She
often chooses quite small birds like the little greenfinches or even
the sparrows. And when the young cuckoo comes tumbling out of
his egg, instead of being kind and polite to the children to whom his
nursery really belongs he just wriggles his big naked body under
them and tumbles them out of the nest. That is why, though we love
to hear the cuckoo, we think him rather a lazy bird, and his wife a
very second-rate kind of mother.
When we come back from the walk on which we have heard the first
cuckoo of the year, we really begin to long for the Summer. All the
Spring signs have come. When we get back to my room, the Imp
and the Elf sit on my table and swing their legs and say, "Brimstone
butterfly, palm, catkins, daffodils, violets, primroses, blue-bells, and
cuckoo; Summer is coming, don't you think, Ogre?" And I say yes.
And they say, "Tell us what Summer is like, do, please." And I tell
them, though they know already, and they sit on the table and
wriggle at all the nicest parts of the telling, and we are all very
happy indeed.

II
 SUMMER
And what are the things we know the Summer by? Summer clothes
say little girls, and big straw hats say boys. Well, and what do they
mean but the heat? The Imp wears a huge straw hat and a loose
holland overall but he goes about panting, and lies flat on the
ground with the straw hat over his nose to keep the sun from
burning his face. And the Elf wears an overall, too, and a pale blue
calico sunbonnet over her curls. All the same she is often too hot to
enjoy anything except sitting in the swing in the orchard and
listening to fairy tales. And I, well, I am often too hot to tell fairy
tales. For fairyland is a cool, comfortable place, and big, hot Ogres
melt it away like an ice palace.
"Yes, yes, yes," you say, "but what do you do? It can't always be too
hot to do anything." I asked the Elf what we do do in Summer time,
and her eyes grew bigger and bigger, and she clapped her hands
and said, "Do? Why, everything." And now I am going to try to tell
you a few of the things that make the everything so delightful.
First of all there are cowslip balls. We go, the three of us, to the field
where the cowslips grow. Little cousins of the primroses the cowslips
are, as you know already. Well, we take a long piece of string and
fasten one end to a bush, and pick piles of flowers close to the top
of the long stalk and hang them over the thread, so that some of the
flowers hang on one side and some on the other. And when we have
a great row hanging on the thread we take its two ends and tie
them together. And all the cowslips tumble into the middle and
crowd up against each other, and when the thread is tied they are
packed so close that they make a beautiful ball, with nothing but
cowslip faces to be seen all over it. And that is a cowslip ball.
Close under the moor, not so very far away from the house, there is
a gate where the lane divides into three or four rough paths that run
over the heather to the moorland farms. And just by the gate there
is a hawthorn tree. The flowers of the hawthorn are not, like the
catkins, over before the hazel shows its leaves. They wait till all the
tree is vivid green, and then sparkle out all over it in brilliant white
or coral colour. We call the hawthorn May. And a long time ago all
over England on May-Day people used to pick the May and make a
crown of it and decorate a high pole in the middle of each village.
And then they danced round the pole, and crowned the prettiest of
the girls and called her the Queen of the May. She had a sprig of
hawthorn blossom for a sceptre, and everybody did what she told
them. It must have been rather nice for the little girl who was
chosen Queen.
But now nearly everybody has forgotten about May-Day fun. Perhaps
they would not enjoy it even if they remembered. But here, when
the May is out, the country children from the farms over the
moorland and from this end of the valley choose a fine day and
come to the tree. The Imp and the Elf always take care to find out
when they are coming. Then they bang on the study door for me
and away we go, with plenty of buns and sandwiches in our pockets.
And always when we get to the tree we find that some of the
country children are there before us. And soon the fun begins. They
all dance round the tree, and after eating all the buns and things
they choose a King and Queen, and play Oranges and Lemons, the
King and Queen leading off. This year they chose the Imp and the
Elf, and you just can't imagine how proud they were, and how the
Imp strutted about with his hawthorn sceptre, and the Elf kept re-
arranging her curls under her green and starry crown. The sun
shone all day, and we were all as happy as anyone could wish to be.
Then, too, in Summer we go quietly and softly through the little
wood at the back of the house and wait at the other side of it and
peep over the hedge. There is a steep bank on the other side and
then a row of little trees, the remains of an old hedge, and then
another bank. And the other bank is full of holes, and the holes are
full of rabbits. And in the Summer evening we go there and watch
the little rabbits skipping about and nibbling the grass. And of course
as the Summer goes on the grass grows very high, and when we
walk through it we can sometimes see nothing but the ears of the
little rabbits peeping up above it. You can't imagine how funny they
look. Once the Imp fell right over the top of one of them that was
hidden in the grass. It jumped out under his feet and he was so
startled that he fell forward, and felt something warm and furry
wriggling in his hands, and found that he had caught a baby rabbit.
The Elf and the Imp patted and stroked it till it was not frightened
any more, and then we put it on the ground and let it go. It hopped
gaily away through the grass and disappeared into its burrow in the
bank. I do not wonder that it was a little afraid and trembly when
the Imp, who must seem a giant to it though he only seems a boy to
me, came bumping down on it out of the sky.

Besides the rabbits we find all sorts of other charming things in the
long grass that swishes so happily round our ankles. Buttercups are
there which send a golden light over your chin if you hold them near
enough, buttercups, and dandelions, and purple thistles, and wild
orchids. You know thistles and dandelions, of course, but I wonder if
you know an orchid when you see one? They are quite common
things, but lots of even country children do not bother to look for
them. Next time you are in the fields in Summer just look about you
for a spike of tiny purple flowers with speckled lips rising out of a
little cluster of green leaves with brown spots on them. Soon after
these have begun to flower we often find another kind, with
speckled flowers too, only far paler purple. And later still there is a
meadow where we can usually discover just a very few Butterfly
orchids. They have a spike of delicate fluttery flowers, not so close
together as the purple kinds, and with green in the veins of their
white petals. They are a great prize and the Elf always picks one,
leaving the rest, and brings it very carefully home and keeps it in
water for as long as she can for it is a treasure indeed.
In another bank, not so very far from the home of the rabbits,
another little furry creature lives, a pretty little brown-coated, long-
tailed person, a great hunter, and much feared by the rabbits. He
has a long, thin body, and a sharp little head, and a wavy tail. He is
a weasel. His bank is just by the side of a pleasant little trickling
beck, and not very far from the wood where the pheasants live.
Some day he will be shot by the keeper for I am afraid he is rather
fond of pheasant. There are plenty of stories about him among the
country people. They say that if you whistle near his hole he will
come running out to see what is the matter; and if you go on
whistling he will come nearer and nearer until you can catch him
with your hands. I have never tried, so I do not know if this is true.
But I should not like to catch him in my hands for his teeth are as
sharp as a rat's. At any rate there is one thing that is far more
certain to bring him out of his hole than any whistle, and that is
want of rabbit. Once, as we walked through the fields in the Summer
twilight, we heard a short squeal and saw a poor little rabbit hopping
feebly away with Mr. Weasel running nimbly along after him. And the
funny thing is that the rabbit instead of scampering away as fast as
he could go, was going quite slowly, and in the end stopped
altogether, when the weasel ran up and killed him. The Elf said it
was cruel of the weasel and silly of the rabbit. The Imp said he did
not know about the weasel, but the rabbit deserved to be killed for
being so slow in getting away. But our old gardener, who is wisest of
us all, says that the weasel has to kill rabbits to keep alive, and that
it isn't the rabbit's fault that it cannot run fast. He says that when a
rabbit is chased by a weasel it cannot help going slower and slower,
and being terribly frightened because it knows that it cannot escape.
The sheep in the fields are just as interesting as the rabbits or the
weasels. One of the most exciting of all the Summer things has to
do with them. Towards the end of May the Elf and the Imp are
always bothering the farmers round about, to find out when
shearing and washing time is going to be. There is an old rhyme that
the farmers' wives tell us, and it says:
"Wash in May,
Wash wool away.
Wash in June,
The wool's in tune."
What it means is that if the farmers wash the sheep in May the wool
is not so strong and healthy as it is later, and comes off in the water.
While, if they wash them in June the wool is quite crisp and stands
on end, and so is very easy to cut. Usually the farmers wash the
sheep in the beginning of June, and these two children always
manage to find out the day before. They come and bang at my door
as usual, but when they come in they bring my hat and walking-stick
with them, for they know quite well that on sheep-washing day I am
sure to want to come with them. And then off we go along the road
that leads by the hawthorn tree, over the moor and down on the
other side, to where a little river runs between two farms about a
mile from each. The river widens into a broad shallow pool, and here
the farmers bring the sheep. The Imp and the Elf and I have a fine
seat in the boughs of a big oak that overhangs the water. Here we
sit in a row and have a splendid view. The sheep are all crowded
together in pens at each side of the water, and the farmers wade out
into the stream taking the sheep between their legs, and wash them
one after the other. I told you there were two farms who use this
washing place. Well, every year they race in their sheep-washing,
and see who can get most sheep washed in the shortest time. The
Elf takes one side and the Imp takes the other, and it is really quite
exciting.
When the sheep are all clean they are turned loose in the fields
again for a whole week in which to get properly dry. Then they are
driven into the farmyards or into pens in the fields, and the farmers
clip the wool off them close to the skin. They only shear the old
sheep and last year's lambs; and that is why, after shearing time,
the new lambs have so much finer and longer coats than those of
their mothers. We always wondered why that was, until we found
out that the farmers only clip the tails of the lambs, but leave their
coats on, while they take all the wool off the old sheep, and send it
away to be made into nightgowns and things for Imps and Elves and
you and me and everybody else.
After the sheep-shearing comes the haymaking, and that is the piece
of Summer fun that the Imp loves best of all. We watch the grass
growing taller and taller, till the buttercups no longer tower above it,
and the orchids die away. We notice all the different grasses, the
beautiful feathery ones that the fairy ladies use as fans in the warm
midsummer nights, and those like spears, and those like swords, flat
and green and horribly sharp at the edges. We see them all grow up
and up, and change their colour under the Summer sun. And then at
last comes the day when the farmers of the farm across the meadow
harness old Susan, the big brown horse, to a scarlet clattering
rattling mowing machine that glitters in the sunlight. And then we
hear it singing down the field, making a noise like somebody beating
two sticks together very fast indeed. As soon as we hear that, we
climb through the hedge at the bottom of the garden or over it, and
run round the field, because if we came straight across it, we should
trample the grass, and then the farmer would not smile at us so
pleasantly. And we shout for Dick the labourer who sometimes lets
the Imp or the Elf ride Susan home from the fields. We find him
sitting on the little round seat at the back of the mowing machine
holding the long ropes which do instead of reins. And Susan is
tramping solidly ahead, and the machine drags after her, and the
hay falls behind flat on the ground in great wisps. And the Imp runs
along by the side of the machine, and tells Dick that he is going to
be a farmer, too, when he is big enough. Do you know I never met a
little boy yet, who did not want to be a farmer when the hay is being
cut? I was quite certain that I was going to be a farmer myself, long
ago when I was a little boy, and not an Ogre at all.
And then, when the hay is cut we toss it and dry it, and that is even
jollier than the cutting. The farmer's daughters and Dick's wife come
into the field and join in tossing the grass and turning it over with
long wooden hayrakes, until it is quite dry. And they laugh at the Elf
and the Imp, and throw great bundles of hay over the top of them.
And the Imp and the Elf throw the hay back at them, and tease
them until they are allowed to do a little raking and tossing for
themselves. But they soon tire of that. Presently the Imp throws a
wisp of hay over the Elf, and the Elf throws hay over the Imp, and
then they throw hay over each other, as much and as fast as they
can. And then they creep up to me, where I am sitting as a quiet
comfortable Ogre should, smoking or reading. And suddenly it seems
as if all the hay in all the world were being tumbled over my head
and shoulders. The Imp and the Elf cover me all over with hay, and
then sit on top of me, and pretend that I am a live mountain out of
a fairy tale, and that they are giants, a giant and a giantess taking a
rest. And suddenly the live mountain heaves itself up in the middle,
and upsets the giant and the giantess one on each side. And then
we all get up covered with hay and very warm, and laugh and laugh
until we are too hot to laugh any longer.
When the sun falls lower in the sky, and the hedge throws a broad
cool shadow over the clipped grass, we all sit under it out of the
sunlight, the farmer's daughters in their bright pink blouses and blue
skirts, the farmer and Dick and I smoking our pipes together, and
the Elf and the Imp in their holland smocks. We all meet under the
shadow of the hedge as soon as we see two figures leave the
farmyard and come towards us over the fields. One of them is the
maid who helps in the farm and the other is the farmer's wife. Each
of them carries a big round basket. They come up to us blinking
their eyes against the sun, red in the face, and smiling and jolly. And
we help them to unload the baskets, which are full of food and
drink. Great big slices of bunloaf, dark and full of soft, juicy raisins,
and tea, the best tea you ever tasted, for tea never tastes so nice as
when you drink it under a hedge and out of a ginger beer bottle.
Haymaking is better fun than sheep-washing and lasts longer. It is
not all over in a day. There are such a lot of things to do. The hay
has to be cut and tossed and dried and piled into haycocks before it
is ready to be heaved high on pitchforks on the top of a waggon that
is to carry it away to the farm. And after all when you have made
hay in one field you can go and make it another. And there are such
a lot of fields about here.
But when the hay is dry and ready in big, lumpy haycocks, the Imp
and the Elf shout for joy to see old Susan harnessed to the big
waggon come lumbering into the field, and to see the men throw the
huge bundles of hay into the cart. One man stands amid the hay in
the waggon and takes each new bundle as soon as it is pitchforked
up, and packs it neatly with the hay already there. The hay rises
higher and higher in the waggon, and the Imp loves to be in the
waggon with the man, and to climb higher with the hay until at last
he is high above the hedges, for by the time the cart is fully loaded
you would think it was a great house of hay, ready to topple over
the next minute. But the men do not seem to be afraid of that. They
just fling a rope across the top and fasten it to keep all safe. And the
Imp lies flat on his stomach on the very top of everything, and hears
the farmer below him sing out, "Gee hoa, Susan!" and Susan swings
herself forward and with one great jerk starts the waggon, and the
Elf waves her pocket-handkerchief as they go rumbling away across
the rough field and out on the lane to the farm, taking the hay that
is to keep the cows fat and healthy through the winter.
When the last of all the carts of hay has rumbled away like that,
Dick's wife, who knows all the old songs, reminds the Elf and the
Imp of this one;
"With the last load of hay
Light-heart Summer trips away,
When the cuckoo's double note
Chokes within his mottled throat,
Then we country children say,
Light-heart Summer trips away."
Though Summer does not go quite yet, there is a sad sound already
in the woods, for the cuckoo who told us that Summer was coming,
sings cuckoo no longer, but only a melancholy cuck, cuck, as if he
were too hot and tired to finish his song. And that means that he is
going soon.
"Cuckoo, cuckoo,
How do you?
In April
I open my bill;
In May
I sing by night and day;
In June
I change my tune;
In July
Away I fly;
In August
Away I must."
It is very hard to tell when Summer ends and Autumn begins. But as
soon as we hear the cuckoo drop the last note of his song we know
that we must soon expect the time of golden corn, and after that of
crimson leaves and orange. And when we hear the cuckoo no more
at all, the Imp and Elf and I take marmalade sandwiches and bottled
tea for a picnic in the hazel wood that is now thick with leaves, and
so thickly peopled with caterpillars that they tumble on the Imp's big
hat and get entangled in the Elf's hair as we pick our way through
the trees. We have our picnic on a bank there, the very bank where
we find violets and primroses in the spring, and the Elf lying close to
the warm ground whispers "Good-bye, Summer," and even the
cheerful Imp feels a little sad.

III

AUTUMN
I told you that we are sad when we know that Summer is passing
away; but that is only because we love the Summer, with her gay
flowers and fair green clothes, and not because we do not like the
Autumn. The Imp and the Elf laugh at me when I tell them that all
Ogres and Ogresses, all people who are grown up and can never be
Imps and Elves again, love the Autumn and the Spring even better
than the Summer herself. And then, to make them understand, I tell
them a fairy story, how, once upon a time, Spring and Summer and
Winter and Autumn were four beautiful little girls. Winter wore a
white frock with red berries in her hair; Summer was dressed in
deep green, with a crown of hawthorn and blue hyacinths; and
Spring had a dress of vivid green, the colour of the larches in the
woods, and a beautiful wreath of primroses and violets on her head;
while Autumn was only allowed Summer's old dresses when they
were faded and nearly worn out Autumn was very unhappy, for she
loved pretty dresses like every little girl. But she went about bravely,
with a smiling brown face, and never said anything about it. And
then one day a fairy Godmother, just like Cinderella's, came into the
garden, and asked to see all her little Godchildren. And Spring and
Summer and Winter all put on their best frocks and came to be
kissed by her. But poor Autumn could only tidy up Summer's old
dress, which she did as well as she could, and then came out after
the others. But she was shy because she knew that her dress was
only an old faded one, and not so pretty as the spick and span
clothes of her sisters. So she hung back and was kissed last of all.
The Godmother kissed the others on the forehead, but when she
came to Autumn she saw that all was not quite well, and looked at
her very tenderly and said, "Tell me all about it," just as all the nicest
fairy Godmothers do. And Autumn whispered that she was sorry that
she was not looking as pretty as the others, but that she really could
not help it, because she had no frocks of her own.
The Godmother laughed, and took her in her arms and kissed her on
the lips. And then the Godmother put her arm round Autumn's neck,
and, walking hand in hand, they went together down the garden
under the bending trees to the edge of the pond. "Look into the
water, my dear," said the Godmother, and Autumn looked and knew
that a magic had been done, for her old faded dress was red and
gold, and a rich gold crown lay on her dark hair. And she turned to
thank the Godmother, and found that she had gone. She only heard
a little laugh in the air, and then she laughed, too, and went away
singing happily over the green grass. She has been happy ever
since.
And really that is a true tale, and it happens once every year. You
can see it happening for yourself after the end of the Summer, just
as the Imp and the Elf and I watch it in the fields and woods. First
you will see that Autumn is wearing Summer's old clothes, getting
shabbier and shabbier and shabbier, and then the fairy Godmother
comes, and you see the dusty green grow dim and dark, and then
blaze in scarlet and orange, and even before this you will have seen
the green corn pale and turn to deepening gold. And when these
things have happened you can be very happy, for you will know that
Autumn is smiling happily to herself, for she has her own dress at
last.
The cutting of the golden corn is almost as jolly as the haymaking,
so think the Imp and the Elf. Not quite so jolly, but very nearly. As
soon as the hay is cut and tossed and dried and carted away to the
stacks we begin watching the corn turn yellower and yellower while
its golden grains hang heavily down. And at last, when the fields are
bright gold in the sun, and the sky promises us clear weather for a
day or two, the scarlet machine comes out again, and Susan has
more work to do. This time it is not the hay, but the tall corn that
falls swishing (with a noise just like that) behind the machine. And
men go behind and bind it into corn-sheaves, great big bundles of
corn, and then the corn-sheaves are piled into corn shocks. Eight
sheaves stand on end in two rows of four leaning on each other. In
some parts of the country they only have three in each row. As soon
as the shocks are made the Imp has some delightful games. He
loves to lie flat on the stubbly ground, and wriggle his way into the
tunnel between the sheaves of corn until he crawls out at the other
end covered with little bits of straw and prickling all over. The Elf
does not like this part of it quite so much, but she does it
sometimes, and once, when I was littler, I used to do it, too. But
that was a very long time ago.
The girls from the farm come into the field to pick up all the stray
corn that the men have dropped in making and carrying the
sheaves, so that none is wasted at all. That is called gleaning. A long
time ago rich farmers used to let poor women come into their fields
and keep all the corn that they could glean, all that the reapers had
left. In those days, instead of one man sitting on a scarlet reaping
machine, they had many reapers, who took the corn in bundles in
their arms and cut it off close to the ground with a curved knife
called a sickle. This used to be done everywhere till the machines
came, and even now there is a little farm we know over the hills
where they use the sickle still.
Autumn is the gathering-in time of all the year. In Spring the farmers
sow their corn. It grows all the Summer and in Autumn is harvested.
In Autumn we gather the garden fruit. In Autumn we pick
blackberries, and is not that the finest fun of all the year?
We go blackberrying with deep baskets, and parcels of sandwiches
and cakes. We have several good blackberry walks. One of them
takes us past the hawthorn tree and along the edge of the moors,
and then down into a valley through a long lane with high banks
covered with bram-bles and black with the squashy berries. As we
pass the hawthorn tree the Elf always look up at it, and though she
says nothing I know she is thinking of the Mayday and the dancing
and the playing at Oranges and Lemons.
We have a basket each when we go blackberrying, and we race to
see who can pick most blackberries. It is a curious thing that the Elf
always wins, though the Imp and I work just as hard. Partly I think it
is because little girls' fingers are so nimble. Perhaps from making
doll's clothes. What do you think?
You see just grabbing blackberries is no use at all. We have to pull
them carefully from their places, so as to get the berries and nothing
else; just the soft black lumps that drop with such nice little plops
into the baskets, and go squish in the mouth with such a pleasant
taste. Oh, yes, pleasant taste, that reminds me of another reason
why when we get home we always find the Elf's basket more full of
blackberries than the Imp's. The Imp is like me, and eats nearly as
many as he picks. Blackberries are easier to carry that way.
Away behind the house there is an orchard, where there are pears
and damsons and apples and quinces, all the very nicest English
fruits. And all along the high wall of the orchard on the garden side
grow plums, broad trees flat against the wall fastened up to it by
little pieces of black stuff with a nail on each side of the boughs.
When the Autumn comes the Imp and the Elf slip slily round the
garden path to the plum trees and pinch the beautiful purple and
golden plums and the round greengages to see if they are soft. For
as soon as they are soft they are ripe, and as soon as they are ripe
comes picking time. And then the old gardener comes with big flat
baskets and picks the plums, taking care not to bruise them. And the
Imp and the Elf help as much as he allows them and he gives them
plums for wages. And then they come to my study with mouths
sticky and juicy with ripe plum bringing a plum or perhaps a couple
of greengages for me. "For Ogres like plums even if they are busy,"
says the Elf, as she sits on my knee and crams half a plum and
several sticky fingers into my mouth.
Then come the joyous days of apple-gathering and damson picking.
When we sit on the orchard wall eating the cake that the cook sends
out to us for lunch in the morning we wonder and wonder when the
damsons will be ready. Long ago they have turned from green to
violet, and now are deep purple. And the Imp wriggles down from
the wall and climbs up the easiest of the trees and shouts out that
they are quite soft. And at last the tremendous day comes when the
gardener, and the gardener's boy, and the cook, and the
kitchenmaid, and the housemaid all troop into the orchard with
ladders and baskets. And the gardener climbs a ladder into the
highest apple tree and drops the red round apples into the hands of
the maids below. The Imp and the Elf seize the step-ladder from the
scullery and climb up into a beautiful little apple tree that has a
broad low branch that is heavy with rosy-cheeked apples. They
wriggle out along the branch and eat some of the apples and drop
the rest into the basket on the ground beneath them. And other
people pluck the damsons from the damson trees and soon the
baskets are full of crimson apples and purple damsons, and away
they go into the house where the cook takes a good lot of them to
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