One warm summer day, filled with the fragrance of herbs and flowers, a little grey Mouse named Maple was walking through a forest clearing. She was gathering flowers for a bouquet when she suddenly spotted a wheat stalk on the path.
Maple the Mouse picked it up and examined it closely. The stalk was filled from stem to tip with plump, golden kernels. The little Mouse carried it along with her flowers to her burrow, which was located on the other side of the forest clearing. As she walked, bent under the weight of the wheat stalk, she met Timothy the Rabbit, a timid fellow with Long Ears.
He watched the mouse struggling and said:
Hey, Maple, why are you carrying that heavy wheat stalk? Don't bother with it, you'll hurt yourself. Just toss it away!
Maple looked at Long Ears with a disapproving glance and replied:
No, I won't leave the wheat stalk behind, I won't throw it away. It will be very useful to me.
And she continued on with her heavy load. She walked and walked, and suddenly saw Fluffy-Tail the Squirrel sitting on a tall, branching pine tree, munching on nuts and pine cones.
The Squirrel also noticed Maple and said:
Mouse, that wheat stalk is so heavy, so big. It must be hard for you to carry it. Drop it, and your journey will be much easier.
No, I won't drop it.
Said the Mouse in a weary voice, and continued on her way to her cosy burrow. Little Maple walked along the clearing for quite some time and grew tired. She entered her burrow, rested a bit, then took out her special threshing tool and threshed the wheat stalk until all the kernels fell out.
She sifted them, poured them into her little mill, and ground the kernels into flour. The flour Maple made was white as snow and soft as down. She took a bit of butter, some eggs, sugar, and kneaded the dough. The mouse heated her oven and baked pastries with various fillings: raspberry, nuts, mushrooms, cheese...
The pastries came out golden, appetizing, and aromatic. The smell wafted throughout the entire forest. Then Maple the Mouse brewed tea from forest herbs, set the table, and invited Timothy the Rabbit with Long Ears and Fluffy-Tail the Squirrel over as guests.
They were very surprised:
Maple, where did all these treats come from?
It all came from that wheat stalk.
The Mouse answered them.
I worked hard and didn't slack off, and these pastries are the result of my labour. Help yourselves, and think carefully about how you both tried to convince me to abandon that valuable wheat stalk, without which these delicious and aromatic pastries wouldn't exist.
In the little Mouse's words rang great wisdom about how every bit of labour is rewarded and is never in vain. What's especially valued is what you make yourself, with your own hands and efforts.
