10.The Lucky Egg 幸运蛋

10- the lucky egg

The springtime meadow was bristling with life. Birds and butterflies, fish and frogs were enjoying the golden sunshine ……all was calm. ……until two noisy little friends arrived playing a fun game.

“I got you, Little Field Mouse! You’re it.”

“But you would never have “got me”, if we hadn’t tripped over this!”

“It looks like an egg!”

“But what’s it doing on the ground?”

“It doesn’t seem like a very safe place for an egg.”

“Do you think it fell from a nest?”

“Hmm… I can’t see a nest. Hello, Blue Bird! Is this your egg?”

“No, Little Nutbrown Hare. My eggs are smaller than that. I’m afraid this one mush fallen from a nest in one of these trees.”

“But, we can’t see a nest. But we can’t leave it all alone on the ground. How will it stay safe and warm?”

“Luckily, I have a nest that’s safe … and warm, with two eggs already waiting to hatch.”

“So you can look after it?”

“I’d be delighted. One more egg should be no trouble at all!”

“Hooray! You have a safe new home, you lucky egg. I know! Shall we call it the lucky egg?”

“Good idea!”

“Time to warm you up, my lucky egg. Oh dear. If I could just ……there. Whoops! It’s just too big to sit on. Keeping it warm may be trickier than I thought.”

“I can help.”

“Me too.”

And so they were all kept busy warming the eggs. Just when it felt like it might take forever for them to hatch ……

“Huh? Goodness!”

“Look at them.”

“Hello my darling little ones.”

“Hello Little Blue Birds. Welcome to the meadow! The Lucky Egg is hatching too! What kind of bird is it?”

“I’ve never seen a chick like that before. Little Nutbrown Hare’s Lucky Egg had hatched into a most unusual chick.”

As the days passed, he and Little Field Mouse visited the chicks as often as possible, and it was always exciting and surprising.

“I can’t wait to show you. Big Nutbrown Hare! They’re growing so fast!”

“Alright, I’m hurrying. Though I’m sure the chicks won’t turn into little green frogs and hop away while you’re watching.”

 “They might turn into little bees and buzz away. Bzzz…bzzz…”

“Or little worms and wriggle away!”

“Hello Blue Bird. What a wonderful family you have.”

“Thank you Big Nutbrown Hare. Keep me very busy. Especially this one. And my, how quickly he grows. I’d best find more food.”

“They already know how to sing.”

“Listen! La la la lah!”

“But what about the Lucky Chick? Does he sing?”

“No, never. Which little bird he is. He’s a very, very quiet one.”

“Did you say quiet?”

“Yes! And full of surprises!”

“Surprise! We’re back!”

“Just in time for me to find more food. This one is very hungry today. Back soon!”

“You aren’t very quiet any more.”

“But you’re very cute … hm, kind of. Whoops! Try not step one your sister.”

“Or sit on your brother!”

“He’s not very good at fitting in the nest. He may not fit very well, but he does belong. I love all three of my babies very much and I want them all to be comfortable. But he’s getting so big.”

“Them I have an idea how to help. We need a bigger nest!”

Building a nest was a tricky job, so Little Nutbrown Hare decided to call for help from his friends.

“This one’s just right!”

“Ooh! Thanks!”

“Ooh! This is harder than I thought!”

Luckily! Big Nutbrown Hare was there to help too.”

“It’s perfect!”

Soon, the baby blue birds were able to fly off and find food for themselves.

“Bye bye my clever little ones, come back soon.”

“I wonder when the Lucky Chick will be grown up? He’s already big.”

“Maybe when he’s this big?”

“Goodness, I hope not. But he doesn’t seem ready to leave just yet, that’s for certain.”

“Is he hungry?”

“I’ve been feeding you all day, my funny sweet little one. Aren’t you full yet.”

“Oh maybe tired!”

“I don’t think so. He stays awake all night, twittering, calling, shrieking, just like it’s daytime.”

“He’s answering you Blue Bird.”

“I know why he doesn’t sleep at night.”

“Oooh! Little White Owl! You startled us.”

“We owls don’t sleep at night. Do we?”

“He’s an owl!”

“I thought I could hear an owl calling.”

“Well that does explain a lot! Like the shrieking …”

“And being so big!”

“And staying up all night.”

“I even shoe him how to do other owl things, like find food, and a cozy tree nest to live in.”

“Thank you, Little White Owl.”

“We’ll come back to visit often.”

“Goodbye my little Lucky Chick.”

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye Little Lucky Owl. I’m going to miss him Blue Bird…”

“Me too.”

That night, as he settled down with his father, Little Nutbrown Hare’s thoughts were full of wonder.

“The lucky chick was an owl all along. But Blue Bird loved him just as much as if he were a Blue Bird.”

“That’s because he was part of her family.”

“Would you love me as much as if I were an owl?”

“Of course I would. Hmmm…”

“Guess how much I love you. Just as much as if you were a Big Nutbrown Owl.”

“Well thank you, my Little Nutbrown Owl.”