Prevod
Nekateri travniški prebivalci so veseli in brezskrbni, druge pa nenehno kaj skrbi. Nekateri vsak dan pridno delajo, drugi so silno leni. Tudi tam, kakor povsod drugod, vsak razmišlja po svoje. Škoda, da se ne morejo vsi naučiti pogumnih in vedrih misli, saj te naredijo življenje srečno. Človek ima lahko udoben dom, prijazne sosede in dovolj hrane, pa ga vse te dobre stvari ne morejo osrečiti, če je navajen premlevati neprijetne misli. Tako je bilo tudi z mlado Žabico, ki si je domišljala, da je bolna — a to je že druga zgodba.
Morda so bili Suhojužinarji najbolj vedri od vseh travniških prebivalcev. Stari Drevesni žabec je rad rekel, da se počuti bolje že samo ob pogledu na njihova kolena, ki se mu bližajo. Seveda je ob pogledu na kolena vedel, da prihaja tudi vsa žival. Tako je govoril zato, ker so Suhojužinarji pri hoji ali teku kolena vedno držali tako visoko nad preostalim telesom, da jih je bilo mogoče zagledati najprej.
Suhojužinarji niso bili posebno lepi, še zdaleč ne tako čedni kakor nekateri njihovi pajkovski bratranci. Toda na to ni nihče niti pomislil. Tako lahkotno so se premikali na svojih osmih nogah, od katerih je imela vsaka veliko sklepov. Prav sklepi, torej mesta, kjer se noge upogibajo, jim namreč omogočajo, da so uporabne. Poleg tega, da so bili elegantni, so se tudi zelo prijetno vedli. Če ti je Suhojužinar na deževen dan voščil dobro jutro, si imel vselej občutek, da sije sonce. Morda so ti ravno tedaj kaplje padale naravnost v obraz, toda za hip se ti je zagotovo zazdelo, da je vse svetlo, toplo in prijetno.
Včasih so brezskrbne mlade Kobilice in Črički Suhojužinarje klicali z vzdevkoma »Očka Dolgonog« ali »Dedek Sivobradec«. Tudi takrat so Suhojužinarji ostali dobrovoljni in so le z nasmehom pripomnili, da se mladi še niso naučili imen svojih sosedov. Kobilice očitno nikoli niso pomislile, kako čudno je mlado suhojužinarjevo hčer klicati »Dedek Sivobradec«. Ko so videle, kako dobrovoljni so Suhojužinarji, so jih kmalu nehale dražiti. Ljudi, ki so resnično dobrovoljni, namreč nikoli ne dražijo prav dolgo.
Paličnjaki so bili do Suhojužinarjev izredno vljudni. Zdeli so se jim zelo vitki in gosposki. Nekoč je Petnogi paličnjak vprašal največjega Suhojužinarja: »Zakaj se toliko pogovarjate s preprostimi prebivalci travnika?«
Suhojužinar je natanko vedel, kaj misli Paličnjak, vendar ni nameraval nikomur dovoliti, da bi se posmehoval njegovim dobrim in prijaznim sosedom, zato je rekel: »Mislim, da smo tudi Suhojužinarji precej preprosti. Tukaj nas je res zelo, zelo veliko. Gotovo je zelo samotno, če si nekaj posebnega.«
Po tem Paličnjak ni imel več kaj reči. Nikoli ni bil povsem prepričan, ali je Suhojužinar preveč neumen, da bi razumel, ali preveč moder, da bi opravljal. Nekoč se mu je zazdelo, da je v Suhojužinarjevih očeh opazil nagajivo iskrico. Suhojužinarju ni bilo mar, če so ga imeli za neumnega. Vedel je, da ni neumen, in je bil raje videti topoglav, kakor da bi poslušal neprijazne besede o svojih sosedih.
Nekaterim bi se zdelo strašno nesrečno, če bi bili Suhojužinarji. Kača Podveznica je rekla, da bi jo, če bi bila ena izmed njih, ves čas skrbelo za noge. »Hvaležna sem, da jih nimam,« je rekla, »kajti če bi jih imela, bi se nenehno bala, da bom katero izgubila. Suhojužinarju brez nog bi se slabo godilo. Nikakor se ne bi mogel plaziti po trebuhu kakor jaz.«
Kako so se Suhojužinarji smejali, ko so to slišali! Največji je rekel: »No, ali ni prav takšna kakor nekateri drugi! Ničesar nočejo imeti, ker se bojijo, da bodo to izgubili. Le zanima me, ali jo skrbi tudi za glavo. Saj bi lahko izgubila tudi to, in kaj bi potem?«
Že naslednji dan se je največji Suhojužinar vrnil domov po sedmih nogah. Vsi njegovi prijatelji so vzkliknili: »Oh, kako se je to vendar zgodilo?« »Krave,« je rekel.
»So stopile nate?« je vprašal Petnogi paličnjak. Na travniku še ni živel dovolj dolgo, da bi razumel vse, kar je Suhojužinar hotel povedati. Vendar se mu je smilil, saj je vedel, kako je izgubiti nogo.
»Pha!« ga je zelo nevljudno prekinila Kobilica. »Saj zdaj na tem travniku sploh ni krav!« Tedaj so drugi Suhojužinarji Paličnjaku vse pojasnili: kako včasih na travnik pride kak deček, ujame Suhojužinarja, ga dvigne za eno nogo in mu reče: »Dedek Sivobradec, povej mi, kje so krave, sicer te bom ubil.« Suhojužinarju tedaj ne preostane drugega, kakor da se otepa in zvija, dokler se ne osvobodi, pri tem pa se mu pogosto odlomi noga.
»Kako strašno!« so vsi trije Paličnjaki rekli hkrati. »Ampak zakaj jim ne poveste?« »Saj jim,« so odgovorili Suhojužinarji. »Kažemo s preostalimi sedmimi nogami in kažemo na vse mogoče strani. Včasih ne vemo, kje so, zato za vsak primer pokažemo v vse smeri. A nič ne pomaga. Noge nam kljub temu odpadejo.«
»Ali deček ni dovolj bister, da bi sam našel krave?« so vprašali Paličnjaki. »Oh, ne gre za to,« so v en glas vzkliknili vsi travniški prebivalci. »Tudi potem, ko jim povemo, in včasih celo takrat, ko so krave čisto zraven, odidejo domov brez njih.«
»Jaz bi jih pičila,« je rekla Osa, besno mahala s tipalkami ter dvigala in spuščala krila. »PičiIa bi jih, kolikor bi le mogla.« »Ne bi jih, če ne bi imela žela,« je rekel Drevesni žabec.
»N-ne,« je zajecljala Osa, »najbrž jih res ne bi.« »Ti ubogi revež!« je rekla največja Dolgotipalčna kobilica največjemu Suhojužinarju. »Kaj boš pa zdaj? Samo sedem nog!«
»Kaj bom?« je odgovoril največji Suhojužinar in tedaj se je pokazalo, kako zares pogumen in veder je. »Kaj bom? Hodil bom po teh sedmih. Če izgubim še eno, bom hodil po šestih, in če izgubim še eno, bom hodil po petih. Mar nimam še vedno ust in želodca in oči in dveh tipalk ter dveh kleščic za hrano? Morda nisem več tako čeden, toda Suhojužinar sem in užival bom v travi in soncu in svojih prijaznih sosedih, dokler bom živ. Zdaj pa vas moram zapustiti. Dober dan vam želim.«
Odšel je precej nerodno, saj se po svoji nezgodi še ni naučil obvladovati telesa. Travniški prebivalci so zelo zamišljeno gledali za njim. Niso opazovali njegove nerodnosti ali razmišljali o njegovih visokih kolenih in drobnem, nizkem telesu. Morda so mislili prav to, kar je rekla Škržada: »Ah, tako je treba živeti!«
Izvirnik
Some of the meadow people are gay and careless, and some are always worrying. Some work hard every day, and some are exceedingly lazy. There, as everywhere else, each has his own way of thinking about things. It is too bad that they cannot all learn to think brave and cheerful thoughts, for these make life happy. One may have a comfortable home, kind neighbors, and plenty to eat, yet if he is in the habit of thinking disagreeable thoughts, not even all these good things can make him happy. Now there was the young Frog who thought herself sick--but that is another story.
Perhaps the Harvestmen were the most cheerful of all the meadow people. The old Tree Frog used to say that it made him feel better just to see their knees coming toward him. Of course, when he saw their knees, he knew that the whole insect was also coming. He spoke in that way because the Harvestmen always walked or ran with their knees so much above the rest of their bodies that one could see those first.
The Harvestmen were not particularly fine-looking, not nearly so handsome as some of their Spider cousins. One never thought of that, however. They had such an easy way of moving around on their eight legs, each of which had a great many joints. It is the joints, or bending-places, you know, which make legs useful. Besides being graceful, they had very pleasant manners. When a Harvestman said "Good-morning" to you on a rainy day, you always had a feeling that the sun was shining. It might be that the drops were even then falling into your face, but for a moment you were sure to feel that everything was bright and warm and comfortable.
Sometimes the careless young Grasshoppers and Crickets called the Harvestmen by their nicknames, "Daddy Long-Legs" or "Grandfather Graybeard." Even then the Harvestmen were good-natured, and only said with a smile that the young people had not yet learned the names of their neighbors. The Grasshoppers never seemed to think how queer it was to call a young Harvestman daughter "Grandfather Graybeard." When they saw how good-natured they were, the Grasshoppers soon stopped trying to tease the Harvestmen. People who are really good-natured are never teased very long, you know.
The Walking-Sticks were exceedingly polite to the Harvestmen. They thought them very slender and genteel-looking. Once the Five-Legged Walking-Stick said to the largest Harvestman, "Why do you talk so much with the common people in the meadow?"
The Harvestman knew exactly what the Walking-Stick meant, but he was not going to let anybody make fun of his kind and friendly neighbors, so he said: "I think we Harvestmen are rather common ourselves. There are a great, great many of us here. It must be very lonely to be uncommon."
After that the Walking-Stick had nothing more to say. He never felt quite sure whether the Harvestman was too stupid to understand or too wise to gossip. Once he thought he saw the Harvestman's eyes twinkle. The Harvestman didn't care if people thought him stupid. He knew that he was not stupid, and he would rather seem dull than to listen while unkind things were said about his neighbors.
Some people would have thought it very hard luck to be Harvestmen. The Garter Snake said that if he were one, he should be worried all the time about his legs. "I'm thankful I haven't any," he said, "for if I had I should be forever thinking I should lose some of them. A Harvestman without legs would be badly off. He could never in the world crawl around on his belly as I do."
How the Harvestmen did laugh when they heard this! The biggest one said, "Well, if that isn't just like some people! Never want to have anything for fear they'll lose it. I wonder if he worries about his head? He might lose that, you know, and then what would he do?"
It was only the next day that the largest Harvestman came home on seven legs. His friends all cried out, "Oh, how did it ever happen?"
"Cows," said he.
"Did they step on you?" asked the Five-Legged Walking-Stick. He had not lived long enough in the meadow to understand all that the Harvestman meant. He was sorry for him, though, for he knew what it was to lose a leg.
"Huh!" said a Grasshopper, interrupting in a very rude way, "aren't any Cows in this meadow now!"
Then the other Harvestmen told the Walking-Stick all about it, how sometimes a boy would come to the meadow, catch a Harvestman, hold him up by one leg, and say to him, "Grandfather Graybeard, tell me where the Cows are, or I'll kill you." Then the only thing a Harvestman could do was to struggle and wriggle himself free, and he often broke off a leg in doing so.
"How terrible!" said the three Walking-Sticks all together. "But why don't you tell them?"
"We do," answered the Harvestmen. "We point with our seven other legs, and we point every way there is. Sometimes we don't know where they are, so we point everywhere, to be sure. But it doesn't make any difference. Our legs drop off just the same."
"Isn't a boy clever enough to find Cows alone?" asked the Walking-Sticks.
"Oh, it isn't that," cried all the meadow people together. "Even after you tell, and sometimes when the Cows are right there, they walk off home without them."
"I'd sting them," said a Wasp, waving his feelers fiercely and raising and lowering his wings. "I'd sting them as hard as I could."
"You wouldn't if you had no sting," said the Tree Frog.
"N-no," stammered the Wasp, "I suppose I wouldn't."
"You poor creature!" said the biggest Katydid to the biggest Harvestman. "What will you do? Only seven legs!"
"Do?" answered the biggest Harvestman, and it was then one could see how truly brave and cheerful he was. "Do? I'll walk on those seven. If I lose one of them I'll walk on six, and if I lose one of them I'll walk on five. Haven't I my mouth and my stomach and my eyes and my two feelers, and my two food-pincers? I may not be so good-looking, but I am a Harvestman, and I shall enjoy the grass and the sunshine and my kind neighbors as long as I live. I must leave you now. Good-day."
He walked off rather awkwardly, for he had not yet learned to manage himself since his accident. The meadow people looked after him very thoughtfully. They were not noticing his awkwardness, or thinking of his high knees or of his little low body. Perhaps they thought what the Cicada said, "Ah, that is the way to live!"
