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Excerpt
from Book:
Illustration
by Michael D. Purvis
Introduction
This
book for children (big and small, young and old) I hope
has a lot to teach us all about love for the arts, and their
importance in our lives. As well, a concern for the environment
is stressed in this story, as there shall be no more beautiful
earth for artists to create upon if we continue to cover
it with strip malls, if we gobble up our precious farm and
forest lands, and if we pollute our environment.
I
believe the little field mice in our story have a lot to
teach us, for we are not so different from them. We all,
human and animal alike, depend upon our Mother Earth for
sustenance; and we would miss, more than we know, our beautiful
way of life here on our planet, which we often take for
granted, should it suddenly change or cease to exist as
we know it.
We
can learn a lot from little mice.
And
now, please enjoy "Charlie the Field Mouse and the
Song of the Corn."
The
author
Illustration
by Michael D. Purvis
Charlie
the Field Mouse and the Song of the Corn
Every
year, as the wheel of the seasons turned, Charlie the field
mouse and his clan of field mice especially loved autumn.
It wasn't just that the farmer would leave behind all sorts
of bits for the mice to gather when he harvested his field,
though this was wonderful and essential for the mice. It
was more than this. It was the anticipation of what came
after each day of gathering for the field mice!
And
what was this wondrous thing that the mice anticipated after
each day's work of gathering the scraps and tidbits left
by the farmer in his field?
Every
autumn evening, after a full day of gathering for the winter,
Charlie and his brother and sister mice would sit at the
edge of the field and listen to a concert. And who gave
this concert that the mice so loved to listen to at the
end of their day of gathering? It was the corn! The concert
consisted of the beautiful rustling of the fall cornstalks,
the lovely singing of the corn, which from time immemorial
the field mice have called the Corn Concert.
And
after this daily concert, it was home to their burrows for
the adult mice for supper and tea, and the all-important
job of tucking the littlest field mice into bed. These little
mice were too small to gather the scraps and tidbits in
the farmer's field, and too small to go to the delightful
corn concerts. But they loved to hear about the gathering,
and especially the concerts! They dreamed that someday they
too would be big and strong and take part in all the mysterious
and exciting things the adult mice did.
But
for the time being they had to settle for hearing about
the gathering and the corn concerts each night before being
tucked into bed. It was a sort of ritual, like a bedtime
story, this recounting of the days gathering and of course
the wondrous corn concert.
All
of the adult mice told of these things to their little ones,
but none were as adept and as good at this duty as Charlie
the Field Mouse. He was known as "Uncle Charlie"
to the little mice in the household of Beatrice Field Mouse,
for he was her brother. And throughout the field mouse clan
he was known as Charlie the Field Mouse, Storyteller and
Singer Extraordinaire, for he was much beloved by one and
all for his abilities in these areas, but especially by
the littlest of the mice!
Each
night before bed, in the living room of Aunt Beatrice's
burrow, the little mice would say almost in unison to Uncle
Charlie, "A concert? By the corn? On our Farm?"
And this was Uncle Charlie's cue to begin the story of the
day's work, and his rendition of the Corn Concert.
"Yes,
a concert- on our farm!" Charlie would say to the little
mice. "And when you are bigger, we will sit by the
edge of the field together, and listen to the corn singing!"
"Corn
can sing?" the little mice would ask.
"Oh,
yes!" Uncle Charlie would reply, with a wistful look
in his little black eyes. "Corn sings the most beautiful
song in autumn, as the wind rustles through its leaves…"
"Sing
it for us! Sing it for us! Oh, please, Uncle Charlie!"
the little mice would chant.
And
Charlie, dutifully, would close his eyes, remembering all
the autumn corn concerts he had known, and sing the song
the corn sings each autumn evening at dusk, as the wind
picks up and the twilight air begins to grow colder. Charlie
would sing the corn's beautiful song to the little field
mice each time they asked (which was, of course, every autumn
evening!) in his richest field mouse, tenor voice.
This
is what he sang:
Song
of the Corn
Verse
one:
When down the sun goes,
In richest colored hues,
And all the field mice gather,
To rest from their gathering,
When
wind starts to blow,
And a chill besets our fur,
We've one more thing to witness,
One more thing to occur:
Chorus:
Oh it's the Song of the corn,
Oh how the wind rustles;
The leaves of the corn,
Start to tussle and to bustle!
"Oo-oo," and "whoosh" and "whee-ee,"
it sings,
The song, the song of the corn!
Verse
two:
And all good field mice,
Call a truce to their labors.
Yes all field mice gather,
To rest from their gathering.
And
sun starts to set,
In a blaze of lush color,
And the moon it starts to rise,
And we cease our work and dolor
Chorus:
Oh it's the Song of the corn,
Oh how the wind rustles;
The leaves of the corn,
Start to tussle and to bustle!
"Oo-oo," and "whoosh" and "whee-ee,"
it sings,
The song, the song of the corn!
Repeat
Chorus:
Oh it's the Song of the corn,
Oh how the wind rustles;
The leaves of the corn,
Start to tussle and to bustle!
"Oo-oo," and "whoosh" and "whee-ee,"
it sings,
The song, the song of the corn!
Tag
Ending:
The song, the song of the corn!
(end
song)
Illustration
by Michael D. Purvis
And
each time Uncle Charlie would sing the Song of the Corn
in his beautiful Irish tenor field mouse voice, the little
field mice who were too small to go to hear the Corn Concerts
would close their eyes, and a peaceful look would be upon
their faces as they listened to it. And when Uncle Charlie
was finished, they would open their eyes, wide with wonder,
having imagined what it would be like to hear the Concert
of the Corn.
After
listening, they would say, "Oh, Uncle Charlie, we love
that beautiful song you sing! When can we go to the Corn
Concert? When can we go?" And Uncle Charlie would reply,
"When you are grown, little mice, when you are big,
then you will gather the golden kernels that the farmer
leaves, the stray ears, and all the scraps from the field.
And then at the end of a day of gathering you will assemble
with the rest of the grown field mice to hear the Song of
the Corn. You will become a part of this assembling of the
mice, which has been called the Concert of the Corn by all
field mice since time began.
And
then, Aunt Beatrice would always come in and say, "That's
enough now, children. You've heard enough about the world
of grown up field mice from your Uncle Charlie! Enjoy being
a little mouse while you can, for when you are grown, there
is ever so much to do! That's enough now! Off to bed! Time
to let Uncle Charlie rest his bones. You know, it's not
easy being a grown up mouse, and gathering the scraps of
the field with the other grown up mice. There is little
time to play, little mice, when you are grown! Off to bed,
all of you!"
And
when the little mice were snug in their beds, Aunt Beatrice
and Uncle Charlie would sit by the fire and rock. And Beatrice
would knit with tiny little knitting needles, little socks,
little blankets made of a special yarn which came from the
silken tufts of the corn, a special yarn which Aunt Beatrice
made into so many useful items. And while Aunt Beatrice
knitted, Uncle Charlie would sit by the fire with her and
smoke a special little pipe, made from a dried kernel of
corn and a hollowed out leaf stem.
This
little scene was replayed many a night, and all was well
in the burrows of the field mice. All was well, until one
day, there were rumors among the grown up mice, rumors that
soon things might be changing on the farm. The farmer was
not having a good season. In fact, for several seasons,
the farm had not done well financially. And just maybe,
said the rumors, the fields would be sold to local builders
to erect houses, stores and offices upon. And no more would
be the golden corn. No more would exist the life the field
mice had known!
©2002,
Michael D. Purvis
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