The Autumn Fairy said: "The sun is a little lower in the heavens now,
but at morning and evening the land flames with the gold and red of his
royal robes. Gold and red! These are the autumn colours, the colours
of the fruitage that fulfils the promise of the spring.
"Asters and dahlias and tiger-lilies are blooming in the flower plots,
and seeds ripen in the places of the flowers that were there in summer.
Pop, pop! What a constant noise the pods keep up as they burst and
scatter their seeds. It is so loud that it almost drowns the buzzing
of the bees. Out jump the seeds as far as they can, to find a new home
for themselves.
"I watched a beetle as he walked under a larkspur. A pod burst above
him and scattered its seeds on his head. 'How those great nuts hurt,'
he cried. 'It is not safe to remain under this tree,' and he hurried
off to a safer place. To him the larkspur seemed a giant tree, and its
seeds huge nuts.
"In the fruit garden there is rich harvest, for plums and pears, apples
and peaches and apricots gleam with red and gold amidst their tinted
leaves. The chestnuts are ripe in their prickly nests, and the walnuts
fall with a thud and split open to show their fine shells.
"In the wheatfield the golden corn falls before the sharp knives of the
reaper, and the sheaves are set in stooks ready for the carrying.
There is dismay amongst the larks and field-mice, for their shelter is
taken from them; but the heart of the farmer is glad at the richness of
the crop.
"On the roadside the grasses bow their heavily seeded heads, begging
the wind to carry their children to a good growing place; the thistle
seeds rise up on their own shining wings, and float away to find a
place for themselves.
"The nests in the trees are deserted, for the little birds have grown
up and now perch on the branches with the older ones. From some of the
trees the tired leaves are dropping one by one. They have done their
work well, so the tree-mother gently loosens them from the branches and
gives them leave to rest."