1.Two wood-cutters used to go into the forest together every day to cut wood.Each of them had a family of young children，and they used to work very hard to earn their daily food.
2.One of the men was bright and cheerful and always hoping for the best.The other was gloomy，and full of fears about the future .
“How hard it is to be so poor，”he would often say.“If I should fall ill，what would become of my wife and children？”
3.One day，as they were going through the forest，they saw two birds’nests in a tree.The mother birds were sitting on their eggs.The wood-cutters watched the nests day after day，till they heard the young birds crying “Peep-peep，”and saw the parents busily feeding their little ones.
4.One morning，as the gloomy man was going past the tree by himself，he saw one of the mother-birds flying towards her nest，with some food in her mouthfor her little ones.Just at that moment a hawk darteddown upon her and bore her away in his claws.
5.“Poor bird！”cried the wood-cutter，“what will become of your young ones now？They have lost their mother，and they will die of hunger.That is exactly what my children would do，if anything should happen to me.”
6.He kept thinking about this all day.It made him feel so sad that he went home by another road at night，because he could not bear to hear the cry of the starving birds.Next morning，however，he went to thenest to bury the poor motherless birds，for he was sure they would all be dead.
7.When he came to the tree，what was his surprisewhen he saw the other mother-bird flying to the nest of the orphans.Their little heads were lifted up，theirlittle mouths were open，and their kind neighbour was feeding them just as she fed her own.
8.At this moment the cheerful wood-cutter came along，and learned with great surprise all that had taken place.
“Ah，is not that beautiful？”said he.“If these poor little birds are so strangely helped，surely we should not be afraid.”
9.“Never again！”answered his friend.“If you are ever sick，I will take care of your wife and children，as this kind mother-bird is doing.If I am ill，I know you will do the same for me.And if anything should happen to us both，we may be sure that God will take care of our families in some way.”