A lark nested in a field of corn and was rearing her brood under cover of the ripening grain.
One day, before the young were fully fledged, the farmer came to look at the crop. Finding it yellowing fast, he said, "I must send word to my neighbours to come and help me reap this field." One of the young larks overheard him, was frightened, and asked her mother if they shouldn't move at once. "There's no hurry," she replied. "A man who looks to his friends for help will take his time."
A few days later, the farmer came again. "I must put it off no longer," he said. "This very day I'll hire men and set them to work at once." The mother lark heard him and said to her young, "Come, my children, we must be off. He talks no more of his friends now but is going to take things in hand himself."
Self-help is the best help.