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standing crop. The officer cried halt and ordered his men to cut the stalks. But their guide hastily intervened, “No, nó. Not this field; a little further I will show you a better one. This is nothing compared to that.”
The officer eyed him suspiciously. Could the old one be fooling them, making them trudge unnecessarily in the noon-day sun? “Look here, old man,” he cried in a stern voice, “don't try any of your tricks on me. This field is good enough for us; why need we go any further?”
In reply, the old man stroked his venerable beard and said, “Do you think at my age I should be telling you any fibs? Trust me to show you something better.” And sure enough, they soon saw a much larger, greener field, its beaded stalks glistening in the sun.
“Here you are," said the man. “You may help yourself to as much as you fancy.”.
The soldiers fell upon the standing crop, pulling the stalks roughly, slashing them on all sides. As the pile of stalks rose higher, the erstwhile green field turned into a stretch of dug-up, untidy earth, bare and brown.
The officer, as he was departing with heavy loads of his plunder, looked curiously at his guide and said, “This is indeed more than I had bargained for, but it
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