worry if he had been able to listen to their conversation.
"That was fun!" said Babe to Fly that evening. "I wonder if the boss will let me do some more work?"
"I'm sure he will, dear. You did it so well. It was almost as though the sheep knew exactly what it was you wanted them to do."
"But that's just it! I asked them ...."
"No use asking sheep anything, dear," interrupted Fly. "You have to make them do what you want, I've told you before."
"Yes, Mum. But ... will you mind, if the boss uses me instead of you, sometimes?"
"Mind?" said Fly. "You bet your trotters I won't! All my life I've had to run round after those idiots, up hill, down dale, day in, day out. And as for "sometimes", as far as I'm concerned you can work them every day. I'm not as young as I was. I'll be only too happy to lie comfortably in the grass and watch you, my Babe."
And before long that was exactly what she was doing. Once Farmer Hogget could see by her wagging tail and smiling eyes that she was perfectly happy about it, he began to use Babe to do some of her work. At first he only gave the pig simple tasks, but as the days and weeks went by, Hogget began to make more and more use of his new helper. The speed with which Babe learned amazed him, and before long he was relying on him for all the work with the flock, while Fly lay and proudly watched. Now, there was nothing, it seemed, that the pig could not do, and do faultlessly, at that.
He obeyed all the usual commands immediately and correctly. He could fetch sheep or take them away, move them to left or right, persuade them round obstacles or through gaps, cut the flock in half, or take out one individual.
To drench Ma, for instance, there was no need for Hogget to bring all the sheep down to the collecting-pen, or to corner them all and catch her by a hindleg with his crook. He could simply point her out to the pig, and Babe would gently work her out of the bunch and bring her right to the farmer's feet, where she stood quietly waiting. It seemed like a miracle to Hogget, but of course it was simple.
"Ma!"
"Yes, young un?"
"The boss wants to give you some more medicine."
"Oh not again! 'Tis horrible stuff, that."
"But it'll make your cough better."
"Oh ar?"
"Come along, Ma. Please."
"Oh all right then, young un. Anything to oblige you."
And there were other far more miraculous things that Babe could easily have done if the farmer had only known. For example when it was time for the ewes to be separated from their lambs, now almost as big and strong as their mothers, Farmer Hogget behaved like any other shepherd, and brought the whole flock down to the pens, and took a lot of time and trouble to part them. If only he had been able to explain things to Babe, how easy it could have been.
"Dear ladies, will you please stay on the hill, if you'd be so kind?"
"Youngsters, down you go to the collecting-pen if you please, there's good boys and girls," and it could have been done in the shake of a lamb's tail.
However Babe's increasing skill at working sheep determined Farmer Hogget to take the next step in a plan which had begun to form in his mind on the day when the piglet had first penned the sheep. That step was nothing less than to take Pig with him to the local sheep-dog trials in a couple of weeks' time. Only just to watch of course, just so that he could have a look at well-trained dogs working a small number of sheep, and see what they and their handlers were required to do. I'm daft, he thought, grinning to himself. He did not tell his wife.
Before the day came, he put a collar and lead on the pig. He could not risk him running away, in a strange place. He kept him on the lead all one morning, letting Fly do the work as of old. He need not have bothered--Babe would have stayed tight at heel when told--but it was interesting to note the instant change in the atmosphere as the collie ran
"That was fun!" said Babe to Fly that evening. "I wonder if the boss will let me do some more work?"
"I'm sure he will, dear. You did it so well. It was almost as though the sheep knew exactly what it was you wanted them to do."
"But that's just it! I asked them ...."
"No use asking sheep anything, dear," interrupted Fly. "You have to make them do what you want, I've told you before."
"Yes, Mum. But ... will you mind, if the boss uses me instead of you, sometimes?"
"Mind?" said Fly. "You bet your trotters I won't! All my life I've had to run round after those idiots, up hill, down dale, day in, day out. And as for "sometimes", as far as I'm concerned you can work them every day. I'm not as young as I was. I'll be only too happy to lie comfortably in the grass and watch you, my Babe."
And before long that was exactly what she was doing. Once Farmer Hogget could see by her wagging tail and smiling eyes that she was perfectly happy about it, he began to use Babe to do some of her work. At first he only gave the pig simple tasks, but as the days and weeks went by, Hogget began to make more and more use of his new helper. The speed with which Babe learned amazed him, and before long he was relying on him for all the work with the flock, while Fly lay and proudly watched. Now, there was nothing, it seemed, that the pig could not do, and do faultlessly, at that.
He obeyed all the usual commands immediately and correctly. He could fetch sheep or take them away, move them to left or right, persuade them round obstacles or through gaps, cut the flock in half, or take out one individual.
To drench Ma, for instance, there was no need for Hogget to bring all the sheep down to the collecting-pen, or to corner them all and catch her by a hindleg with his crook. He could simply point her out to the pig, and Babe would gently work her out of the bunch and bring her right to the farmer's feet, where she stood quietly waiting. It seemed like a miracle to Hogget, but of course it was simple.
"Ma!"
"Yes, young un?"
"The boss wants to give you some more medicine."
"Oh not again! 'Tis horrible stuff, that."
"But it'll make your cough better."
"Oh ar?"
"Come along, Ma. Please."
"Oh all right then, young un. Anything to oblige you."
And there were other far more miraculous things that Babe could easily have done if the farmer had only known. For example when it was time for the ewes to be separated from their lambs, now almost as big and strong as their mothers, Farmer Hogget behaved like any other shepherd, and brought the whole flock down to the pens, and took a lot of time and trouble to part them. If only he had been able to explain things to Babe, how easy it could have been.
"Dear ladies, will you please stay on the hill, if you'd be so kind?"
"Youngsters, down you go to the collecting-pen if you please, there's good boys and girls," and it could have been done in the shake of a lamb's tail.
However Babe's increasing skill at working sheep determined Farmer Hogget to take the next step in a plan which had begun to form in his mind on the day when the piglet had first penned the sheep. That step was nothing less than to take Pig with him to the local sheep-dog trials in a couple of weeks' time. Only just to watch of course, just so that he could have a look at well-trained dogs working a small number of sheep, and see what they and their handlers were required to do. I'm daft, he thought, grinning to himself. He did not tell his wife.
Before the day came, he put a collar and lead on the pig. He could not risk him running away, in a strange place. He kept him on the lead all one morning, letting Fly do the work as of old. He need not have bothered--Babe would have stayed tight at heel when told--but it was interesting to note the instant change in the atmosphere as the collie ran
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