The Adventures of Eli the Calf

In a peaceful valley in Northern Virginia there lived a farmer named Jones with his wife and two young children. They had a small, two-story farmhouse, a large red barn, a big pond and 100 acres of beautiful woods and farmland. There were green pastures, several creeks with running water, climbing rocks and tall trees. They had fresh air and sunshine every day. This was a wonderful time of life for the Jones family. Farmer Jones loved his family. He loved his farm and especially, he loved the animals that lived on the farm, for no farm is complete, unless it has the blessing of farm animals to help with the running of things. Farmer Jones worked with his hands and his tractor. He talked with the animals every day to see what they were up to and to learn how they were feeling. Sometimes Farmer Jones had to go to town with his family. On those occasions, he would leave one of the animals in charge to mind the farm and to look out for the other animals. Most often, this responsibility fell to Eli the Calf whom Farmer Jones trusted very much. You see, on one such beautiful day, Farmer Jones had planted ten acres of ground with a new crop of sweet corn. He put up a fence and warned all the animals gently to stay out of the corn field. He explained that if the animals would let the corn grow, then they all would have plenty of food to eat during the cold winter months. Eli the Calf understood what Farmer Jones had said and really wanted to obey his command. Still, day after day, Eli looked through the fence and saw the stalks of corn growing taller and taller. Eli could see the young husks budding out from the stalks. Eli could smell the sweet corn as it grew fuller and fuller on the cobs. The thought of tasting one of those ears of corn made Eli forget the farmer’s orders. Each day as Eli leaned against the fence, it became weaker and weaker, until one day, there was a hole in the fence just big enough for Eli to squeeze through. That was the day Eli the Calf had a decision to make. “Should I obey Farmer Jones and stay out of the corn field,” Eli said to himself, “or should I squeeze through the fence and taste that sweet corn?” Eli the Calf thought and thought about what to do. Eli reasoned, “I can probably get in and out of the cornfield without being seen by the other animals or by the farmer.” Eli wanted to obey the farmer, but Eli kept thinking about how sweet that corn would taste. Eli stared at the corn for hours. Then, Eli looked at the small hole in the fence. Finally, an irresistible force pulled Eli right through the fence, and in a flash, Eli had stepped into the cornfield and was eating the corn. After eating several ears of corn, Eli had forgotten all about the farmer’s command. The corn was delicious. Eli kept on chomping and chomping. The crunching of corn filled Eli’s ears. Nothing else could be heard. Just then, Bo the Duck flew overhead and noticed Eli eating the corn in the forbidden field. Bo was a very good friend of Eli, so naturally he was surprised and sad to see Eli was disobeying the farmer. Bo flew down and landed right on Eli’s back. Eli hardly noticed. Bo began to squawk and quack as loud as he could. Eli stopped chewing and craned his neck to one side to see Bo perched on his back. “Hello Bo,” Eli said with a smile. “What are you doing here?” “What am I doing here?” Bo retorted. “The question is… what are you doing here? Have you lost your mind? Why are you eating the corn in this field when you know the farmer told us not to eat it?” Eli thought for a moment, and then he remembered the farmer’s command. A feeling of guilt and shame came across Eli’s mind. Then Eli said to Bo, “I know the farmer said not to… but I want to do, what I want to do. Once I looked at the corn and smelled the sweet smell of it, and once I noticed the opening in the fence, I just could not resist coming in and trying some corn.” Bo squawked and quacked louder than ever. He flapped his wings and flew circles all around Eli, shooing him out of the field. Eli slipped back through the fence and hurried into the large red barn still munching on the last of the stolen corncobs. That evening Farmer Jones came to the barn to check on the animals. He spoke to the animals in his gentle voice, telling them how much he enjoyed being their farmer and how much he loved taking care of them. He also thanked them for being such good farm animals and for listening to his commands and obeying them. At the end of his speaking, Farmer Jones said, “I have some sad news to tell you all this evening.” The animals began to wonder among themselves what the bad news could be. Farmer Jones sounded sad as if one of the animals or someone in his family was sick. They hoped the news would not be too hard to bear. “You see,” the farmer began, “I have noticed that one of you has broken my commandment about the cornfield. There is a hole in the fence, and I believe one of you has gone in and eaten some of the corn I asked you not to eat. This makes me sad for several reasons. First, whoever did this disobeyed my commandment which makes me very sad. Second, the one who took the corn was only thinking about themself and not about all of us getting through the coming cold winter. We will need every bit of that corn later this year. You should all be eating the pasture grass now while it is with us. The grass will not be with us when it snows.” “I hope that whoever did this will think hard about it for a while. I also hope that the corn thief will have a change of heart and come to me and confess their wrong doing. I will be waiting up on my porch this evening in case any of you want to wander over and tell me about what happened.” By this time the taste of sweet corn had faded from Eli’s mouth. Eli began to feel bad about being the only one who disobeyed the farmer. Eli felt guilt and shame. Eli also felt bad for disappointing the farmer and threatening the life of the farm community. Eli did not know what to do. Eli wished he had never looked at that corn. Eli began to cry. Just about that time, Bo the Duck flew over and noticed that Eli was crying. “What’s wrong, Eli?” Bo asked. “Are you crying because of what the farmer said?” “Yes,” Eli boo-hooed. “I broke the commandment. I made the farmer sad. I risked the lives of all the rest of the animals… all because ‘I wanted to do what I wanted to do,’ instead of trusting that the farmer knew best.” “Well,” Bo put in. “What are you going to do now? I heard the farmer say one time that someone who breaks the commandment can be forgiven if they ask. Why don’t you go see the farmer?” “I am too ashamed,” Eli replied. “I am hoping he will never find out it was me that went into the corn.” “Are you kidding, Eli?” Bo piped up. “Farmer Jones is pretty smart. He will most likely figure out it was one of the larger animals. That just leaves you, Mae the Horse and Jokey the Sheep. You wouldn’t want the farmer to suspect your friends, would you?” “But, … I would be afraid to tell the farmer,” Eli sobbed. “Would you go with me to give me courage and make sure I actually tell him?” “I will go with you to the porch and leave you there to tell the farmer on your own,” Bo assured him. True to his word, Bo the Duck jumped up on Eli’s back and stayed right there as the young Eli moved from the barn to the yard and closer to the porch. From a distance, Eli could see the farmer sitting in a rocking chair on the porch with his back turned toward the barn. Eli and Bo got closer and closer. Eli wanted to turn around and forget the whole thing. Bo encouraged Eli to continue putting one step in front of the other. “Sometimes you just have to face the music,” Bo said in a firm voice.