Fruit Harvest with Paul and His Friends
A short time later Paul's friends arrive and everyone goes out into the large orchard behind the house. There a small black raven is perched high up in a plum tree, contentedly picking a plum with its beak. 'Mmh, tasty!' caws the raven. 'These plums are especially sweet and juicy.' But when he spots Paul and the others, he quickly flies off — as fast as a raven can fly when its belly is full of ripe fruit. While Paul's parents climb up into the treetops with buckets and ladders and pick the delicious fruit, Paul, Kira and Hugo collect the fruit from the ground that has freshly fallen from the trees.
Surprisingly, around midday the flying mice also stop by to help with the harvest. With their airplane they fly all the way up into the treetops — to places where even Paul's parents can't reach with a ladder — and pick a few apples, pears and plums in passing. Afterwards they swoop low over the ground and let the fruits plop into the baskets. 'Thank you for your help,' Paul calls to the mice as after a while they turn away with their airplane and disappear on the horizon. And the brave parachuting frog also makes a brief appearance in the orchard to help. He hops quickly from one branch to the next in big leaps until he reaches the top of the plum tree. There he picks as many fruits as he can grasp with his small hands and then sails back down to the ground with his parachute.
Harvest Festival
By midday almost all the trees have been picked clean and the large fruit baskets on the ground are bursting full. 'Now it's high time for a little break!' calls Paul's mom as she sets the table in the garden. 'Who would like crispy apple crumble with whipped cream?' 'Me — me — me too,' everyone calls excitedly. There's also a large glass of juice spritzer for each person.
When the plates have finally been cleaned down to the last crumb, everyone gets back to work. Soon it's done! 'As a reward I have something special for you this afternoon,' announces Paul's mom with a smile, 'There will be homemade fruit yogurt ice cream!' Great cheers break out again among the hardworking fruit pickers. Because with the prospect of a cool refreshment, the fruit harvest goes all the faster.
