Le Plancher des Vaches
La Saussaye, Normandie, France.
Once upon a time, the earth wasn't really the way you and I know it today. There wasn't soil which was solid when the weather was dry, and it was not at all soggy when it rained.
Now, you and I might think it could be rather nice, not slipping on the mud and getting dirty on wet days, but the truth is, grass couldn't grow on soil like that. This meant, of course, the cows were not at all pleased about the state of things.
"We have no grass," they grumbled. "It's not good. Cows should have healthy grass to eat."
So they gathered together other cows from other lands, and formed a Working Group and an Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee's job was to advise on what were wise measures to take. The Working Group's job was to ... well, carry out the work. And they appointed a Director Cow, who made sure that things got done.
"Let's fix this awful problem of not having proper earth," said the Director Cow, who was from Normandy in France.
"Yes!" mooed the cows. "And good grass!"
Have you met a cow before? Cows might look like idle creatures these days as they stand and munch away in the field. But let me tell you, when work is needed, they know how to work hard, but only when no one is looking. They are smart, you see. They know that if the farmer sees them working their hooves off, he will just give them more work to do. Cows are not lazy - not at all. They just want to enjoy their lives while they can and work only when it's necessary.
And when cows have work to do, they get right down to business. In almost no time at all, the Scientist Cows worked out how to fix the soil so that it behaved just the right way: not too soft when the weather's wet, not too hard when the weather's dry. They made a special potion which they tested very carefully in their laboratories, just to make sure that nothing would go wrong. And then, they gave the potion in small bottles (it was strong stuff!) to the Distribution Cows who had the task of pouring the vials all over the land. As soon as the Distribution Cows finished their work, the Farmer Cows went and grew grass over the good soil. And boy, didn't it grow lovely and green!
But as you and I know, things don't always go quite as smoothly as planned. A week later, the Director Cow heard that there had been an accident. The ship that was taking a team of Distribution Cows to Africa ran into a bad storm and had been shipwrecked. All the cows were safe, but they had lost all the potion. In some other parts of the world, there were potion shortages so some places were not able to grow healthy green grass.
"No matter," said the Director Cow. "We have enough land now for good grass for everyone."
"Yay!" cheered the cows, as they ran off to the fields for a big feast.
So that's why, sometimes, the ground where the green grass grows is called le plancher des vaches, or rather, the floor of cows. And that's why too, every cow you see today is happily munching away, idling contently and enjoying the fruits of their hard work a long time ago.
Posted by sniffles at December 19, 2002 12:13 AM