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diff --git a/14958.txt b/14958.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..30a00de --- /dev/null +++ b/14958.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3405 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Mother West Wind 'Why' Stories, by Thornton W. Burgess + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Mother West Wind 'Why' Stories + +Author: Thornton W. Burgess + +Release Date: February 7, 2005 [EBook #14958] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOTHER WEST WIND 'WHY' STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Richard J. Shiffer and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + MOTHER WEST WIND "WHY" STORIES + + by + + THORNTON W. BURGESS + + Author of "Old Mother West Wind," and + "The Bed Time Story-Books." + + _Illustrations in Color by HARRISON CADY_ + + BOSTON + + LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY + + 1920 + + + [Illustration: "He went right on about his business." FRONTISPIECE.] + + + BOOKS BY THORNTON W. BURGESS + + BEDTIME STORY-BOOKS + + 1. THE ADVENTURES OF REDDY FOX + 2. THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY CHUCK + 3. THE ADVENTURES OF PETER COTTONTAIL + 4. THE ADVENTURES OF UNC' BILLY POSSUM + 5. THE ADVENTURES OF MR. MOCKER + 6. THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY MUSKRAT + 7. THE ADVENTURES OF DANNY MEADOW MOUSE + 8. THE ADVENTURES OF GRANDFATHER FROG + 9. THE ADVENTURES OF CHATTERER, THE RED SQUIRREL + 10. THE ADVENTURES OF SAMMY JAY + 11. THE ADVENTURES OF BUSTER BEAR + 12. THE ADVENTURES OF OLD MR. TOAD + 13. THE ADVENTURES OF PRICKLY PORKY + 14. THE ADVENTURES OF OLD MAN COYOTE + 15. THE ADVENTURES OF PADDY THE BEAVER + 16. THE ADVENTURES OF POOR MRS. QUACK + 17. THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY COON + 18. THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY SKUNK + 19. THE ADVENTURES OF BOB WHITE + 20. THE ADVENTURES OF OL' MISTAH BUZZARD + + + MOTHER WEST WIND SERIES + + 1. OLD MOTHER WEST WIND + 2. MOTHER WEST WIND'S CHILDREN + 3. MOTHER WEST WIND'S ANIMAL FRIENDS + 4. MOTHER WEST WIND'S NEIGHBORS + 5. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHY" STORIES + 6. MOTHER WEST WIND "HOW" STORIES + 7. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHEN" STORIES + 8. MOTHER WEST WIND "WHERE" STORIES + + + GREEN MEADOW SERIES + + 1. HAPPY JACK + 2. MRS. PETER RABBIT + 3. BOWSER THE HOUND + 4. OLD GRANNY FOX + + THE BURGESS BIRD BOOK FOR CHILDREN + + THE BURGESS ANIMAL BOOK FOR CHILDREN + + + + + CONTENTS + + CHAPTER + + I. WHY STRIPED CHIPMUNK IS PROUD OF HIS STRIPES + II. WHY PETER RABBIT CANNOT FOLD HIS HANDS + III. WHY UNC' BILLY POSSUM PLAYS DEAD + IV. WHY REDDY FOX WEARS RED + V. WHY JIMMY SKUNK NEVER HURRIES + VI. WHY SAMMY JAY HAS A FINE COAT + VII. WHY JERRY MUSKRAT BUILDS HIS HOUSE IN THE WATER + VIII. WHY OLD MAN COYOTE HAS MANY VOICES + IX. WHY MINER THE MOLE LIVES UNDER GROUND + X. WHY MR. SNAKE CANNOT WINK + XI. WHY BOBBY COON HAS RINGS ON HIS TAIL + XII. WHY THERE IS A BLACK HEAD IN THE BUZZARD FAMILY + XIII. WHY BUSTER BEAR APPEARS TO HAVE NO TAIL + XIV. WHY FLITTER THE BAT FLIES AT NIGHT + XV. WHY SPOTTY THE TURTLE CARRIES HIS HOUSE WITH HIM + XVI. WHY PADDY THE BEAVER HAS A BROAD TAIL + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +"HE WENT RIGHT ON ABOUT HIS BUSINESS" + +"AS THEY WERE ALL VERY HUNGRY, THEY WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHEN THE FEAST + WOULD BE READY" + +"YOU DON'T MEAN TO SAY SO, PETER," INTERRUPTED GRANDFATHER FROG + +HE WOULD MAKE NO REPLY, SAVE TO RUN OUT HIS TONGUE AT THEM + +"THEN OLD KING BEAR WISHED THAT HE HADN'T A TAIL" + +"IT MUST BE FINE TO FLY," THOUGHT PETER. "I WISH I COULD FLY" + +"HI, SPOTTY!" HE SHOUTED, "WHERE DO YOU LIVE?" + +THE FIRST THING PETER LOOKED TO SEE WAS WHAT KIND OF A TAIL PADDY HAS + + + + +I + +WHY STRIPED CHIPMUNK IS PROUD OF HIS STRIPES + + +The Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind are great friends of +Striped Chipmunk. They hurry to call on him the very first thing every +morning after Old Mother West Wind has brought them down from the +Purple Hills. They always beg him to stop and play with them, but +often he refuses. But he does it in such a merry way and with such a +twinkle in his eyes that the Merry Little Breezes never get cross +because he won't play. No, Sir, they never get cross. If anything, +they think just a little bit more of Striped Chipmunk because he won't +play. You see, they know that the reason he won't play is because he +has work to do, and Striped Chipmunk believes and says: + + "When there is work for me to do + The sooner started, sooner through." + +So every morning they ask him to play, and every morning they laugh +when he says he has too much to do. Then they rumple up his hair and +pull his whiskers and give him last tag and race down to the Smiling +Pool to see Grandfather Frog and beg him for a story. Now Grandfather +Frog is very old and very wise, and he knows all about the days when +the world was young. When he is feeling just right, he dearly loves to +tell about those long-ago days. + +One morning the Merry Little Breezes found Grandfather Frog sitting +as usual on his big green lily-pad, and they knew by the way he folded +his hands across his white and yellow waistcoat that it was full of +foolish green flies. + +"Oh, Grandfather Frog, please do tell us why it is that Striped +Chipmunk has such beautiful stripes on his coat," begged one of the +Merry Little Breezes. + +"Chug-a-rum! They are stripes of honor," replied Grandfather Frog, in +his deep, gruff voice. + +"Honor! Oh, how lovely! Do tell us about it! Please do!" begged the +Merry Little Breezes. + +"Chug-a-rum!" began Grandfather Frog, his big, goggly eyes twinkling. +"Once upon a time, when the world was young, old Mr. Chipmunk, the +grandfather a thousand times removed of Striped Chipmunk, lived very +much as Striped Chipmunk does now. He was always very busy, very +busy, indeed, and it was always about his own affairs. 'By attending +strictly to my own business, I have no time to meddle with the affairs +of my neighbors, and so I keep out of trouble,' said old Mr. +Chipmunk," + +"Just what Striped Chipmunk says now," broke in one of the Merry +Little Breezes. + +"That shows that he is just as wise as was his grandfather a thousand +times removed, about whom I am telling you," replied Grandfather Frog. +"Old Mr. Chipmunk wore just a little, plain brown coat. It didn't +worry him a bit, not a bit, that his coat was just plain brown. It +kept him just as warm as if it were a beautiful red, like that of Mr. +Fox, or handsome black and white, like that of Mr. Skunk. He was +perfectly satisfied with his little plain brown coat and took the best +of care of it. + +"One day as he was hurrying home to dinner, he climbed up on an old +stump to look around and make sure that the way was clear. Over in a +little path in the meadow grass was walking old Mr. Meadow Mouse. He +was strolling along as if there was nothing in the world to fear. Way +back behind him in the same little path, walking very fast but very +quietly, was big Mr. Bob Cat. His eyes were yellow, and a hungry look +was in them. He didn't see Mr. Meadow Mouse, but he would in a few +minutes. Mr. Chipmunk saw that he would, and that there was no place +for Mr. Meadow Mouse to hide. + +"'Humph! I never meddle in other people's affairs, and this is none of +my business,' said little Mr. Chipmunk. + +"But old Mr. Meadow Mouse was a friend. He thought a great deal of Mr. +Meadow Mouse, did little Mr. Chipmunk. He couldn't bear to think of +what would happen to Mr. Meadow Mouse if big Mr. Bob Cat should catch +him. Then, almost without realizing what he was doing, little Mr. +Chipmunk began to shout at big Mr. Bob Cat and to call him names. Of +course big Mr. Bob Cat looked up right away and saw little Mr. +Chipmunk sitting on the old stump. His eyes grew yellower and +yellower, he drew his lips back from his long, sharp teeth in a very +angry way, and his little bob tail twitched and twitched. Then, with +great leaps, he came straight for the old stump on which little Mr. +Chipmunk was sitting. + +"Little Mr. Chipmunk didn't wait for him to get there. Oh, my, no! He +took one good look at those fierce, hungry, yellow eyes and long, +cruel teeth, and then he whisked into a hole in the old stump. You +see, there wasn't time to go anywhere else. Big Mr. Bob Cat found the +hole in the stump right away. He snarled when he saw it. You see it +was too small, very much too small, for him to get into himself. But +he could get one hand and arm in, and he did, feeling all around +inside for little Mr. Chipmunk. Little Mr. Chipmunk was frightened +almost to death. Yes, Sir, he was frightened almost to death. He made +himself just as flat as he could on the bottom of the hollow and held +his breath. + +"'You'd better come out of there, Mr. Chipmunk, or I'll pull you out!' +snarled Mr. Bob Cat. + +"Little Mr. Chipmunk just snuggled down flatter than ever and didn't +say a word. Mr. Bob Cat felt round and round inside the hollow stump +and raked his long claws on the sides until little Mr. Chipmunk's hair +fairly stood up. Yes, Sir, it stood right up on end, he was so +scared. When it did that, it tickled the claws of Mr. Bob Cat. Mr. +Bob Cat grinned. It was an ugly grin to see. Then he reached in a +little farther and made a grab for little Mr. Chipmunk. His +wide-spread, sharp claws caught in little Mr. Chipmunk's coat near the +neck and tore little strips the whole length of it. + +"Of course little Mr. Chipmunk squealed with pain, for those claws +hurt dreadfully, but he was glad that his coat tore. If it hadn't, Mr. +Bob Cat would surely have pulled him out. After a long time, Mr. Bob +Cat gave up and went off, growling and snarling. When he thought it +was safe, little Mr. Chipmunk crawled out of the old stump and hurried +home. He ached and smarted terribly, and his little plain brown coat +was torn in long strips. + +"'This is what I get for meddling in the affairs of other folks!' +said little Mr. Chipmunk bitterly. 'If I'd just minded my own +business, it wouldn't have happened.' + +"Just then he happened to look over to the house of Mr. Meadow Mouse. +There was Mr. Meadow Mouse playing with his children. He didn't know a +thing about what his neighbor, little Mr. Chipmunk, had done for him, +for you remember he hadn't seen Mr. Bob Cat at all. Little Mr. +Chipmunk grinned as well as he could for the pain. + +"'I'm glad I did it,' he muttered. 'Yes, Sir, I'm glad I did it, and +I'm glad that Neighbor Meadow Mouse doesn't know about it. I'm glad +that nobody knows about it. + + 'A kindly deed's most kindly done + In secret wrought, and seen of none. + +And so I'm glad that no one knows.' + +"Now just imagine how surprised little Mr. Chipmunk was, when in the +fall it came time to put on a new coat, to have Old Mother Nature hand +him out a beautiful striped coat instead of the little plain brown +coat he had expected. Old Mother Nature's eyes twinkled as she said: + +"'There's a stripe for every tear made in your old coat by the claws +of Mr. Bob Cat the day you saved Mr. Meadow Mouse. They are honor +stripes, and hereafter you and your children and your children's +children shall always wear stripes.' + +"And that is how it happens that Striped Chipmunk comes by his striped +coat, and why he is so proud of it, and takes such good care of it," +concluded Grandfather Frog. + + + + +II + +WHY PETER RABBIT CANNOT FOLD HIS HANDS + + +Happy Jack Squirrel sat with his hands folded across his white +waistcoat. He is very fond of sitting with his hands folded that way. +A little way from him sat Peter Rabbit. Peter was sitting up very +straight, but his hands dropped right down in front. Happy Jack +noticed it. + +"Why don't you fold your hands the way I do, Peter Rabbit?" shouted +Happy Jack. + +"I--I--don't want to," stammered Peter. + +"You mean you can't!" jeered Happy Jack. + +Peter pretended not to hear, and a few minutes later he hopped away +towards the dear Old Briar-patch, lipperty-lipperty-lip. Happy Jack +watched him go, and there was a puzzled look in Happy Jack's eyes. + +"I really believe he can't fold his hands," said Happy Jack to +himself, but speaking aloud. + +"He can't, and none of his family can," said a gruff voice. + +Happy Jack turned to find Old Mr. Toad sitting in the Lone Little +Path. + +"Why not?" asked Happy Jack. + +"Ask Grandfather Frog; he knows," replied Old Mr. Toad, and started on +about his business. + +And this is how it happens that Grandfather Frog told this story to +the little meadow and forest people gathered around him on the bank of +the Smiling Pool. + +"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog. "Old Mr. Rabbit, the grandfather +a thousand times removed of Peter Rabbit, was always getting into +trouble. Yes, Sir, old Mr. Rabbit was always getting into trouble. +Seemed like he wouldn't be happy if he couldn't get into trouble. It +was all because he was so dreadfully curious about other people's +business, just as Peter Rabbit is now. It seemed that he was just born +to be curious and so, of course, to get into trouble. + +"One day word came to the Green Forest and to the Green Meadows that +Old Mother Nature was coming to see how all the little meadow and +forest people were getting along, to settle all the little troubles +and fusses between them, and to find out who were and who were not +obeying the orders she had given them when she had visited them last. +My, my, my, such a hurrying and scurrying and worrying as there was! +You see, everybody wanted to look his best when Old Mother Nature +arrived, Yes, Sir, everybody wanted to look his best. + +"There was the greatest changing of clothes you ever did see. Old King +Bear put on his blackest coat. Mr. Coon and Mr. Mink and Mr. Otter sat +up half the night brushing their suits and making them look as fine +and handsome as they could. Even Old Mr. Toad put on a new suit under +his old one, and planned to pull the old one off and throw it away as +soon as Old Mother Nature should arrive. Then everybody began to fix +up their homes and make them as neat and nice as they knew +how--everybody but Mr. Rabbit. + +"Now Mr. Rabbit was lazy. He didn't like to work any more than Peter +Rabbit does now. No, Sir, old Mr. Rabbit was afraid of work. The very +sight of work scared old Mr. Rabbit. You see, he was so busy minding +other people's business that he didn't have time to attend to his own. +So his brown and gray coat always was rumpled and tumbled and dirty. +His house was a tumble-down affair in which no one but Mr. Rabbit +would ever have thought of living, and his garden--oh, dear me, such a +garden you never did see! It was all weeds and brambles. They filled +up the yard, and old Mr. Rabbit actually couldn't have gotten into his +own house if he hadn't cut a path through the brambles. + +"Now when old Mr. Rabbit heard that Old Mother Nature was coming, his +heart sank way, way down, for he knew just how angry she would be when +she saw his house, his garden and his shabby suit. + +"'Oh, dear! Oh, dear! What shall I do?' wailed Mr. Rabbit, wringing +his hands. + +"'Get busy and clean up,' advised Mr. Woodchuck, hurrying about his +own work. + +"Now Mr. Woodchuck was a worker and very, very neat. He meant to have +his home looking just as fine as he could make it. He brought up some +clean yellow sand from deep down in the ground and sprinkled it +smoothly over his doorstep. + +"'I'll help you, if I get through my own work in time,' shouted Mr. +Woodchuck over his shoulder. + +"That gave Mr. Rabbit an idea. He would ask all his neighbors to help +him, and perhaps then he could get his house and garden in order by +the time Old Mother Nature arrived. So Mr. Rabbit called on Mr. Skunk +and Mr. Coon and Mr. Mink and Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Chipmunk, and all +the rest of his neighbors, telling them of his trouble and asking them +to help. Now, in spite of the trouble Mr. Rabbit was forever making +for other people by his dreadful curiosity and meddling with other +people's affairs, all his neighbors had a warm place in their hearts +for Mr. Rabbit, and they all promised that they would help him as soon +as they had their own work finished. + +"Instead of hurrying home and getting to work himself, Mr. Rabbit +stopped a while after each call and sat with his arms folded, watching +the one he was calling on work. Mr. Rabbit was very fond of sitting +with folded arms. It was very comfortable. But this was no time to be +doing it, and Mr. Skunk told him so. + +"'If you want the rest of us to help you, you'd better get things +started yourself,' said old Mr. Skunk, carefully combing out his big, +plumy tail. + +"'That's right, Mr. Skunk! That's right!' said Mr. Rabbit, starting +along briskly, just as if he was going to hurry right home and begin +work that very instant. + +"But half an hour later, when Mr. Skunk happened to pass the home of +Mr. Chipmunk, there sat Mr. Rabbit with his arms folded, watching Mr. +Chipmunk hurrying about as only Mr. Chipmunk can. + +"Finally Mr. Rabbit had made the round of all his friends and +neighbors, and he once more reached his tumble-down house. 'Oh, dear,' +sighed Mr. Rabbit, as he looked at the tangle of brambles which almost +hid the little old house, 'I never, never can clear away all this! It +will be a lot easier to work when all my friends are here to help,' +So he sighed once more and folded his arms, instead of beginning work +as he should have done. And then, because the sun was bright and warm, +and he was very, very comfortable, old Mr. Rabbit began to nod, and +presently he was fast asleep. + +"Now Old Mother Nature likes to take people by surprise, and it +happened that she chose this very day to make her promised visit. She +was greatly pleased with all she saw as she went along, until she came +to the home of Mr. Rabbit. + +"'Mercy me!' exclaimed Old Mother Nature, throwing up her hands as she +saw the tumble-down house almost hidden by the brambles and weeds. +'Can it be possible that any one really lives here?' + +Then, peering through the tangle of brambles, she spied old Mr. +Rabbit sitting on his broken-down doorstep with his arms folded and +fast asleep. + +"At first she was very indignant, oh, very indignant, indeed! She +decided that Mr. Rabbit should be punished very severely. But as she +watched him sitting there, dreaming in the warm sunshine, her anger +began to melt away. The fact is, Old Mother Nature was like all the +rest of Mr. Rabbit's neighbors--she just couldn't help loving +happy-go-lucky Mr. Rabbit in spite of all his faults. With a long +stick she reached in and tickled the end of his nose. + +"Mr. Rabbit sneezed, and this made him wake up. He yawned and blinked, +and then his eyes suddenly flew wide open with fright. He had +discovered Old Mother Nature frowning at him. She pointed a long +forefinger at him and said: + + 'In every single blessed day + There's time for work and time for play. + Who folds his arms with work undone + Doth cheat himself and spoil his fun.' + +"'Hereafter, Mr. Rabbit, you and your children and your children's +children will never again be able to sit with folded arms until you or +they have learned to work.' + +"And that is why Peter Rabbit cannot fold his arms and still lives in +a tumble-down house among the brambles," concluded Grandfather +Frog. + + + + +III + +WHY UNC' BILLY POSSUM PLAYS DEAD + + +One thing puzzled Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck and Striped Chipmunk a +great deal after they had come to know Unc' Billy Possum and his funny +ways. They had talked it over and wondered and wondered about it, and +tried to understand it, and even had asked Unc' Billy about it. Unc' +Billy had just grinned and said that they would have to ask his mammy. +Of course they couldn't do that, and Unc' Billy knew they couldn't, +for Unc' Billy's mammy had died long before he even thought of coming +up from Ol' Virginny to the Green Forest and the Green Meadows where +they lived. He said it just to tease them, and when he said it, he +chuckled until they chuckled too, just as if it really were the best +kind of a joke. + +Now you know it always is the thing that you try and try to find out +and can't find out that you most want to find out. It was just so with +Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck and Striped Chipmunk. The more they +talked about it, the more they wanted to know. Why was it that Unc' +Billy Possum played dead instead of trying to run away when he was +surprised by his enemies? They always tried to run away. So did +everybody else of their acquaintance excepting Unc' Billy Possum. + +"There must be a reason" said Peter gravely, as he pulled thoughtfully +at one of his long ears. + +"Of course there is a reason," asserted Johnny Chuck, chewing the end +of a blade of grass. + +"There's a reason for everything," added Striped Chipmunk, combing out +the hair of his funny little tail. + +"Then of course Grandfather Frog knows it," said Peter. + +"Of course! Why didn't we think of him before?" exclaimed the others. + +"I'll beat you to the Smiling Pool!" shouted Peter. + +Of course he did, for his legs are long and made for running, but +Striped Chipmunk was not far behind. Johnny Chuck took his time, for +he knew that he could not keep up with the others. Besides he was so +fat that to run made him puff and blow. Grandfather Frog sat just as +usual on his big green lily-pad, and he grinned when he saw who his +visitors were, for he guessed right away what they had come for. + +"Chug-a-rum! What is it you want to know now?" he demanded, before +Peter could fairly get his breath. + +"If you please, Grandfather Frog, we want to know why it is that Unc' +Billy Possum plays dead," replied Peter as politely as he knew how. + +Grandfather Frog chuckled. "Just to fool people, stupid!" said he. + +"Of course we know that," replied Striped Chipmunk, "but what we want +to know is how he ever found out that he could fool people that way, +and how he knows that he will fool them." + +"I suspect that his mammy taught him," said Grandfather Frog, with +another chuckle way down deep in his throat. + +"But who taught his mammy?" persisted Striped Chipmunk. + +Grandfather Frog snapped at a foolish green fly, and when it was +safely tucked away inside his white and yellow waistcoat, he turned +once more to his three little visitors, and there was a twinkle in his +big, goggly eyes. + +"I see," said he, "that you _will_ have a story, and I suppose that +the sooner I tell it to you, the sooner you will leave me in peace. +Unc' Billy Possum's grandfather a thousand times removed was--" + +"Was this way back in the days when the world was young?" interrupted +Peter. + +Grandfather Frog scowled at Peter. "If I have any more interruptions, +there will be no story to-day" said he severely. + +Peter looked ashamed and promised that he would hold his tongue right +between his teeth until Grandfather Frog was through. Grandfather Frog +cleared his throat and began again. + +"Unc' Billy Possum's grandfather a thousand times removed was very +much as Unc' Billy is now, only he was a little more spry and knew +better than to stuff himself so full that he couldn't run. He was +always very sly, and he played a great many tricks on his neighbors, +and sometimes he got them into trouble. But when he did, he always +managed to keep out of their way until they had forgotten all about +their anger. + +"One morning the very imp of mischief seemed to get into old Mr. +Possum's head. Yes, Sir, it certainly did seem that way. And when you +see Mischief trotting along the Lone Little Path, if you look sharp +enough, you'll see Trouble following at his heels like a shadow. I +never knew it to fail. It's just as sure as a stomach-ache is to +follow overeating." + +Just here Grandfather Frog paused and looked very hard at Peter +Rabbit. But Peter pretended not to notice, and after slowly winking +one of his big, goggly eyes at Johnny Chuck, Grandfather Frog +continued: + +"Anyway, as I said before, the imp of mischief seemed to be in old Mr. +Possum's head that morning, for he began to play tricks on his +neighbors as soon as they were out of bed. He hid Old King Bear's +breakfast, while the latter had his head turned, and then pretended +that he had just come along. He was very polite and offered to help +Old King Bear hunt for his lost breakfast. Then, whenever Old King +Bear came near the place where it was hidden, old Mr. Possum would +hide it somewhere else. Old King Bear was hungry, and he worked +himself up into a terrible rage, for he was in a hurry for his +breakfast. Old Mr. Possum was very sympathetic and seemed to be doing +his very best to find the lost meal. At last Old King Bear turned his +head suddenly and caught sight of old Mr. Possum hiding that +breakfast in a new place. My, my, but his temper did boil over! It +certainly did. And if he could have laid hands on old Mr. Possum that +minute, it surely would have been the end of him. + +"But old Mr. Possum was mighty spry, and he went off through the Green +Forest laughing fit to kill himself. Pretty soon he met Mr. Panther. +He was very polite to Mr. Panther. He told him that he had just come +from a call on Old King Bear, and hinted that Old King Bear was then +enjoying a feast and that there might be enough for Mr. Panther, if he +hurried up there at once. + +"Now, Mr. Panther was hungry, for he had found nothing for his +breakfast that morning. So he thanked old Mr. Possum and hurried away +to find Old King Bear and share in the good things old Mr. Possum had +told about. + +"Old Mr. Possum himself hurried on, chuckling as he thought of the way +Mr. Panther was likely to be received, with Old King Bear in such a +temper. Pretty soon along came Mr. Lynx. Old Mr. Possum told him the +same story he had told Mr. Panther, and Mr. Lynx went bounding off in +a terrible hurry, for fear that he would not be in time to share in +that good breakfast. It was such a good joke that old Mr. Possum tried +it on Mr. Wolf and Mr. Fisher and Mr. Fox. In fact, he hunted up every +one he could think of and sent them to call on Old King Bear, and +without really telling them so, he made each one think that he would +get a share in that breakfast." + +"Now, there wasn't any more breakfast than Old King Bear wanted +himself, and by the time Mr. Panther arrived, there wasn't so much as +a crumb left. Then, one after another, the others came dropping in, +each licking his chops, and all very polite to Old King Bear. At first +he didn't know what to make of it, but pretty soon Mr. Fox delicately +hinted that they had come in response to the invitation sent by Mr. +Possum, and that as they were all very hungry, they would like to know +when the feast would be ready. Right away Old King Bear knew that old +Mr. Possum had been up to some of his tricks, and he told his visitors +that they were the victims of a practical joke. + +[Illustration: "As they were all very hungry, they would like to know +when the feast would be ready."] + +"My, my, my, how angry everybody grew! With Old King Bear at their +head, they started out to hunt for old Mr. Possum. When he saw them +coming, he realized that what he had thought was a joke had become no +longer a laughing matter for him. He was too frightened to run, so +he scrambled up a tree. He quite forgot that Mr. Panther and Mr. Lynx +could climb just as fast as he. Up the tree after him they scrambled, +and he crept as far out as he could get on one of the branches. Mr. +Panther didn't dare go out there, so he just shook the branch. He +shook and shook and shook and shook, and the first thing old Mr. +Possum knew, he was flying through the air down to where the others +were all ready to pounce on him. + +"Old Mr. Possum was frightened almost to death. He shut his eyes, and +then he landed with a thump that knocked all the wind from his body. +When he got his breath again, he still kept his eyes closed, for he +couldn't bear the thought of looking at the cruel teeth and claws of +Old King Bear and the others. Presently, while he was wondering why +they didn't jump on him and tear him to pieces, Old King Bear spoke: + +"'I guess Mr. Possum won't play any more jokes, Mr. Panther,' said he. +'You just knocked the life out of him when you shook him off that +branch.' + +"Mr. Panther came over and sniffed at Mr. Possum and turned him over +with one paw. All the time Mr. Possum lay just as if he were dead, +because he was too frightened to move. 'I didn't mean to kill him,' +said Mr. Panther. 'We certainly will miss him. What will we do with +him?' + +"'Leave him here as a warning to others,' growled Old King Bear. + +"Each in turn came up and sniffed of Mr. Possum, and then they all +went about their business. He waited long enough to make sure that +they were out of sight, and then took the shortest way home. When he +got there and thought it all over, he thought that the best joke of +all was the way he had made everybody think that he was dead. And then +a bright idea struck him: he would try the same trick whenever he was +caught. So the next time he got in trouble, instead of running away, +he tried playing dead. It was such a success that he taught his +children how to do it, and they taught their children, and so on down +to Unc' Billy, whom you know. Unc' Billy says it is a lot easier than +running away, and safer, too. Besides, it is always such a joke. Now, +don't bother me any more, for I want to take a nap," concluded +Grandfather Frog. + +"Thank you!" cried Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck and Striped Chipmunk, +and started off to hunt up Unc' Billy Possum. + + + + +IV + +WHY REDDY FOX WEARS RED + + +Peter Rabbit sat in the middle of the dear Old Briar-patch making +faces and laughing at Reddy Fox. Of course that wasn't a nice thing to +do, not a bit nice. But Peter had just had a narrow escape, a very +narrow escape, for Reddy Fox had sprung out from behind a bush as +Peter came down the Lone Little Path, and had so nearly caught Peter +that he had actually pulled some fur out of Peter's coat. Now Peter +was safe in the dear Old Briar-patch. He was a little out of breath, +because he had had to use his long legs as fast as he knew how, but he +was safe. You see, Reddy Fox wouldn't run the risk of tearing his +handsome red coat on the brambles. Besides, they scratched terribly. + +"Never mind, Peter Rabbit, I'll get you yet!" snarled Reddy, as he +gave up and started back for the Green Forest. + + "Reddy Fox is very sly! + Reddy Fox is very spry! + But sly and spry, 'tis vain to try + To be as sly and spry as I." + +When Peter Rabbit shouted this, Reddy looked back and showed all his +teeth, but Peter only laughed, and Reddy trotted on. Peter watched him +out of sight. + +"My! I wish I had such a handsome coat," he said, with a long sigh, +for you know Peter's coat is very plain, very plain, indeed. + +"You wouldn't, if you had to wear it for the same reason that Reddy +Fox has to wear his. A good heart and honest ways are better than +fine clothes, Peter Rabbit." + +Peter looked up. There was saucy, pert, little Jenny Wren fussing +around in one of the old bramble bushes. + +"Hello, Jenny!" said Peter. "Why does Reddy wear a red coat?" + +"Do you mean to say that you don't know?" Jenny Wren looked very hard +at Peter with her sharp eyes. "I thought everybody knew that! You +certainly are slow, Peter Rabbit. I haven't time to tell you about it +now. Go ask Grandfather Frog; he knows all about it." Jenny Wren +bustled off before Peter could find his tongue. + +Now, you all know how full of curiosity Peter Rabbit is. Jenny Wren's +busy tongue had set that curiosity fairly boiling over. He just +couldn't sit still for wondering and wondering why Reddy Fox wears a +red coat. He had never thought anything about it before, but now he +couldn't get it out of his head. He just _had_ to know. So, making +sure that Reddy Fox had disappeared in the Green Forest, Peter started +for the Smiling Pool, lipperty-lipperty-lip, as fast as he could go. +There he found Grandfather Frog setting on his big green lily-pad, +just as usual. + +"If you please, Grandfather Frog, why does Reddy Fox wear a red coat?" +panted Peter, quite out of breath. + +"Chug-a-rum!" grunted Grandfather Frog crossly. "Don't you know that +it is very impolite to disturb people when they are having a nap?" + +"I--I'm very sorry. Indeed I am, Grandfather Frog," said Peter very +humbly. "Will you tell me if I come again some time when you are not +so sleepy?" + +Now, like everybody else, Grandfather Frog is rather fond of Peter +Rabbit, and now Peter looked so truly sorry, and at the same time +there was such a look of disappointment in Peter's eyes, that +Grandfather Frog forgot all about his crossness. + +"Chug-a-rum!" said he. "You and your questions are a nuisance, Peter +Rabbit, and I may as well get rid of you now as to have you keep +coming down here and pestering me to death. Besides, any one who has +to keep such a sharp watch for Reddy Fox as you do ought to know why +he wears a red coat. If you'll promise to sit perfectly still and ask +no foolish questions, I'll tell you the story." + +Of course Peter promised, and settled himself comfortably to listen. +And this is the story that Grandfather Frog told: + +"A long time ago, when the world was young, old Mr. Fox, the +grandfather a thousand times removed of Reddy Fox, was one of the +smartest of all the forest and meadow people, just as Reddy is now. He +was so smart that he knew enough not to appear smart, and the fact is +his neighbors thought him rather dull. He wore just a common, everyday +suit of dull brown, like most of the others, and there wasn't anything +about him to attract attention. He was always very polite, very polite +indeed, to every one. Yes, Sir, Mr. Fox was very polite. He always +seemed to be minding his own business, and he never went around asking +foolish questions or poking his nose into other people's affairs." + +Grandfather Frog stopped a minute and looked very hard at Peter after +he said this, and Peter looked uncomfortable. + +"Now, although Mr. Fox didn't appear to take any interest in other +people's affairs and never asked questions, he had two of the +sharpest ears among all the little meadow and forest people, and while +he was going about seeming to be just minding his own business, he was +listening and listening to all that was said. Everything he heard he +remembered, so that it wasn't long before he knew more about what was +going on than all his neighbors together. But he kept his mouth tight +closed, did Mr. Fox, and was very humble and polite to everybody. +Every night he came home early and went to bed by sundown, and +everybody said what good habits Mr. Fox had. + +"But when everybody else was asleep, Mr. Fox used to steal out and be +gone half the night. Yes, Sir, sometimes he'd be gone until almost +morning. But he always took care to get home before any of his +neighbors were awake, and then he'd wait until everybody was up before +he showed himself. When he came out and started to hunt for his +breakfast, some one was sure to tell him of mischief done during the +darkness of the night. Sometimes it was a storehouse broken into, and +the best things taken. Sometimes it was of terrible frights that some +of the littlest people had received by being wakened in the night and +seeing a fierce face with long, sharp teeth grinning at them. +Sometimes it was of worse things that were told in whispers. Mr. Fox +used to listen as if very much shocked, and say that something ought +to be done about it, and wonder who it could be who would do such +dreadful things. + +"By and by things got so bad that they reached the ears of Old Mother +Nature, and she came to find out what it all meant. Now, the very +night before she arrived, Mrs. Quack, who lived on the river bank, +had a terrible fright. Somebody sprang upon her as she was sleeping, +and in the struggle she lost all her tail feathers. She hurried to +tell Old Mother Nature all about it, and big tears rolled down her +cheeks as she told how she had lost all her beautiful tail feathers. +Mother Nature called all the people of the forest and the meadows +together. She made them all pass before her, and she looked sharply at +each one as they went by. Mr. Fox looked meeker than ever, and he was +very humble and polite. + +"Now when Mr. Fox had paid his respects and turned his back, Old +Mother Nature saw something red on the tail of his coat. It was +nothing but a little smear of red clay, but that was enough for Old +Mother Nature. You see, she knew that Mrs. Quack's home was right at +the foot of a red claybank. She didn't say a word until everybody had +paid their respects and passed before her. Then she told them how +grieved she was to hear of all the trouble there had been, but that +she couldn't watch over each one all the time; they must learn to +watch out for themselves. + +"And so that you may know who to watch out for, from now on never +trust the one who wears a bright red coat," concluded Old Mother +Nature. + +"All of a sudden Mr. Fox became aware that everybody was looking at +him, and in every face was hate. He glanced at his coat. It was bright +red! Then Mr. Fox knew that he had been found out, and he sneaked away +with his tail between his legs. The first chance he got, he went to +Old Mother Nature and begged her to give him back his old coat. She +promised that she would when his heart changed, and he changed his +ways. But his heart never did change, and his children and his +children's children were just like him. They have always been the +smartest and the sliest and the most feared and disliked of all the +little people on the meadows or in the forest. And now you know why +Reddy Fox wears a red coat," concluded Grandfather Frog. + +Peter Rabbit drew a long breath. "Thank you, thank you, Grandfather +Frog!" said he. "I--I think hereafter I'll be quite content with my +own suit, even if it isn't handsome. Jenny Wren was right. A good +heart and honest ways are better than fine clothes." + + + + +V + +WHY JIMMY SKUNK NEVER HURRIES + + +The Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind had just been +released from the big bag in which she carries them every night to +their home behind the Purple Hills and every morning brings them back +to the Green Meadows to romp and play all day. They romped and raced +and danced away, some one way, some another, to see whom they could +find to play with. Presently some of them spied Jimmy Skunk slowly +ambling down the Crooked Little Path, stopping every few steps to pull +over a loose stone or stick. They knew what he was doing that for. +They knew that he was looking for fat beetles for his breakfast. They +danced over to him and formed a ring around him while they sang: + + "Who is it never, never hurries? + Who is it never, never worries? + Who is it does just what he pleases, + Just like us Merry Little Breezes? + Jimmy Skunk! Jimmy Skunk!" + +Now not so far away but that he could hear them very plainly sat Peter +Rabbit, just finishing his breakfast in a sweet-clover patch. He sat +up very straight, so as to hear better. Of course some of the Merry +Little Breezes saw him right away. They left Jimmy to come over and +dance in a circle around Peter, for Peter is a great favorite with +them. And as they danced they sang: + + "Who is it hops and skips and jumps? + Who is it sometimes loudly thumps? + Who is it dearly loves to play, + But when there's danger runs away? + Peter Rabbit! Peter Rabbit!" + +Peter grinned good-naturedly. He is quite used to being laughed at for +always running away, and he doesn't mind it in the least. + +"When danger's near, who runs away will live to run another day," +retorted Peter promptly. Then he began the maddest kind of a frolic +with the Merry Little Breezes until they and he were quite tired out +and ready for a good rest. + +"I wish," said Peter, as he stretched himself out in the middle of the +patch of sweet clover, "that you would tell me why it is that Jimmy +Skunk never hurries." + +"And we wish that you would tell us the same thing," cried one of the +Merry Little Breezes. + +"But I can't," protested Peter. "Everybody else seems to hurry, at +times anyway, but Jimmy never does. He says it is a waste of energy, +whatever that means." + +"I tell you what--let's go over to the Smiling Pool and ask +Grandfather Frog about it now. He'll be sure to know," spoke up one of +the Merry Little Breezes. + +"All right," replied Peter, hopping to his feet. "But you'll have to +ask him. I've asked him for so many stories that I don't dare ask for +another right away, for fear that he will say that I am a nuisance." + +So it was agreed that the Merry Little Breezes should ask Grandfather +Frog why it is that Jimmy Skunk never hurries, and that Peter should +keep out of sight until Grandfather Frog had begun the story, for they +were sure that there would be a story. Away they all hurried to the +Smiling Pool. The Merry Little Breezes raced so hard that they were +quite out of breath when they burst through the bulrushes and +surrounded Grandfather Frog, as he sat on his big green lily-pad. + +"Oh, Grandfather Frog, why is it that Jimmy Skunk never hurries?" they +panted. + +"Chug-a-rum!" replied Grandfather Frog in his deepest, gruffest voice. +"Chug-a-rum! Probably because he has learned better." + +"Oh!" said one of the Merry Little Breezes, in a rather faint, +disappointed sort of voice. Just then he spied a fat, foolish, green +fly and blew it right over to Grandfather Frog, who snapped it up in a +flash. Right away all the Merry Little Breezes began to hunt for +foolish green flies and blow them over to Grandfather Frog, until he +didn't have room for another one inside his white and yellow +waistcoat. Indeed the legs of the last one he tried to swallow stuck +out of one corner of his big mouth. + +"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog, trying very hard to get those +legs out of sight. "Chug-a-rum! I always like to do something for +those who do something for me, and I suppose now that I ought to tell +you why it is that Jimmy Skunk never hurries. I would, if Peter Rabbit +were here. If I tell you the story, Peter will be sure to hear of it, +and then he will give me no peace until I tell it to him, and I don't +like to tell stories twice." + +"But he is here!" cried one of the Little Breezes. "He's right over +behind that little clump of tall grass." + +"Humph! I thought he wasn't very far away," grunted Grandfather Frog, +with a twinkle in his great, goggly eyes. + +Peter crept out of his hiding-place, looking rather shamefaced and +very foolish. Then the Merry Little Breezes settled themselves on the +lily-pads in a big circle around Grandfather Frog, and Peter sat down +as close to the edge of the bank of the Smiling Pool as he dared to +get. After what seemed to them a very long time, Grandfather Frog +swallowed the legs of the last foolish green fly, opened his big +mouth, and began: + +"Of course you all know that long, long ago, when the world was young, +things were very different from what they are now, very different +indeed. The great-great-ever-so-great grandfather of Jimmy Skunk was +slimmer and trimmer than Jimmy is. He was more like his cousins, Mr. +Weasel and Mr. Mink. He was just as quick moving as they were. Yes, +Sir, Mr. Skunk was very lively on his feet. He had to be to keep out +of the way of his big neighbors, for in those days he didn't have any +means of protecting himself, as Jimmy has now. He was dressed all in +black. You know it wasn't until Old Mother Nature found out that he +was taking advantage of that black suit to get into mischief on dark +nights that she gave him white stripes, so that the darker the night, +the harder it would be for him to keep from being seen. + +"Now Mr. Skunk was very smart and shrewd, oh, very! When the hard +times came, which made so many changes in the lives of the people who +lived in the Green Forest and on the Green Meadows, Mr. Skunk was very +quick to see that unless he could think of some way to protect +himself, it was only a matter of time when he would furnish a dinner +for one of his fierce big neighbors, and of course Mr. Skunk had no +desire to do that. It was then that he asked Old Mother Nature to give +him a bag of perfume so strong that it would make everybody ill but +himself. Mother Nature thought it all over, and then she did, but she +made him promise that he would never use it unless he was in great +danger. + +"Mr. Skunk had to try his new defence only once or twice before his +enemies took the greatest care to let him alone. He found that he no +longer had to run for a safe hiding-place when he met Mr. Wolf or Mr. +Lynx or Mr. Panther. They just snarled at him and passed without +offering to touch him. So Mr. Skunk grew very independent and went +where he pleased when he pleased. And, because he no longer had to run +from his enemies, he got out of the habit of running. Then he made a +discovery. He watched those of his neighbors who were forever hurrying +about looking for food, hurrying because all the time there was great +fear upon them that an enemy might be near, hurrying because each was +fearful that his neighbor would get more than he. It wasn't long +before Mr. Skunk saw that in their hurry they overlooked a great deal. +In fact, by just following after them slowly, he found all he wanted +to eat. + +"So Mr. Skunk began to grow fat. His neighbors, who were having hard +work to make a living, grew envious, and said unkind things about him, +and hinted that he must be stealing, or he never could have so much to +eat. But Mr. Skunk didn't mind. He went right on about his business. +He never worried, because, you know, he feared nobody. And he never +hurried, because he found that it paid best to go slowly. In that way +he never missed any of the good things that his hurrying, worrying +neighbors did. So he grew fatter and fatter, while others grew +thinner. After a while he almost forgot how to run. Being fat and +never hurrying or worrying made him good-natured. He kept right on +minding his own affairs and never meddling in the affairs of others, +so that by and by his neighbors began to respect him. + +"Of course he taught his children to do as he did, and they taught +their children. And so, ever since that long-ago day, when the world +was young, that little bag of perfume has been handed down in the +Skunk family, and none of them has ever been afraid. Now you know why +Jimmy Skunk, whom you all know, is so independent and never hurries." + +"Thank you! Thank you, Grandfather Frog!" cried the Merry Little +Breezes. "When you want some more foolish green flies, just let us +know, and we'll get them for you." + +"Chug-a-rum! What are you looking so wistful for, Peter Rabbit?" +demanded Grandfather Frog. + +"I--I was just wishing that I had a--" began Peter. Then suddenly he +made a face. "No, I don't either!" he declared. "I guess I'd better be +getting home to the dear Old Briar-patch now. Mrs. Peter probably +thinks something has happened to me." And away he went, +lipperty-lipperty-lip. + + + + +VI + +WHY SAMMY JAY HAS A FINE COAT + + +Sammy Jay has a very fine coat, a very beautiful coat. Everybody knows +that. In fact, Sammy's coat has long been the envy of a great many of +his neighbors in the Green Forest. Some of them, you know, have very +modest coats. They are not beautiful at all. And yet the owners of +some of these plain coats are among the most honest and hard-working +of all the little people who live in the Green Forest. They find it +hard, very hard indeed, to understand why such a scamp and +mischiefmaker as Sammy Jay should be given such a wonderful blue coat +with white trimmings. + +Peter Rabbit often had thought about it. He has a number of feathered +friends whom he likes ever so much better than he does Sammy Jay. In +fact, he and Sammy are forever falling out, because Sammy delights to +tease Peter. He sometimes makes up for it by warning Peter when Granny +or Reddy Fox happens to be about, and Peter is honest enough to +recognize this and put it to Sammy's credit. But in spite of this, it +never seemed to him quite right that Sammy Jay should be so handsomely +dressed. + +"Of course," said Peter to Grandfather Frog, "Old Mother Nature knows +a great deal more than I do--" + +"Really! You don't mean to say so! Chug-a-rum! You don't mean to say +so, Peter!" interrupted Grandfather Frog, pretending to be very much +surprised at what Peter said. + +[Illustration: "You don't mean to say so, Peter," interrupted +Grandfather Frog.] + +Peter grinned and wrinkled his nose at Grandfather Frog. + +"Yes," said he, "Old Mother Nature knows a great deal more than I do, +but it seems to me as if she had made a mistake in giving Sammy Jay +such a handsome coat. There must be a reason, I suppose, but for the +life of me I cannot understand it. I should think that she would give +such a thief as Sammy Jay the very homeliest suit she could find. You +may depend I would, if I were in her place." + +Grandfather Frog chuckled until he shook all over. + +"It's lucky for some of us that you are not in her place!" said he. +"Chug-a-rum! It certainly is lucky!" + +"If I were, I would give you a handsome coat, too, Grandfather Frog," +replied Peter. + +Grandfather Frog suddenly swelled out with indignation. "Chug-a-rum! +Chug-a-rum! What's the matter with the coat I have got, Peter Rabbit? +Tell me that! Who's got a handsomer one?" Grandfather Frog glared with +his great, goggly eyes at Peter. + +"I didn't mean to say that you haven't got a handsome coat. Your coat +_is_ handsome, very handsome indeed, Grandfather Frog," Peter hastened +to say. "I always did like green. I just love it! And I should think +you would be ever so proud of your white and yellow waistcoat. I would +if it were mine. What I meant to say is, that if I were in Old Mother +Nature's place, I would give some plain folks handsome suits. +Certainly, I wouldn't give such a rascal as Sammy Jay one of the +handsomest coats in all the Green Forest. Knowing Sammy as well as I +do, it is hard work to believe that he came by it honestly." + +Grandfather Frog chuckled way down deep in his throat. + +"Sammy came by it honestly enough, Peter. Yes, Sir, he came by it +honestly enough, because it was handed down to him by his father, who +got it from his father, who got it from his father, and so on, way +back to the days when the world was young, but--" Grandfather Frog +paused, and that dreamy, far-away look which Peter had seen so often +came into his great, goggly eyes. + +"But what, Grandfather Frog?" asked Peter eagerly, when he could keep +still no longer. + +Grandfather Frog settled himself comfortably on his big green lily-pad +and looked very hard at Peter. + +"I'm going to tell you a story, Peter Rabbit," said he, "so that never +again will you be led to doubt that Old Mother Nature knows exactly +what she is about. In the first place, Sammy Jay is not wholly to +blame for all his bad habits. Some of them were handed down to him +with his fine coat, just the same as your troublesome curiosity was +handed down to you with the white patch on the seat of your trousers." + +Peter nodded. He had felt a great many times that he just couldn't +help this habit of poking that wobbly little nose of his in where it +had no business to be, any more than he could change that funny little +bunch of white cotton, which he called a tail, for a really, truly +tail. + +"Of course, you have heard all about what a very fine gentleman Sammy +Jay's great-great-ever-so-great grandfather was thought to be until it +was discovered that he was all the time stealing from his neighbors +and putting the blame on others, and how Old Mother Nature punished +him by taking away the beautiful voice of which he was so proud, and +giving him instead the harsh voice which Sammy has now, and making him +tell just what he is by screaming 'thief, thief, thief!' every time he +opens his mouth to speak. + +"At first Old Mother Nature had intended to take away the fine coat of +which Mr. Jay was so proud, but when he discovered that he had lost +his fine voice, he was so ashamed that he hurried away to hide himself +from the eyes of his neighbors, so that Old Mother Nature didn't have +time to change his coat just then. + +'I'll wait a bit,' said she to herself, 'and see how he behaves. +Perhaps he is truly sorry for what he has done, and I will not have to +punish him more.' + +"But if Mr. Jay was truly sorry, he gave no signs of it. You see, he +had cheated his neighbors, and had stolen from them for so long, that +he found this the easiest way to get a living. His bad habits had +become fixed, as bad habits have a way of doing. Besides, right down +in his heart, he wasn't sorry for what he had done, only angry at +having been found out. Now that he had been found out, of course every +one was on the watch for him, and it wasn't so easy to steal as it had +been before. So now, instead of going about openly, with his head held +high, he grew very crafty, and sneaked quietly about through the Green +Forest, trying to keep out of sight, that he might the easier steal +from his neighbors and make trouble for them. + +"When Old Mother Nature saw this, she changed her mind about taking +away his handsome suit. 'If I do that,' thought she, 'it will make it +all the easier for him to keep out of sight, and all the harder for +his neighbors to know when he is about.' + +"So instead of giving him the plain, homely suit that she had thought +of giving him, she made his coat of blue brighter than before and +trimmed it with the whitest of white trimmings, so that Mr. Jay had +one of the very handsomest coats in all the Green Forest. At first he +was very proud of it, but it wasn't long before he found that it was +very hard work to keep out of sight when he wanted to. That bright +blue coat was forever giving him away when he was out on mischief. +Everybody was all the time on the watch for it, and so where in the +past Mr. Jay had been able, without any trouble, to steal all he +wanted to eat, now he sometimes actually had to work for his food, and +get it honestly or else go hungry. + +"You would suppose that he would have mended him ways, wouldn't you?" + +Peter nodded. + +"But he didn't. He grew more sly and crafty than ever. But in spite of +this, he didn't begin to make as much trouble as before. He couldn't, +you know, because of his bright coat. When Old Mother Nature found +that Mr. Jay had passed along his bad habits to his children, she +passed along his handsome blue coat, too, and so it has been from that +long-ago day right down to this. Sammy Jay's fine coat isn't a reward +for goodness, as is Winsome Bluebird's, but is to help the other +little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows to protect +themselves, and keep track of Sammy when he is sneaking and snooping +around looking for mischief. Now what do you think, Peter Rabbit?" + +Peter scratched one long ear and then the other long ear thoughtfully, +and he looked a wee bit ashamed as he replied: "I guess Old Mother +Nature makes no mistakes and always knows just what she is doing." + +"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog in his deepest voice. "You may be +sure she does. And another thing, Peter Rabbit: Never judge any one by +his clothes. It is a great mistake, a very great mistake. Plain +clothes sometimes cover the kindest hearts, and fine clothes often are +a warning to beware of mischief." + +"I--I don't know but you are right," admitted Peter. + +"I know I am," said Grandfather Frog. + + + + +VII + +WHY JERRY MUSKRAT BUILDS HIS HOUSE IN THE WATER + + +Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck had gone down to the Smiling Pool for a +call on their old friend, Jerry Muskrat. But Jerry was nowhere to be +seen. They waited and waited, but no Jerry Muskrat. + +"Probably he is taking a nap in that big house of his," said Johnny +Chuck, "and if he is we'll have to sit here until he wakes up, or else +go back home and visit him some other time." + +"That's so," replied Peter. "I don't see what he has his house in the +water for, anyway. If he had built it on land, like sensible people, +we might be able to waken him. Funny place to build a house, isn't +it?" + +Johnny Chuck scratched his head thoughtfully. "It does seem a funny +place," he admitted. "It certainly does seem a funny place. But then, +Jerry Muskrat is a funny fellow. You know how much of the time he +stays in the water. That seems funny to me. I suppose there is a +reason for it, and probably there is a reason for building his house +where it is. I've found that there is a reason for most things. +Probably Jerry's great-great-grandfather built his house that way, and +so Jerry does the same thing." + +Peter Rabbit suddenly brightened up. "I do believe you are right, +Johnny Chuck, and if you are, there must be a story about it, and if +there is a story, Grandfather Frog will be sure to know it. There he +is, over on his big green lily-pad, and he looks as if he might be +feeling very good-natured this morning. Let's go ask him why Jerry +Muskrat builds his house in the water." + +Grandfather Frog saw them coming, and he guessed right away that they +were coming for a story. He grinned to himself and pretended to go to +sleep. + +"Good morning, Grandfather Frog," said Johnny Chuck. Grandfather Frog +didn't answer. Johnny tried again, and still no reply. + +"He's asleep," said Johnny, looking dreadfully disappointed, "and I +guess we'd better not disturb him, for he might wake up cross, and of +course we wouldn't get a story if he did." + +Peter looked at Grandfather Frog sharply. He wasn't so sure that that +was a real nap. It seemed to him that there was just the least little +hint of a smile in the corners of Grandfather Frog's big mouth. "You +sit here a minute," he whispered in Johnny Chuck's ear. + +So Johnny Chuck sat down where he was, which was right where +Grandfather Frog could see him by lifting one eyelid just the teeniest +bit, and Peter hopped along the bank until he was right behind +Grandfather Frog. Now just at that place on the bank was growing a +toadstool. Peter looked over at Johnny Chuck and winked. Then he +turned around, and with one of his long hind-feet, he kicked the +toadstool with all his might. Now toadstools, as you all know, are not +very well fastened at the roots, and this one was no different from +the rest. When Peter kicked it it flew out into the air and landed +with a great splash in the Smiling Pool, close beside the big green +lily-pad on which Grandfather Frog was sitting. Of course he didn't +see it coming, and of course it gave him a great start. + +"Chug-a-rum!" exclaimed Grandfather Frog and dived head first into the +water. A minute later Peter's sharp eyes saw him peeping out from +under a lily-pad to see what had frightened him so. + +"Ha, ha, ha!" shouted Peter, dancing about on the bank. "Ha, ha, ha! +Grandfather Frog, afraid of a toadstool! Ha, ha, ha!" + +At first Grandfather Frog was angry, very angry indeed. But he is too +old and too wise to lose his temper for long over a joke, especially +when he has been fairly caught trying to play a joke himself. So +presently he climbed back on to his big green lily-pad, blinking his +great, goggly eyes and looking just a wee bit foolish. + +"Chug-a-rum! I might have known that that was some of your work, +Peter Rabbit," said he, "but I thought it surely was a stone thrown +by Farmer Brown's boy. What do you mean by frightening an old fellow +like me this way?" + +"Just trying to get even with you for trying to fool us into thinking +that you were asleep when you were wide awake," replied Peter. "Oh, +Grandfather Frog, do tell us why it is that Jerry Muskrat builds his +house in the water. Please do!" + +"I have a mind not to, just to get even with you," said Grandfather +Frog, settling himself comfortably, "but I believe I will, to show you +that there are some folks who can take a joke without losing their +temper." + +"Goody!" cried Peter and Johnny Chuck together, sitting down side by +side on the very edge of the bank. + +Grandfather Frog folded his hands across his white and yellow +waistcoat and half closed his eyes, as if looking way, way back into +the past. + +"Chug-a-rum!" he began. "A long, long time ago, when the world was +young, there was very little dry land, and most of the animals lived +in the water. Yes, Sir, most of the animals lived in the water, as +sensible animals do to-day." + +Peter nudged Johnny Chuck. "He means himself and his family," he +whispered with a chuckle. + +"After a time," continued Grandfather Frog, "there began to be more +land and still more. Then some of the animals began to spend most of +their time on the land. As there got to be more and more land, more +and more of the animals left the water, until finally most of them +were spending nearly all of the time on land. Now Old Mother Nature +had been keeping a sharp watch, as she always does, and when she found +that they were foolish enough to like the land best, she did all that +she could to make things comfortable for them. She taught them how to +run and jump and climb and dig, according to which things they liked +best to do, so that it wasn't very long before a lot of them forgot +that they ever had lived in the water, and they began to look down on +those who still lived in the water, and to put on airs and hold their +heads very high. + +"Now, of course, Old Mother Nature didn't like this, and to punish +them she said that they should no longer be able to live in the water, +even if they wanted to. At first they only laughed, but after a while +they found that quite often there were times when it would be very +nice to be at home in the water as they once had been. But it was of +no use. Some could swim as long as they could keep their heads above +water, but as soon as they put their heads under water they were +likely to drown. You know that is the way with you to-day, Peter +Rabbit." + +Peter nodded. He knew that he could swim if he had to, but only for a +very little way, and he hated the thought of it. + +"Now there were a few animals, of whom old Mr. Muskrat, the +grandfather a thousand times removed of Jerry Muskrat, was one, who +learned to walk and run on dry land, but who still loved the water," +continued Grandfather Frog. "One day Old Mother Nature found Mr. +Muskrat sitting on a rock, looking very mournful. + +"'What's the matter, Mr. Muskrat?' she asked. + +"Mr. Muskrat looked very much ashamed as he finally owned up that he +was envious of his cousins and some of the other animals, because they +had such fine houses on the land. + +"'Then why don't you build you a fine house on the land?' asked Old +Mother Nature. + +"Mr. Muskrat hesitated. 'I--I--love the water too well to want to stay +on land all the time,' said he, 'and--and--well, I was put in the +water in the first place, and I ought to be contented with what I have +got and make the best of it.' + +"Old Mother Nature was so pleased with Mr. Muskrat's reply that right +away she made up her mind that he should have a finer house than any +of the others, so she took him over to a quiet little pool, where the +water was not too deep and she showed him how to build a wonderful +house of mud and rushes and twigs, with a nice warm bedroom lined +with grass above the water, and an entrance down under the water, so +that no one except those who still lived most of the time in the water +could possibly get into it. None of his friends on land had such a +big, fine house, and Mr. Muskrat was very proud of it. But with all +his pride he never forgot that it was a reward for trying to be +content with his surroundings and making the best of them. + +"So from that day to this, the Muskrats have built their houses in the +water, and have been among the most industrious, contented, and happy +of all the animals. And that is why Jerry Muskrat has built that fine +house in the Smiling Pool and has so few enemies," concluded +Grandfather Frog. + +Peter Rabbit drew a long breath, which was almost a sigh. "I almost +wish my grandfather a thousand times removed had been content to stay +in the water, too," he said. + +"Chug-a-rum!" retorted Grandfather Frog. "If he had, you wouldn't have +the dear Old Briar-patch. Be content with what you've got," + +"I think I will," said Peter. + + + + +VIII + +WHY OLD MAN COYOTE HAS MANY VOICES + + +Of course Old Man Coyote has only one voice, but that one is such a +wonderful voice that he can make it sound like a great many voices, +all yelping and howling and shouting and laughing at the same time. So +those who hear him always say that he has many voices, and that +certainly is the way it seems. The first time Peter Rabbit heard Old +Man Coyote, he was sure, absolutely sure, that there was a whole crowd +of strangers on the Green Meadows, and you may be sure that he kept +very close to his dear Old Briar-patch. If you had been there and +tried to tell Peter that all that noise was made by just one voice, +he wouldn't have believed you. No, Sir, he wouldn't have believed you. +And you couldn't have blamed him. + +It was the Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind who first told +Peter who the stranger was and warned him to watch out, because Old +Man Coyote is just as fond of Rabbit as Granny or Reddy Fox, and is +even more crafty and sly than they. Peter thanked the Merry Little +Breezes for the warning, and then he asked them how many of his family +Old Man Coyote had brought with him. Of course the Merry Little +Breezes told Peter that Old Man Coyote was all alone, and they became +very indignant when Peter laughed at them. He just couldn't help it. + +"Why," said he, "every night I hear a whole crowd yelping and howling +together." + +"But you don't!" insisted the Merry Little Breezes. "It is Old Man +Coyote alone who makes all that noise." + +"Don't you suppose I know what I hear?" demanded Peter. + +"No!" retorted the Merry Little Breezes. "You may have big ears and be +able to hear a great deal, sometimes a great deal more than you have +any business to hear, but you are old enough by this time to have +learned that you cannot believe all you hear." And with that the Merry +Little Breezes indignantly raced away to spread the news all over the +Green Meadows. + +Now Peter was quite as indignant because they thought he couldn't or +shouldn't believe his own ears, as they were because he wouldn't +believe what they told him, and all the rest of that day he couldn't +put the matter out of his mind. He was still thinking of it as the +Black Shadows came creeping down from the Purple Hills across the +Green Meadows. Suddenly Peter saw a dark form skulking among the Black +Shadows. At first he thought it was Reddy Fox, only somehow it looked +bigger. Peter, safe in the dear Old Briar-patch, watched. Presently +the dark form came out from among the Black Shadows where Peter could +see it clearly, sat down, pointed a sharp nose up at the first +twinkling little stars, opened a big mouth, and out of it poured such +a yelping and howling as made Peter shiver with fright. And now Peter +had to believe his eyes rather than his ears. His ears told him that +there were many voices, but his eyes told him that all that dreadful +sound was coming out of one mouth. It was hard, very hard, to believe, +but it was so. + +"The Merry Little Breezes were right," muttered Peter to himself, as +Old Man Coyote trotted away in the direction of the Green Forest, and +he felt a wee bit ashamed to think that he had refused to believe +them. + +After that, Peter could think of nothing but Old Man Coyote's +wonderful voice that sounded like many voices, and at the very first +opportunity he hurried over to the Smiling Pool to ask Grandfather +Frog what it meant. + +"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog. "It means simply that Old Man +Coyote comes of a very smart family, and that he knows how to make the +most of the gift of Old Mother Nature to his grandfather a thousand +times removed." + +This sounded so much like a story that Peter straightway teased +Grandfather Frog to tell him all about it. At last, to get rid of him +and enjoy a little quiet and peace, Grandfather Frog did so. + +"Chug-a-rum!" he began, as he always does. "The +great-great-ever-so-great grandfather of Old Man Coyote, who lived +long, long ago when the world was young, was very much as Old Man +Coyote is to-day. He was just as smart and just as clever. Indeed, he +was smart enough and clever enough not to let his neighbors know that +he was smart and clever at all. Those were very peaceful times at +first, and everybody was on the best of terms with everybody else, as +you know. There was plenty to eat without the trouble to steal, and +everybody was honest simply because it was easier to be honest than it +was to be dishonest. So Old King Bear ruled in the Green Forest, and +everybody was happy and contented. + +"But there came a time when food was scarce, and it was no longer +easy to get plenty to eat. It was then that the stronger began to +steal from the weaker, and by and by even to prey upon those smaller +than themselves. The times grew harder and harder, and because hunger +is a hard and cruel master, it made the larger and stronger people +hard and cruel, too. Some of them it made very sly and cunning, like +old Mr. Fox. Mr. Coyote was another whom it made sly and cunning. He +was smart in the first place, even smarter than Mr. Fox, and he very +early made up his mind that if he would live, it must be by his wits, +for he wasn't big enough or strong enough to fight with his neighbors +such as his big cousin, Mr. Timber Wolf, or Mr. Lynx, or Mr. Panther +or Old King Bear, who was king no longer. And yet he liked the same +things to eat. + +"So he used to study and plan how he could outwit them without danger +to himself. 'A whole skin is better than a full stomach, but both a +whole skin and a full stomach are better still,' said he to himself; +as he thought and schemed. For a while he was content to catch what he +could without danger to himself, and to eat what his bigger and +stronger neighbors left when they happened to get more than they +wanted for themselves. Little by little he got the habit of slyly +following them when they were hunting, always keeping out of sight. In +this way, he managed to get many meals of scraps. But these scraps +never wholly satisfied him, and his mouth used to water as he watched +the others feast on the very best when they had had a successful hunt. +He knew it wouldn't be of the least use to go out and boldly ask for +some, for in those hard times everybody was very, very selfish. + +"The times grew harder and harder, until it seemed as if Old Mother +Nature had wholly forgotten her little people of the Green Meadows and +the Green Forest. Mr. Coyote still managed to pick up a living, but he +was hungry most of the time, and the less he had to put in his +stomach, the sharper his wits grew. At last one day, as he stole +soft-footed through the Green Forest, he discovered Mr. Lynx having a +great feast. To keep still and watch him was almost more than Mr. +Coyote could stand, for he was so hungry that it seemed as if the +sides of his stomach almost met, it was so empty. + +"'If I could make myself into three, we could take that dinner away +from Mr. Lynx!" thought he, and right on top of that thought came a +great idea. Why not make Mr. Lynx think he had a lot of friends with +him? It would do no harm to try. So Mr. Coyote put his nose up in the +air and howled. Mr. Lynx looked up and grinned. He had no fear of Mr. +Coyote. Then Mr. Coyote hurried around to the other side of Mr. Lynx, +all the time keeping out of sight, and howled again, and this time he +tried to make his voice sound different. Mr. Lynx stopped eating and +looked up a little surprised. 'I wonder if Mr. Coyote has got a +brother with him,' thought he. A minute later Mr. Coyote howled again +from the place where he had howled in the first place. 'He certainly +has,' thought Mr. Lynx, 'but I'm a match for two of them,' and once +more he went on eating. + +"Then Mr. Coyote began to run in a circle around Mr. Lynx, always +keeping out of sight in the thick brush, and every few steps he +yelped or howled, and each yelp or howl he tried to make sound +different. Now Mr. Coyote could run very fast, and he ran now as hard +as ever he could in a big circle, yelping and howling and making his +voice sound as different as possible each time. Mr. Lynx grew anxious +and lost his appetite. 'Mr. Coyote must have a whole crowd of +brothers,' thought he. 'I guess this is no place for me!' With that he +started to sneak away. + +"Mr. Coyote followed him, still trying to make his voice sound like +the voices of many. Mr. Lynx gave a hurried look over his shoulder and +began to run. Mr. Coyote kept after him, yelping and howling, until he +was sure that Mr. Lynx was so frightened that he wouldn't dare come +back. Then Mr. Coyote returned to the dinner Mr. Lynx had left, and +ate and ate until he couldn't hold another mouthful. His throat was +very raw and sore because he had strained it trying to make his voice +change so often, but he didn't mind this, because, you know, it felt +so good to have all he could eat at one time once more. + +"Now it just happened that Old Mother Nature had come along just in +time to see and hear Mr. Coyote, and it tickled her so to think that +Mr. Coyote had been so smart that what do you think she did? Why, +while he slept that night, she healed his sore throat, and she gave +him a new voice; and this voice was very wonderful, for it sounded for +all the world like many voices, all yelping and howling at the same +time. After that, all Mr. Coyote had to do when he wanted to frighten +some one bigger and stronger than himself was to open his mouth and +send forth his new voice, which sounded like many voices. + +"So he had plenty to eat from that time on. And all his children and +his children's children had that same wonderful voice, just as Old Man +Coyote has now. Chug-a-rum! Now scamper home, Peter Rabbit, and see +that you don't let Old Man Coyote's sharp wits get you into trouble." + +"Thank you, Grandfather Frog!" cried Peter and scampered as fast as he +could go for the dear, safe Old Briar-patch. + + + + +IX + +WHY MINER THE MOLE LIVES UNDER GROUND + + +Striped Chipmunk sat staring at a little ridge where the grass was +raised up. He had often seen little ridges like that without thinking +much about them. He knew that they were made by Miner the Mole. He had +known that ever since he was big enough to begin to ask questions. But +now as he looked at this one, it suddenly struck him that he had not +seen Miner the Mole more than once or twice in all his life. + +"What a queer way of living!" thought Striped Chipmunk. "It's all very +well to have a snug house under the ground, where one can sleep the +long cold winter away and be perfectly safe, but what any one wants to +live under the ground all the time for, in the beautiful springtime +and summertime and autumntime, I can't understand. Just think of all +that Miner misses--the sunshine, the flowers, the songs of the birds, +and the Merry Little Breezes to play with! I wonder--" + +"What do you wonder?" The voice was so close to Striped Chipmunk that +it made him jump. He whirled about. There was Johnny Chuck, who had +tiptoed up as softly as he knew how, to give Striped Chipmunk a scare. +Johnny grinned. "What do you wonder?" he repeated. + +Striped Chipmunk made a face at Johnny. "I wonder something that I bet +you don't know," he replied. + +"That's easy," replied Johnny. "There are more things I don't know +than I do know, but I'm always ready to learn. What is it this time?" + +"Why does Miner the Mole live under ground all the time?" Striped +Chipmunk pointed to the ridge made by Miner. + +Johnny Chuck scratched his head thoughtfully. + +"I don't know," he confessed finally. "I never thought of it before. +Of course there must be a reason. He never comes out to play with the +rest of us--just spends all his time by himself down in the dark, +digging and digging. I wonder--" + +"Well, what do _you_ wonder?" + +"The same thing you wonder," laughed Johnny Chuck. "If you haven't got +anything else to do, let's go down to the Smiling Pool and ask +Grandfather Frog; he'll be sure to know." + +Striped Chipmunk hadn't anything else to do, so off they started. On +the way they met Jimmy Skunk and Danny Meadow Mouse. Neither of them +knew why Miner the Mole lives under ground, and because they hadn't +anything better to do, they also started for the Smiling Pool. + +Grandfather Frog was sitting on his big green lily-pad in the warm +sunshine, and for once he didn't have to be teased for a story. + +"Chug-a-rum!" said he in his deep voice. "It's very strange to me how +little some folks know about their nearest neighbors." He looked up +and winked at jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun. + +Striped Chipmunk, Johnny Chuck, Jimmy Skunk, and Danny Meadow Mouse +looked as though they felt very foolish, as indeed they did. You see, +all their lives Miner the Mole had been one of their nearest +neighbors, and yet they didn't know the first thing about him. + +"It happened a long time ago," continued Grandfather Frog. + +"When the world was young?" interrupted Danny Meadow Mouse. + +"Of course," replied Grandfather Frog, pretending to be very much put +out at such a foolish question. Danny hung his head and resolved that +he would bite his tongue before he asked another question. + +"In those days Miner's great-great-grandfather a thousand times +removed didn't live under ground," continued Grandfather Frog. "Nobody +did. He wasn't so very different from a lot of other animals. Food was +plenty, and everybody was on the best of terms with everybody else. +Mr. Mole lived just as the rest did. He went and came as he pleased, +and enjoyed the sunshine and took part in all the good times of his +neighbors. Everybody liked him, and whenever he made a call, he was +sure of a welcome. But one thing Mr. Mole never did; he never meddled +in other people's affairs. No, Sir, Mr. Mole never poked his nose in +where he had no business. + +"For a long time everything went smoothly with all the people of the +Green Forest and the Green Meadows. Then came hard times. They grew +harder and harder. Food was scarce and kept growing more scarce. +Everybody was hungry, and you know how it is with hungry people--they +grow ugly and quarrelsome. Matters grew worse and worse, and then it +was that fear was born. The big people, like Old King Bear and Mr. +Wolf and Mr. Panther and Mr. Lynx, began to look with hungry eyes on +the little people, and the little people began to grow afraid and hide +from the big people, and all the time they were continually quarreling +among themselves and stealing from each other to get enough to eat. + +"Now, as I said before, Mr. Mole never had meddled with other people's +business, and he didn't now. He went off by himself to think things +over. 'It isn't safe to run around any more,' said he. 'I met Mr. Wolf +this morning, and he looked at me with such a hungry look in his eyes +that it gave me the cold shivers. I believe he would have eaten me, if +I hadn't crawled into an old hollow stump. Now I can't run fast, +because my legs are too short. I can't climb trees like Mr. Squirrel, +and I can't swim like Mr. Muskrat. The only thing I can do is to dig.' + +"You see, Mr. Mole always had been very fond of digging, and he had +done so much of it that his front legs and claws had grown very stout. + +"'Now if I dig a hole and keep out of sight, I won't have to worry +about Mr. Wolf or anybody else,' continued Mr. Mole to himself. So he +went to work at once and dug a hole on the Green Meadows, and, because +he wanted to be comfortable, he made a big hole. When it was finished, +he was tired, so he curled up at the bottom for a nap. He was awakened +by hearing voices outside. He knew those voices right away. They were +the voices of Mr. Fox and Mr. Badger. + +"'These are terrible times,' said Mr. Fox. 'I'm so hungry that I'm +wasting away to a shadow. I wonder who has dug this hole.' + +"'Mr. Mole,' replied Mr. Badger. 'I saw him at work here this +morning. + +Have you noticed how very plump he looks?' + +"'Yes,' replied Mr. Fox. 'He made my mouth water the very last time I +saw him. Seems to me I can smell him now. If he had made this hole +just a little bit bigger I would go down and pull him out, but I am +too tired to do any digging now.' + +"'I tell you what,' replied Mr. Badger. 'We'll hunt together a little +longer, and then if we can't find anything to eat, we'll come back, +and I'll help you dig, I hate to hurt Mr. Mole, because he always +minds his own business, but these are hard times, and each one must +look out for himself.' + +"With that they went away, leaving Mr. Mole shaking with fright at the +bottom of his hole. 'It's of no use,' thought Mr. Mole. 'If I go +outside, they will soon find me, and if I stay here, they will dig me +out. Oh, dear, oh, dear! What ever can I do?' + +"He lay there feeling very helpless and miserable, when all of a +sudden a thought came to him. If he had made his hole small, just big +enough for him to crawl into, Mr. Badger and Mr. Fox would have had to +do a great deal of digging to make it big enough for either of them to +get in! He would make a little tunnel off one side and hide in that. +So he went to work and made a little tunnel off one side just big +enough for him to squeeze into. He worked very hard and very fast, and +by the time Mr. Badger and Mr. Fox returned, Mr. Mole was at the end +of a long tunnel, so far from the hole he had first dug that he knew +it would take them a long time to dig him out, even if they noticed +his tunnel. + +"But they didn't. They dug down to the bottom of his hole and then, +because they didn't find him there, they straightway fell to +quarreling, each blaming the other for suggesting such a lot of hard +work for nothing. Finally they went away, still calling each other +names, and from that day to this, Foxes and Badgers have never been +friends. + +"Mr. Mole was very thankful for his narrow escape, and it set him to +thinking. If he had a lot of these underground tunnels, no one would +be able to catch him. It was a splendid idea! He went to work on it at +once. And then he made a discovery--such a splendid discovery! There +was plenty of food to eat right down under ground--worms and +grubs--all he needed. After that, Mr. Mole spent all his time in his +tunnels and seldom put his nose outside. He was safe, and he was +comfortable, and he could always find something to eat by digging for +it. + +"Little by little his old neighbors forgot all about him. Because he +had little use for them, his eyes grew smaller and smaller, and when +he did come up into the light, they hurt him so that he was glad to go +back into the dark again. He was perfectly happy and satisfied there, +and what is there in life better than to be happy and satisfied?" + +"Nothing," replied Striped Chipmunk, at whom Grandfather Frog happened +to be looking when he asked the question. + +"Right!" replied Grandfather Frog. "And now you know why Miner the +Mole lives under ground--because he is perfectly happy and satisfied +there." + +Just then up came Peter Rabbit, all out of breath. + +"Has Grandfather Frog been telling a story?" he panted. + +"Yes," replied Striped Chipmunk, winking at Grandfather Frog, "and now +we are going back home perfectly happy and satisfied." + +And to this day Peter Rabbit wonders what the story was that he +missed. + + + + +X + +WHY MR. SNAKE CANNOT WINK + + +Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck were playing tag on the Green Meadows. +Of course Peter can run so much faster than Johnny Chuck that he would +never have been "it" if he had tried his best to keep out of the way. +But he didn't. No, Sir, Peter Rabbit didn't do anything of the kind. +He pretended that one of his long hind-legs was lame so that he had to +run on three legs, while Johnny Chuck could use all four. It was great +fun. They raced and dodged and twisted and turned. Sometimes Peter was +so excited that he would forget and use all four legs. Then Johnny +Chuck would shout "No fair!" Peter would say that he didn't mean to, +and to make up for it would be "it" and try to catch Johnny. + +Now it happened that curled up on a little grassy tussock, taking an +early morning sun-bath, lay little Mr. Greensnake. Of course Peter +Rabbit and Johnny Chuck were not afraid of him. If it had been Mr. +Rattlesnake or Mr. Gophersnake, it would have been different. But from +little Mr. Greensnake there was nothing to fear, and sometimes, just +for fun, Peter would jump right over him. When he did that, Peter +always winked good-naturedly. But Mr. Greensnake never winked back. +Instead he would raise his head, run his tongue out at Peter, and hiss +in what he tried to make a very fierce and angry manner. Then Peter +would laugh and wink at him again. But never once did Mr. Greensnake +wink back. + +[Illustration: He would make no reply, save to run out his tongue at +them.] + +Peter was thinking of this as he and Johnny Chuck stretched out in a +sunny spot to get their breath and rest. He had never thought of it +before, but now that he had noticed it, he couldn't remember that he +ever had seen little Mr. Greensnake wink, nor any of Mr. Greensnake's +relatives. He mentioned the matter to Johnny Chuck. + +"That's so," replied Johnny thoughtfully. "I never have seen any of +them wink, either. Do you suppose they can wink?" + +"Let's go ask Mr. Greensnake," said Peter. + +Up they hopped and raced over to the grassy tussock where Mr. +Greensnake lay, but to all their questions he would make no reply save +to run out his tongue at them. Finally they gave up asking him. + +"I tell you what, let's go over to the Smiling Pool and ask +Grandfather Frog. He'll be sure to know, and perhaps, if he is feeling +good, he'll tell us a story," said Peter. + +So off they scampered to the Smiling Pool. There they found +Grandfather Frog sitting on his big green lily-pad just as usual, and +Peter knew by the look in his great, goggly eyes that Grandfather Frog +had a good breakfast of foolish green flies tucked away inside his +white and yellow waistcoat. His eyes twinkled as Peter and Johnny very +politely wished him good morning. + +"Good morning," said he gruffly. + +But Peter had seen that twinkle in his eyes and knew that Grandfather +Frog was feeling good-natured in spite of his gruff greeting. + +"If you please, Grandfather Frog, why doesn't Mr. Greensnake wink at +us when we wink at him?" he asked. + +"Chug-a-rum! Because he can't," replied Grandfather Frog. + +"Can't!" cried Peter Rabbit and Johnny Chuck together. + +"That's what I said--can't," replied Grandfather Frog. "And no more +can Mr. Blacksnake, or Mr. Rattlesnake, or Mr. Gophersnake, or any +other member of the Snake family." + +"Why not?" cried Peter and Johnny, all in the same breath. + +"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog, folding his hands across his +white and yellow waistcoat, "if you will sit still until I finish, +I'll tell you; but if you move or ask any foolish questions, I'll stop +right where I am, and you'll never hear the end of the story, for no +one else knows it." + +Of course Peter and Johnny promised to sit perfectly still and not say +a word. After they had made themselves comfortable, Grandfather Frog +cleared his throat as if to begin, but for a long time he didn't say a +word. Once Peter opened his mouth to ask why, but remembered in time +and closed it again without making a sound. + +At last Grandfather Frog cleared his throat once more, and with a +far-away look in his great, goggly eyes began: + +"Once upon a time, long, long ago, when the world was young, lived old +Mr. Snake, the grandfather a thousand times removed of little Mr. +Greensnake and all the other Snakes whom you know. Of course he wasn't +old then. He was young and spry and smart, was Mr. Snake. Now there is +such a thing as being too smart. That was the trouble with Mr. Snake. +Yes, Sir, that was the trouble with Mr. Snake. He was so smart that he +soon found out that he was the smartest of all the meadow and forest +people, and that was a bad thing. It certainly was a very bad thing." +Grandfather Frog shook his head gravely. + +"You see," he continued, "as soon as he found that out, he began to +take advantage of his neighbors and cheat them, but he would do it so +smoothly that they never once suspected that they were being cheated. +Mr. Snake would go about all day cheating everybody he met. At night +he would go home and chuckle over his smartness. It wasn't long before +he began to look down on his neighbors for being so honest that they +didn't suspect other people of being dishonest, and for being so +easily cheated. + +"Now one bad habit almost always leads to another. From cheating, Mr. +Snake just naturally slipped to stealing. Yes, Sir, he became a thief. +Of course that made trouble right away, but still no one suspected +Mr. Snake. He was always very polite to every one and always offering +to do favors for his neighbors. In fact, Mr. Snake was very well liked +and much respected. When any one had been robbed, he was always the +first to offer sympathy and join in the hunt for the thief. He was so +spry and slim, and could slip through the tall grass so fast, that he +could go almost where he pleased without being seen, and this made him +very bold. If he did happen to be found near the scene of trouble, he +always had a story ready to account for his presence, and it sounded +so true, and he told it in such an honest manner, that no one thought +of doubting it. + +"So Mr. Snake found that lying helped him to cheat and steal, and all +the time he kept thinking how smart he was. But even Mr. Snake had a +little bit of conscience, and once in a while it would trouble him. So +what do you think he did? Why, cheating had become such a habit with +him that he actually tried to cheat himself--to cheat his conscience! +When he was telling a lie, he would wink one eye. 'That,' said he to +himself, 'means that it isn't true, and if these folks are not smart +enough to see me wink and know what it means, it is their own fault if +they believe what I am telling them.' But always he took care to wink +the eye that was turned away from the one he was talking to. + +"Dear me, dear me, such terrible times as there were on the Green +Meadows and in the Green Forest! They grew worse and worse, and when +at last Old Mother Nature came to see how all the little people were +getting along, she heard so many complaints that she hardly knew +where to begin to straighten matters out. She had all the little +people come before her in turn and tell their troubles. When it came +Mr. Snake's turn, he had no complaint to make. He seemed to be the +only one who had no troubles. She asked him a great many questions, +and for each one he had a ready reply. Of course a great many of these +replies were lies, and every time he told one of these, he winked +without knowing it. You see, it had become a habit. + +"Now, with all his smartness, Mr. Snake had forgotten one thing, one +very important thing. It was this: You can't fool Old Mother Nature, +and it is of no use to try. He hadn't been talking three minutes +before she knew who was at the bottom of all the trouble. She let him +finish, then called all the others about her and told them who had +made all the trouble. Mr. Snake was very bold. He held his head very +high in the air and pretended not to care. When Old Mother Nature +turned her head, he even ran out his tongue at her, just as all the +Snake family do at you and me to-day. When she had finished telling +them how cheating and stealing and lying isn't smart at all, but very, +very dreadful, she turned to Mr. Snake and said: + +"'From this time on, no one will believe anything you say, and you +shall have no friends. You will never wink again, for you and your +children and your children's children forever will have no eyelids, +that all the world may know that those who make a wrong use of the +things given them shall have them taken away.' + +"And now you know why little Mr. Greensnake cannot wink at you; he +hasn't any eyelids to wink with" finished Grandfather Frog. + +Peter Rabbit drew a long breath. "Thank you, oh, thank you ever so +much, Grandfather Frog," he said. "Will you tell us next time why +Bobby Coon wears rings on his tail?" + +"Perhaps," replied Grandfather Frog. + + + + +XI + +WHY BOBBY COON HAS RINGS ON HIS TAIL + + +Peter Rabbit would give Grandfather Frog no peace. Every day Peter +visited the Smiling Pool to tease Grandfather Frog for a story--for +one particular story. He wanted to know why it is that Bobby Coon +wears rings on his tail. You see, Peter had admired Bobby Coon's tail +for a long time. Peter has such a funny little tail himself, just a +little white bunch of cotton, that such a handsome tail as Bobby +Coon's sometimes stirs just a wee bit of envy in Peter's heart. + +But it wasn't envy so much as curiosity that prompted Peter to tease +for that story. Bobby Coon's tail is very handsome, you know. It has +beautiful rings of black and gray, and Peter didn't know of any other +tail at all like it. Somehow, he felt right down deep in his heart +that there must be a reason for those rings, just as there is a reason +for his own long ears and long legs. The more he thought about it, the +more he felt that he simply must know, and the only way he could find +out was from Grandfather Frog, who is very old and very wise. So he +teased and he teased until finally Grandfather Frog promised him that +on the next afternoon he would tell Peter why Bobby Coon has rings on +his tail. Peter hurried away to tell all the little meadow and forest +people, and the next afternoon they were all on hand on the bank of +the Smiling Pool to hear the story about Bobby Coon's tail. + +"Chug-a-rum!" began Grandfather Frog, smoothing down his white and +yellow waistcoat. "Chug-a-rum! Some folks seem to think that what they +do doesn't matter to anybody but themselves. That was the way with old +Mr. Rabbit, who lived a long time ago when the world was young. He +thought he could make all the trouble he pleased by his dreadful +curiosity, and if he was found out, no one would suffer but himself. +But it wasn't so. Here is Peter Rabbit, his grandchild a thousand +times removed, with long legs and long ears, and the bad habit of +curiosity, all because old Mr. Rabbit had a bad habit and didn't try +to overcome it. + +"It was the same way with old Mr. Coon. He was dishonest and stole +from Old King Bear. Old Mother Nature punished him by putting mustard +in his food, and Mr. Coon thought he was so smart that he could get +ahead of Old Mother Nature by washing all his food before he ate it. +Old Mother Nature didn't say anything, but watched him and smiled to +herself. You see, she knew that Mr. Coon was beginning a good habit, a +very good habit indeed--the habit of neatness. So, though she knew +perfectly well that he was doing it just to get ahead of her, she was +glad, for she was fond of Mr. Coon in spite of the bad ways he had +grown into, and she knew that good habits are like bad habits--once +started they grow and grow, and are very likely to lead to more good +habits. + +"It was so with Mr. Coon. He found that his food tasted better for +being so clean, and he grew very fussy about what he ate. No matter +where he found it or how tempting it looked, he wouldn't eat it until +he had carried it to the nearest water and washed it. He still +remembered the mustard and tried to fool himself into thinking that +he was simply spiting Old Mother Nature, but right down in his heart +he knew that even if he should be told that never again would there be +mustard in his food, he would wash it just the same. + +"One day, as he sat beside the Laughing Brook eating his supper, he +noticed that while his food had been washed clean, his hands were +dirty. They spoiled his supper. Yes, Sir, they spoiled his supper. + +"'What good does it do to wash my food, if I eat it out of dirty +hands?' said Mr. Coon to himself, and he hurried to a quiet little +pool to give them a good scrubbing. Then he washed his face and +brushed his coat. 'Now I feel better, and I know my supper will taste +better,' said he. + +"From that time he began to be particular, very particular, about +keeping himself clean, until finally there was no one on the Green +Meadows or in the Green Forest quite so neat as Mr. Coon. + +"Now at this time Mr. Coon had a very plain tail. It was all of one +color, a grayish white, not at all pretty. Mr. Coon used to think a +great deal about that tail and wish and wish that it was handsome. +Sometimes he used to envy Mr. Fox his beautiful red tail with its +black and white tip. One day, as he sat on an old log with his chin in +his hands, thinking about his tail, who should come along but Old +Mother Nature. + +"'Good morning, Mr. Coon,' said she in her pleasantest voice. + +"Mr. Coon got up and made a very low bow. 'Good morning, Mother +Nature,' he replied in his politest manner, which was very polite +indeed. + +"'What were you thinking about so hard?' asked Old Mother Nature. + +"Mr. Coon looked a little bit ashamed. Then he sighed. 'I was wishing +that my tail was handsomer,' said he. 'But it is a very good tail as +it is,' he added hastily. + +"Old Mother Nature's eyes twinkled. She sat down beside Mr. Coon and +asked him all about his affairs, just as if she didn't know all about +them already. She told him how pleased she was to find him so neat and +clean, and Mr. Coon just tingled all over with pleasure. At last she +got up to go, and her eyes twinkled more than ever, as she said: + +"'By the way, Mr. Coon, I am so pleased with your neatness that I am +leaving you a reward. I hope you will like it.' + +"Mr. Coon didn't see any reward, but he thanked her just the same, and +Old Mother Nature went on her way. Mr. Coon watched her out of sight. +Then he sat down on the old log again and scratched his head +thoughtfully as he looked this way and that. + +"'I wonder what she meant by reward. I don't see any anywhere,' he +said to himself. + +"By and by he just happened to glance at his tail. 'Oh!' cried Mr. +Coon, and then for a long time he couldn't say another word, but just +looked and looked with shining eyes and such a queer feeling of +happiness in his heart. You see, Old Mother Nature had left a +beautiful, broad, black ring around his tail. Mr. Coon couldn't do +anything the rest of that day but look at and admire that ring, until +his neck ached from twisting it around so long. + +"After that he was neater than ever, you may be sure, and the next +time Old Mother Nature came around, she left another handsome black +ring on his tail, because he hadn't grown careless, but had kept up +his good habits. + +"Now about this time, hard times came to all the little people of the +Green Forest and the Green Meadows. Every one began to grumble. Mr. +Bear grumbled. Mr. Fox grumbled. Mr. Rabbit grumbled. Mr. Jay +grumbled. Mr. Squirrel grumbled. Even Mr. Chuck grumbled. And one and +all they began to blame Old Mother Nature. Then they began to quarrel +among themselves and to steal from each other. Some even left their +homes and went out into the Great World to try to find a better place +to live, only to find that the Great World was a harder place to live +in than the Green Forest and the Green Meadows. + +"But Mr. Coon didn't grumble, and he didn't go away. No, Sir, Mr. Coon +just stuck to his home and did the best he could to find enough to +eat. He kept himself as neat as ever and was always cheerful. Whenever +he met one of his grumbling neighbors, he would say: + +"'Better times coming! Better times coming! Old Mother Nature is doing +the best she can. Better times coming!' + +"The others would laugh at him for his faith in Old Mother Nature, and +say ugly things about her, and urge Mr. Coon to go with them out into +the Great World. But he kept right on minding his own business and +keeping neat and cheerful, until at last Old Mother Nature, all +worried and troubled, came to see what she could do to straighten +matters out. It didn't take her long to find out how all the little +meadow and forest people, except Mr. Coon, had grumbled and been +discontented and said ugly things about her, for you can't fool Old +Mother Nature, and it's of no use to try. Some she punished one way, +and some she punished another way, for of course she hadn't been to +blame for the hard times, but had been working night and day to put an +end to them. + +"Mr. Coon was the last to be called before her, and instead of being +frowning and cross, as she had been to the others, she was all smiles. +She said a lot of nice things to him, and when at last she sent him +away, what do you think she had given him?" + +"More rings," cried Peter Rabbit. + +"Yes," replied Grandfather Frog, "Mr. Coon's tail was ringed way to +the tip. There was one for cheerfulness, and one for faith, and one +for persistence in making the best of a bad matter and staying at +home. And ever since that long-ago day when the world was young, the +Coons have been very proud of their beautiful tails and have kept up +the good habits of old Mr. Coon. Now you know, Peter Rabbit, why +Bobby Coon wears rings on his tail," concluded Grandfather Frog. + +Peter gave a long sigh. "I think it's perfectly beautiful," he said. +"I wish I had rings on my tail." + +And then he wondered why everybody laughed. + + + + +XII + +WHY THERE IS A BLACK HEAD IN THE BUZZARD FAMILY + + +Ol' Mistah Buzzard had just told the story of why he has a bald head +and is proud of it. You know he hasn't a feather on it, and it is +very, very red. It was a very interesting story, and it had been +listened to with the closest attention by a lot of the little meadow +and forest people. Unc' Billy Possum, who is Ol' Mistah Buzzard's +particular friend, both having come from "way down souf," happened +along just in time to hear the end of it. + +"May Ah ask yo' a question, Brer Buzzard?" said he. + +"Cert'nly, Brer Possum. Cert'nly," replied Ol' Mistah Buzzard. + +"Is Buzzard really your fam'ly name?" asked Unc' Billy. + +"No, Brer Possum, it isn't," replied Ol' Mistah Buzzard. Everybody +looked surprised. You see, no one ever had heard him called anything +but Buzzard. But no one said anything, and after a minute or two Ol' +Mistah Buzzard explained. + +"Mah fam'ly name is Vulture," said he. "Yes, Sah, mah fam'ly name is +Vulture, but we-uns done been called Buzzards so long, that Ah don' +know as Ah would know Ah was being spoken to, if Ah was called Mistah +Vulture." + +"An' do Ah understand that all of your fam'ly have red haids?" +inquired Unc' Billy. + +Ol' Mistah Buzzard looked down at Unc' Billy, and he saw a twinkle in +Unc' Billy's shrewd little eyes. Ol' Mistah Buzzard grinned. + +"Ah knows jes' what yo' done got in your mind, Brer Possum," said he. +"It's that trifling, no 'count cousin of mine. He's a Buzzard, or a +Vulture, if yo' like that better, jes' like Ah am, but he belongs to +another branch of the fam'ly. He has a bald haid, jes' like Ah have, +but his haid is black instead of red. That's because his grandpap was +trifling an' po' trash, jes' like he is." + +Peter Rabbit pricked up his ears. This sounded like another story. He +was curious about that black-headed cousin of Ol' Mistah Buzzard, very +curious indeed. He wondered if Ol' Mistah Buzzard would have to be +teased for a story, like Grandfather Frog. Anyway, he would find out. +There would be no harm in trying. + +"If you please, how does your cousin happen to have a black head?" +asked Peter as politely as he knew how. + +"Because his grandpap asked too many questions," replied Ol' Mistah +Buzzard, slyly winking at the others. + +Everybody laughed, for everybody knows that no one asks more questions +than Peter Rabbit. Peter laughed with the rest, although he looked a +wee bit foolish. But he didn't mean to give up just because he was +laughed at. Oh, my, no! + +"Please, Mr. Buzzard, please tell us the story," he begged. + +Now Ol' Mistah Buzzard is naturally good-natured and accommodating, +and when Peter begged so hard, he just couldn't find it in his heart +to refuse. Besides, he rather enjoys telling stories. So he shook his +feathers out, half spread his wings to let the air blow under them, +looked down at all the little meadow and forest people gathered about +the foot of the tall, dead tree where he delights to roost, grinned +at them in the funniest way, and then began this story: + +"Way back in the days when Grandpap Buzzard had his lil falling out +with ol' King Eagle and done fly so high he sco'tch the feathers offen +his haid, he had a cousin, did Grandpap Buzzard, and this cousin was +jes' naturally lazy and no 'count. Like most no 'count people, he used +to make a regular nuisance of hisself, poking his nose into ev'ybody's +business and never 'tending to his own. Wasn't anything going on that +this trifling member of the Buzzard fam'ly didn't find out about and +meddle in. He could ask mo' questions than Peter Rabbit can, an' +anybody that can do that has got to ask a lot." + +Everybody looked at Peter and laughed. Peter made a funny face and +laughed too. + +"Seemed like he jes' went 'round from mo'ning to night asking +questions," continued Ol' Mistah Buzzard, "Got so that eve'ybody +dreaded to see that no 'count Buzzard coming, because he bound to +pester with questions about things what don't concern him no ways. + +"Now yo' know that way down in Ol' Virginny where Ah done come from, +mah fam'ly done got the habit of sitting on the tops of chimneys in +the wintertime to warm their toes." + +"Why, I thought it was warm down south!" interrupted Peter Rabbit. + +"So it is, Brer Rabbit! So it is!" Ol' Mistah Buzzard hastened to say. +"But yo' see, ol' Jack Frost try to come down there sometimes, an' he +cool the air off a right smart lot before he turn tail an' run back +where he belong. So we-uns sit on the chimney-tops whenever ol' Jack +Frost gets to straying down where he have no business. Yo' see, if +we-uns keep our toes warm, we-uns are warm all over. + +"One day this no 'count, trifling cousin of Grandpap Buzzard get cold +in his feet. He look 'round right smart fo' a chimney fo' to warm his +toes, an' pretty soon he see one where he never been before. It was on +a lil ol' house, a lil ol' tumble-down house. Mistah Buzzard fly right +over an' sit on that chimney-top fo' to warm his toes. Of course he +right smart curious about that lil ol' tumble-down house and who live +there. He hear somebody inside talking to theirself, but he can't hear +what they say, jes' a mumbling sound that come up the chimney to him. + +"He listen an' listen. Then he shift 'round to the other side of the +chimney an' listen. No matter where he sit, he can't hear what being +said down inside that lil ol' tumble-down house. Then what do yo' +think Mistah Buzzard do? Why, he jes' stretch his fool haid as far +down that chimney as he can an' listen an' listen. Yes, Sah, that is +jes' what that no 'count Buzzard do. But all he hear is jes' a +mumbling and a mumbling, an' that make him more curious than ever. It +seem to him that he must go clean outen his haid 'less he hear what +going on down inside that lil ol' house. + +"Now when he stretch his haid an' neck down the chimney that way, he +get 'em all black with soot. But he don't mind that. No, Sah, he don' +mind that a bit. Fact is, he don' notice it. He so curious he don' +notice anything, an' pretty soon he plumb fo'get where he is an' that +he is listening where he have no business. He plumb fo'get all about +this, an' he holler down that chimney. Yes, Sah, he holler right down +that chimney! + +"'Will yo'-alls please speak a lil louder,' he holler down the +chimney, jes' like that. + +"Now the lil ol' woman what lived by herself in that lil ol' +tumble-down house hadn't seen that no 'count Buzzard light on the +chimney fo' to warm his toes, an' when she hear that voice coming +right outen the fireplace, she was some flustrated and scared, was +that lil ol' woman. Yes, Sah, she sho'ly was plumb scared. She so +scared she tip over a whole kettleful of soup right in the fire. Of +course that make a terrible mess an' a powerful lot of smoke an' hot +ashes fly up the chimney. They like to choke that no 'count Buzzard to +death. They burn the feathers offen his haid an' neck, an' the soot +make him black, all but his feet an' laigs an' the inside of his +wings, which he keep closed. + +"Mistah Buzzard he give a mighty squawk an' fly away. When he get +home, he try an' try to brush that soot off, but it done get into the +skin an' it stay there. An' from that day his haid an' neck stay +black, an' he never speak lessen he spoken to, an' then he only grunt. +His chillen jes' like him, an' his chillen's chillen the same way. An' +that is the reason that mah cousin who lives down souf done have a +black haid," concluded Ol' Mistah Buzzard. + +A little sigh of satisfaction went around the circle of listeners. As +usual, Peter Rabbit was the first to speak. + +"That was a splendid story, Mr. Buzzard," said he, "and I'm ever and +ever so much obliged to you. It was just as good as one of Grandfather +Frog's." + +Ol' Mistah Buzzard grinned and slowly winked one eye at Unc' Billy +Possum as he replied: "Thank yo', Brer Rabbit. That's quite the +nicest thing yo' could say." + +"But it's true!" shouted all together, and then everybody gave three +cheers for Ol' Mistah Buzzard before starting off to attend to their +own private affairs. + + + + +XIII + +WHY BUSTER BEAR APPEARS TO HAVE NO TAIL + + +Peter Rabbit had something new to bother his bump of curiosity. And it +did bother it a lot. He had just seen Buster Bear for the first time, +and what do you think had impressed him most? Well, it wasn't Buster's +great size, or wonderful strength, or big claws, or deep, +grumbly-rumbly voice. No, Sir, it wasn't one of these. It was the fact +that Buster Bear seemed to have no tail! Peter couldn't get over that. +He almost pitied Buster Bear. You see, Peter has a great admiration +for fine tails. He has always been rather ashamed of the funny little +one he has himself. Still, it is a real tail, and he has often +comforted himself with that thought. + +So the first thing Peter did when he saw Buster Bear was to look to +see what kind of a tail he had. Just imagine how surprised he was when +he couldn't make sure that Buster had any tail at all. There was +something that might, just might, be meant for a tail, and Peter +wasn't even sure of that. If it was, it was so ridiculously small that +Peter felt that he had no reason to be ashamed of his own tail. + +He was still thinking about this when he started for home. Half way +there, he paused, saw that the way to the Smiling Pool was clear, and +suddenly made up his mind to ask Grandfather Frog about Buster Bear's +tail. Off he started, lipperty-lipperty-lip. + +"Oh, Grandfather Frog," he panted, as soon as he reached the edge of +the Smiling Pool, "has Buster Bear got a tail?" + +Grandfather Frog regarded Peter in silence for a minute or two. + +Then very slowly he asked: "What are your eyes for, Peter Rabbit? +Couldn't you see whether or not he has a tail?" + +"No, Grandfather Frog. I really couldn't tell whether he has a tail or +not," replied Peter quite truthfully. "At first I thought he hadn't, +and then I thought he might have. If he has, it doesn't seem to me +that it is enough to call a really truly tail." + +"Well, it is a really truly tail, even if you don't think so," +retorted Grandfather Frog, "and he has it for a reminder." + +"A reminder!" exclaimed Peter, looking very much puzzled. "A reminder +of what?" + +Grandfather Frog cleared his throat two or three times. "Sit down, +Peter, and learn a lesson from the tale of the tail of Old King Bear," +said he very seriously. + +"You remember that once upon a time, long ago, when the world was +young, Old King Bear ruled in the Green Forest, and everybody brought +tribute to him." + +Peter nodded and Grandfather Frog went on. + +"Now Old King Bear was the great-great-ever-so-great grandfather of +Buster Bear, and he looked very much as Buster does, except that he +didn't have any tail at all, not the least sign of a tail. At first, +before he was made king of the Green Forest, he didn't mind this at +all. In fact, he was rather pleased that he didn't have a tail. You +see, he couldn't think of any earthly use he would have for a tail, +and so he was glad that he hadn't got one to bother with. + +"This was just Old Mother Nature's view of the matter. She had done +her very best to give everybody everything that they really needed, +and not to give them things which they didn't need. She couldn't see +that Mr. Bear had the least need of a tail, and so she hadn't given +him one. Mr. Bear was perfectly happy without one, and was so busy +getting enough to eat that he didn't have time for silly thoughts or +vain wishes. + +"Then he was made king over all the people of the Green Forest, and +his word was law. It was a very great honor, and for a while he felt +it so and did his best to rule wisely. He went about just as before, +hunting for his living, and had no more time than before for foolish +thoughts or vain wishes. But after a little, the little people over +whom he ruled began to bring him tribute, so that he no longer had to +hunt for enough to eat. Indeed, he had so much brought to him, that he +couldn't begin to eat all of it, and he grew very dainty and fussy +about what he did eat. Having nothing to do but eat and sleep, he grew +very fat and lazy, as is the case with most people who have nothing to +do. He grew so fat that when he walked, he puffed and wheezed. He grew +so lazy that he wanted to be waited on all the time. + +"It happened about this time that he overheard Mr. Fox talking to Mr. +Wolf when they both thought him asleep. 'A pretty kind of a king, he +is!' sneered Mr. Fox. 'The idea of a king without a tail!' + +"'That's so,' assented Mr. Wolf. 'Why, even that little upstart, Mr. +Rabbit, has got a make-believe tail.'" + +Grandfather Frog's eyes twinkled as he said this, and Peter looked +very much embarrassed. But he didn't say anything, so Grandfather Frog +went on. + +"Old King Bear pretended to wake up just then, and right away Mr. Fox +and Mr. Wolf were as polite and smiling as you please and began to +flatter him. They told him how proud they were of their king, and how +handsome he was, and a lot of other nice things, all of which he had +heard often before and had believed. He pretended to believe them now, +but after they were through paying their respects and had gone away, +he kept turning over and over in his mind what he had overheard them +say when they thought he was asleep. + +"After that he couldn't think of anything but the fact that he hadn't +any tail. He took particular notice of all who came to pay him +tribute, and he saw that every one of them had a tail. Some had long +tails; some had short tails; some had handsome tails and some had +homely tails; but everybody had a tail of some kind. The more he tried +not to think of these tails, the more he did think of them. The more +he thought of them, the more discontented he grew because he had none. +He didn't stop to think that probably all of them had use for their +tails. No, Sir, he didn't think of that. Everybody else had a tail, +and he hadn't. He felt that it was a disgrace that he, the king, +should have no tail. He brooded over it so much that he lost his +appetite and grew cross and peevish. + +"Then along came Old Mother Nature to see how things were going in the +Green Forest. Of course she saw right away that something was wrong +with Old King Bear. When she asked him what the matter was, he was +ashamed to tell her at first. But after a little he told her that he +wanted a tail; that he could never again be happy unless he had a +tail. She told him that he hadn't the least use in the world for a +tail, and that he wouldn't be any happier if he had one. Nothing that +she could say made any difference--he wanted a tail. Finally she gave +him one. + +"For a few days Old King Bear was perfectly happy. He spent all his +spare time admiring his new tail. He called the attention of all his +subjects to it, and they all told him that it was a very wonderful +tail and was very becoming to him. But it wasn't long before he found +that his new tail was very much in the way. It bothered him when he +walked. It was in the way when he sat down. It was a nuisance when he +climbed a tree. He didn't have a single use for it, and yet he had to +carry it with him wherever he went. Worse still, he overheard little +Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Possum making fun of it. And then he discovered +that the very ones who admired his tail so to his face were laughing +at him and poking fun at him behind his back. + +"And then Old King Bear wished that he _hadn't_ a tail more than ever +he wished that he _did_ have a tail. Again he lost his appetite and +grew cross and peevish, so that no one dared come near him. So matters +went from bad to worse, until once more Old Mother Nature visited the +Green Forest to see how things were. Very humbly Old King Bear went +down on his knees and begged her to take away his tail. At first Old +Mother Nature refused, but he begged so hard and promised so +faithfully never again to be discontented, that finally she relented +and took away his tail, all but just a wee little bit. That she left +as a reminder lest he should forget the lesson he had learned and +should again grow envious. + +[Illustration: "Then Old King Bear wished that he hadn't a tail."] + +"And every bear since that long-ago day has carried about with him a +reminder--you can hardly call it a real tail--of the silly, foolish +discontent of Old King Bear," concluded Grandfather Frog. + +Peter Rabbit scratched one long ear thoughtfully as he replied: "Thank +you, Grandfather Frog. I think that hereafter I will be quite content +with what I've got and never want things it is not meant that I should +have." + + + + +XIV + +WHY FLITTER THE BAT FLIES AT NIGHT + + +[Illustration: "It must be fine to fly," thought Peter. "I wish I could +fly."] + +Flitter the Bat made Peter Rabbit's head dizzy. Peter couldn't help +watching him. He just had to. It seemed so wonderful that Flitter +could really fly, that whenever he saw him, Peter had to stop and +watch. And then, as he saw Flitter twist and turn, fly high, fly low, +and go round and round, Peter's head would begin to swim and grow +dizzy, and he wondered and wondered how it was that Flitter himself +didn't grow dizzy. + +"It must be fine to fly," thought Peter. "I wish I could fly. If I +could, I wouldn't spend all my time flying around the way Flitter +does. I'd go on long journeys and see the Great World. I'd fly way, +way up in the blue, blue sky, the way Ol' Mistah Buzzard does, where I +could look down and see all that is going on in the Green Forest and +on the Green Meadows. And I'd fly in the daytime, because there is +more going on then. I wonder, now, why it is that Flitter never comes +out until after jolly, round, red Mr. Sun has gone to bed behind the +Purple Hills. I never see him in the daytime, and I don't even know +where he keeps himself. I never thought of it before, but I wonder why +it is that he flies only at night. I believe I'll ask Grandfather Frog +the very next time I see him." + +Now you know that once Peter Rabbit's curiosity is aroused, it just +has to be satisfied. No sooner did he begin to wonder about Flitter +the Bat than he could think of nothing else. So he watched until the +way was clear, and then he started for the Smiling Pool as fast as he +could go, lipperty-lipperty-lip. He hoped he would find Grandfather +Frog sitting as usual on his big green lily-pad, and that he would be +good-natured. If he wasn't feeling good-natured, it would be of no use +to ask him for a story. + +When Peter reached the Smiling Pool he was disappointed, terribly +disappointed. The big green lily-pad was there, but there was no one +sitting on it. Somehow the Smiling Pool didn't seem quite like itself +without Grandfather Frog sitting there watching for foolish green +flies. Peter's face showed just how disappointed he felt. He was just +going to turn away when a great, deep voice said: + +"Chug-a-rum! Where are your manners, Peter Rabbit, that you forget to +speak to your elders?" + +Peter stared eagerly into the Smiling Pool, and presently he saw two +great, goggly eyes and the top of a green head, way out almost in the +middle of the Smiling Pool. It was Grandfather Frog himself, having +his morning swim. + +"Oh, Grandfather Frog, I didn't see you at all!" cried Peter, "If I +had, of course I would have spoken. The fact is, I--I--" + +"You want a story," finished Grandfather Frog for him. "You can't fool +me, Peter Rabbit. You came over here just to ask me for a story. I +know you, Peter! I know you! Well, what is it this time?" + +"If you please," replied Peter politely and happily, for he saw that +Grandfather Frog was feeling good-natured, "why is it that Flitter +the Bat flies only at night?" + +Grandfather Frog climbed out on his big green lily-pad and made +himself comfortable. Peter sat still and tried not to show how +impatient he felt. Grandfather Frog took his time. It tickled him to +see how hard impatient Peter was trying to be patient, and his big, +goggly eyes twinkled. + +"Chug-a-rum!" said he at last, with a suddenness that made Peter jump. +"That's very good, Peter, very good indeed! Now I'll tell you the +story." + +Of course he meant that Peter's effort to keep still was very good, +but Peter didn't know this, and he couldn't imagine what Grandfather +Frog meant. However, what he cared most about was the story, so he +settled himself to listen, his long ears standing straight up, and his +eyes stretched wide open as he watched Grandfather Frog. The latter +cleared his throat two or three times, each time as if he intended to +begin right then. It was one of Grandfather Frog's little jokes. He +did it just to tease Peter. At last he really did begin, and the very +first thing he did was to ask Peter a question. + +"What is the reason that you stay in the dear Old Briar-patch when +Reddy Fox is around?" + +"So that he won't catch me, of course," replied Peter. + +"Very good," said Grandfather Frog. "Now, why do you go over to the +sweet-clover patch every day?" + +"Why, because there is plenty to eat there," replied Peter, looking +very, very much puzzled. + +"Well, now you've answered your own question," grunted Grandfather +Frog. "Flitter flies at night because he is safest then, and because +he can find plenty to eat." + +"Oh," said Peter, and his voice sounded dreadfully disappointed. He +had found out what he had wanted to know, but he hadn't had a story. +He fidgeted about and looked very hard at Grandfather Frog, but the +latter seemed to think that he had told Peter what he wanted to know, +and that was all there was to it. Finally Peter sighed, and it was +such a heavy sigh! Then very slowly he turned his back on the Smiling +Pool and started to hop away. + +"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog in his deepest, story-telling +voice. "A long time ago when the world was young, the +great-great-ever-so-great grandfather of Flitter the Bat first learned +to fly." + +"I know!" cried Peter eagerly. "You told me about that, and it was a +splendid story." + +"But when he learned to fly, he found that Old Mother Nature never +gives all her blessings to any single one of her little people," +continued Grandfather Frog, without paying the least attention to +Peter's interruption. "Old Mr. Bat had wings; something no other +animal had, but he found that he could no longer run and jump. He +could just flop about on the ground, and was almost helpless. Of +course that meant that he could very easily be caught, and so the +ground was no longer a safe place for him. But he soon found that he +was not safe in the air in daytime. Old Mr. Hawk could fly even faster +than he, and Mr. Hawk was always watching for him. At first, Mr. Bat +didn't know what to do. He didn't like to go to Old Mother Nature and +complain that his new wings were not all that he had thought they +would be. That would look as if he were ungrateful for her kindness +in giving him the wings. + +"'I've got to think of some way out of my troubles myself,' thought +old Mr. Bat. 'When I'm sure that I can't, it will be time enough to go +to Old Mother Nature.' + +"Now of course it is very hard to think when you are twisting and +dodging and turning in the air." + +"Of course!" said Peter Rabbit, just as if he knew all about it. + +"So Mr. Bat went looking for a place where he could be quiet all by +himself and think without danger of being gobbled up for some one's +dinner," continued Grandfather Frog. "He flew and he flew and had +almost given up hope of finding any such place when he saw a cave. It +looked very black inside, but it was big enough for Mr. Bat to fly +into, and in he went. He knew that Mr. Hawk would never come in +there, and when he found a little shelf up near the roof, he knew that +he was safe from any four-footed enemies who might follow him there. +It was just the place to rest and think. So he rested, and while he +rested, he thought and thought. + +"By and by he noticed that it was growing dark outside. 'My goodness! +If I am going to get anything to eat to-day, I shall have to hurry,' +thought he. When he got outside, he found that Mr. Sun had gone to +bed. So had all the birds, except Mr. Owl and Mr. Nighthawk. Now Mr. +Nighthawk doesn't belong to the Hawk family at all, so there was +nothing to fear from him. Then Mr. Bat had a very pleasant surprise. +He found the air full of insects, ever so many more than in the +daytime. By being very smart and quick he caught a few before it was +too dark for him to see. They didn't fill his stomach, but they kept +him from starving. As he flew back to the cave, a great idea came to +him, the idea for which he had been thinking so hard. He would sleep +days in the cave, where he was perfectly safe, and come out to hunt +bugs and insects just as soon as Mr. Hawk had gone to bed! Then he +would be safe and would not have to complain to Old Mother Nature. + +"At first old Mr. Bat, who wasn't old then, you know, had hard work to +catch enough insects before it grew too dark, but he found that every +night he could see a little longer and a little better than the night +before, until by and by he could see as well in the dusk as he used to +see in the daytime. Then he realized that Old Mother Nature had once +more been very good to him, and that she had helped him just as she +always helps those who help themselves. She had given him +night-seeing eyes, and he no more had to go hungry. + +"Mr. Bat was very grateful, and from that day to this, Bats have been +content to live in caves and fly in the evening. You ask Flitter if it +isn't so." + +Peter grinned. "He never stays in one place long enough for me to ask +him anything," said he. "I'm ever so much obliged for the story, +Grandfather Frog. It pays to make the best of what we have, doesn't +it?" + +"It certainly does. Chug-a-rum! It certainly does!" replied +Grandfather Frog. + + + + +XV + +WHY SPOTTY THE TURTLE CARRIES HIS HOUSE WITH HIM + + +Spotty the Turtle sat on an old log on the bank of the Smiling Pool, +taking a sun-bath. He had sat that way for the longest time without +once moving. Peter Rabbit had seen him when he went by on his way to +the Laughing Brook and the Green Forest to look for some one to pass +the time of day with. Spotty was still there when Peter returned a +long time after, and he didn't look as if he had moved. A sudden +thought struck Peter. He couldn't remember that he ever had seen +Spotty's house. He had seen the houses of most of his other friends, +but think as hard as ever he could, he didn't remember having seen +Spotty's. + +"Hi, Spotty!" he shouted. "Where do you live?" + +Spotty slowly turned his head and looked up at Peter. There was a +twinkle in his eyes, though Peter didn't see it. + +"Right here in the Smiling Pool. Where else should I live?" he +replied. + +"I mean, where is your house?" returned Peter. "Of course I know you +live in the Smiling Pool, but where is your house? Is it in the bank +or down under water?" + +"It is just wherever I happen to be. Just now it is right here," said +Spotty. "I always take it with me wherever I go; I find it much the +handiest way." + +[Illustration: "Hi, Spotty!" he shouted. "Where do you live?"] + +With that Spotty disappeared. That is to say, his head and legs and +tail disappeared. Peter stared very hard. Then he began to laugh, for +it came to him that what Spotty had said was true. His house was +with him, and now he had simply retired inside. He didn't need any +other house than just that hard, spotted shell, inside of which he was +now so cosily tucked away. + +"That's a great idea! Ho, ho, ho! That's a great idea!" shouted Peter. + +"Of course it is," replied Spotty, putting nothing but his head out, +"You will always find me at home whenever you call, Peter, and that is +more than you can say of most other people." + +All the way to his own home in the dear Old Briar-patch, Peter thought +about Spotty and how queer it was that he should carry his house +around with him. + +"I wonder how it happens that he does it," thought he. "No wonder he +is so slow. Of course, it is very handy to have his house always with +him. As he says, he is always at home. Still, when he is in a hurry +to get away from an enemy, it must be very awkward to have to carry +his house on his back. I--I--why, how stupid of me! He doesn't have to +run away at all! All he has got to do is to go inside his house and +stay there until the danger is past! I never thought of that before. +Why, that is the handiest thing I ever heard of." + +Now Peter knew that there must be a good story about Spotty and his +house, and you know Peter dearly loves a good story. So at the very +first opportunity the next day, he hurried over to the Smiling Pool to +ask Grandfather Frog about it. As usual, Grandfather Frog was sitting +on his big green lily-pad. No sooner did Peter pop his head above the +edge of the bank of the Smiling Pool than Grandfather Frog exclaimed: + +"Chug-a-rum! You've kept me waiting a long time, Peter Rabbit. I don't +like to be kept waiting. If you wanted to know about Spotty the +Turtle, why didn't you come earlier?" All the time there was a twinkle +in the big, goggly eyes of Grandfather Frog. + +Peter was so surprised that he couldn't find his tongue. He hadn't +said a word to any one about Spotty, so how could Grandfather Frog +know what he had come for? For a long time he had had a great deal of +respect for Grandfather Frog, who, as you know, is very old and very +wise, but now Peter felt almost afraid of him. You see, it seemed to +Peter as if Grandfather Frog had read his very thoughts. + +"I--I didn't know you were waiting. Truly I didn't," stammered Peter. +"If I had, I would have been here long ago. If you please, how did you +know that I was coming and what I was coming for?" + +"Never mind how I knew. I know a great deal that I don't tell, which +is more than some folks can say," replied Grandfather Frog. + +Peter wondered if he meant him, for you know Peter is a great gossip. +But he didn't say anything, because he didn't know just what to say, +and in a minute Grandfather Frog began the story Peter so much wanted. + +"Of course you know, without me telling you, that there is a reason +for Spotty's carrying his house around with him, because there is a +reason for everything in this world. And of course you know that that +reason is because of something that happened a long time ago, way back +in the days when the world was young. Almost everything to-day is the +result of things that happened in those long-ago days. The +great-great-ever-so-great grandfather of Spotty the Turtle lived +then, and unlike Spotty, whom you know, he had no house. He was very +quiet and bashful, was Mr. Turtle, and he never meddled with any one's +business, because he believed that the best way of keeping out of +trouble was to attend strictly to his own affairs. + +"He was a good deal like Spotty, just as fond of the water and just as +slow moving, but he didn't have the house which Spotty has now. If he +had had, he would have been saved a great deal of trouble and worry. +For a long time everybody lived at peace with everybody else. Then +came the trying time, of which you already know, when those who lived +on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest had the very hardest kind +of work to find enough to eat, and were hungry most of the time. Now +Mr. Turtle, living in the Smiling Pool, had plenty to eat. He had +nothing to worry about on that score. Everybody who lives in the +Smiling Pool knows that it is the best place in the world, anyway." + +Grandfather Frog winked at Jerry Muskrat, who was listening, and Jerry +nodded his head. + +"But presently Mr. Turtle discovered that the big people were eating +the little people whenever they could catch them, and that he wasn't +safe a minute when on shore, and not always safe in the water," +continued Grandfather Frog. "He had two or three very narrow escapes, +and these set him to thinking. He was too slow and awkward to run or +to fight. The only thing he could do was to keep out of sight as much +as possible. So he learned to swim with only his head out of water, +and sometimes with only the end of his nose out of water. When he went +on land, he would cover himself with mud, and then when he heard +anybody coming, he would lie perfectly still, with his legs and his +tail and his head drawn in just as close as possible, so that he +looked for all the world like just a little lump of brown earth. + +"One day he had crawled under a piece of bark to rest and at the same +time keep out of sight of any who might happen along. When he got +ready to go on his way, he found that the piece of bark had caught on +his back, and that he was carrying it with him. At first he was +annoyed and started to shake it off. Before he succeeded, he heard +someone coming, so he promptly drew in his head and legs and tail. It +was Mr. Fisher, and he was very hungry and fierce. He looked at the +piece of bark under which Mr. Turtle was hiding, but all he saw was +the bark, because, you know, Mr. Turtle had drawn himself wholly +under. + +"'I believe,' said Mr. Fisher, talking out loud to himself, 'that I'll +have a look around the Smiling Pool and see if I can catch that +slow-moving Turtle who lives there. I believe he'll make me a good +dinner.' + +"Of course Mr. Turtle heard just what he said, and he blessed the +piece of bark which had hidden him from Mr. Fisher's sight. For a long +time he lay very still. When he did go on, he took the greatest care +not to shake off that piece of bark, for he didn't know but that any +minute he might want to hide under it again. At last he reached the +Smiling Pool and slipped into the water, leaving the piece of bark on +the bank. Thereafter, when he wanted to go on land, he would first +make sure that no one was watching. Then he would crawl under the +piece of bark and get it on his back. Wherever he went he carried the +piece of bark so as to have it handy to hide under. + +"Now all this time Old Mother Nature had been watching Mr. Turtle, and +it pleased her to see that he was smart enough to think of such a +clever way of fooling his enemies. So she began to study how she could +help Mr. Turtle. One day she came up behind him just as he sat down to +rest. The piece of bark was uncomfortable and scratched his back, 'I +wish,' said he, talking to himself, for he didn't know that any one +else was near, 'I wish that I had a house of my own that I could carry +on my back all the time and be perfectly safe when I was inside of +it.' + +"'You shall have,' said Old Mother Nature, and reaching out, she +touched his back and turned the skin into hard shell. Then she touched +the skin of his stomach and turned that into hard shell. 'Now draw in +your head and your legs and your tail,' said she. + +"Mr. Turtle did as he was told to do, and there he was in the very +best and safest kind of a house, perfectly hidden from all his +enemies! + +"'Oh, Mother Nature, how can I ever thank you?' he cried. + +"'By doing as you always have done, attending wholly to your own +affairs,' replied Old Mother Nature. + +"So ever since that long-ago day when the world was young, all Turtles +have carried their houses with them and never have meddled in things +that don't concern them," concluded Grandfather Frog. + +"Oh, thank you, Grandfather Frog," exclaimed Peter, drawing a long +breath. "That was a perfectly splendid thing for Old Mother Nature to +do." + +Then he started for his own home in the dear Old Briar-patch, and all +the way there he wondered and wondered how Grandfather Frog knew that +he wanted that story, and to this day he hasn't found out. You see, he +didn't notice that Grandfather Frog was listening when he asked Spotty +about his house. Of course, Grandfather Frog knows Peter and his +curiosity so well that he had guessed right away that Peter would come +to him for the story, just as Peter did. + + + + +XVI + +WHY PADDY THE BEAVER HAS A BROAD TAIL + + +Usually the thing that interests us most is something that we haven't +got ourselves. It is that way with Peter Rabbit. Peter is not +naturally envious. Oh, my, no! Peter is pretty well satisfied with +what he has, which is quite as it should be. There is only one thing +with which Peter is really dissatisfied, and it is only once in a +while, when he hasn't much of anything else to think about, that he is +dissatisfied with this. Can you guess what it is? Well, it is his +tail. Yes, Sir, that is the one thing that ever really troubles +Peter. + +You see, Peter's tail is, nothing but a funny little bunch of cotton, +which doesn't look like a tail at all. The only time he ever sees it +is when he is back to the Smiling Pool and looks over his shoulder at +his reflection in the water, and then, of course, he really doesn't +see his tail itself. So sometimes when Peter sees the fine tails of +his neighbors, a little bit of envy creeps into his heart for just a +little while. Why, even little Danny Meadow Mouse has a real tail, +short as it is. And as for Happy Jack Squirrel and Reddy Fox and Bobby +Coon and Jimmy Skunk, everybody knows what beautiful tails they have. +Once Peter thought about it so much that Grandfather Frog noticed how +sober he was and asked Peter what the trouble was. When Peter told him +that it seemed to him that Old Mother Nature had not been fair in +giving him such a foolish little tail when she had given others such +beautiful ones, Grandfather Frog just opened his big mouth and laughed +until he had to hold his sides. + +"Why, Peter," said he, "you look so sober, that I thought you really +had something to worry about. What would you do with a big tail, if +you had one? It would always be in your way. Just think how many times +Reddy Fox or old Granny Fox have almost caught you. They certainly +would have before this, if you had had a long tail sticking out behind +for them to get hold of. I had a long tail when I was young, and I was +mighty glad to get rid of it." + +After he heard that, Peter felt better. But he didn't lose interest in +tails, and he spent a great deal of time in wondering why some of his +neighbors had big, bushy tails and some had long, slim tails and why +he himself had almost no tail at all. So when Paddy the Beaver came +to live in the Green Forest, and made a pond there by building a +wonderful dam across the Laughing Brook, the first thing Peter looked +to see was what kind of a tail Paddy has, and the first time he got a +good look at it, his eyes popped almost out of his head. He just +stared and stared. He hardly noticed the wonderful dam or the equally +wonderful canals which Paddy had made. All he could think of was that +great, broad, flat, thick tail, which is so unlike any tail he had +ever seen or heard of. + +The very next morning he hurried over to the Smiling Pool to tell +Grandfather Frog about it. Grandfather Frog's big, goggly eyes +twinkled. + +"Chug-a-rum!" said he. "Paddy the Beaver has one of the most useful +tails I know of. Would you like to know how he comes by such a queer +tail?" + +[Illustration: The first thing Peter looked to see was what kind of a +tail Paddy has.] + +"Oh, if you please! If you please, Grandfather Frog! I didn't suppose +there was such a queer tail in all the world, and I don't see what +possible use it can be. Do tell me about it!" cried Peter. + +"Chug-a-rum! If you had used your eyes when you visited Paddy, you +might have guessed for yourself how he came by it," replied +Grandfather Frog gruffly. "Some people never do learn to use their +eyes." + +Peter looked a bit sheepish, but he said nothing and waited patiently. +Presently Grandfather Frog cleared his throat two or three times and +began to talk. + +"Once upon a time, long, long ago, when the world was young--" + +"It seems to me that everything wonderful happened long ago when the +world was young," interrupted Peter. + +Grandfather Frog looked at Peter severely, and Peter hastened to beg +his pardon. + +After a long time Grandfather Frog began again. + +"Once on a time, long, long ago, lived Mr. Beaver, the +great-great-ever-so-great grandfather of Paddy up there in the Green +Forest. Old Mr. Beaver was one of the hardest working of all of Old +Mother Nature's big family and one of the smartest, just as Paddy is +to-day. He always seemed happiest when he was busiest, and because he +liked to be happy all the time, he tried to keep busy all the time. + +"He was very thrifty, was Mr. Beaver; not at all like some people I +know. He believed in preparing to-day for what might happen to-morrow, +and so when he had all the food he needed for the present, he stored +away food for the time when it might not be so easy to get. And he +believed in helping himself, did Mr. Beaver, and not in leaving +everything to Old Mother Nature, as did most of his neighbors. That is +how he first came to think of making a dam and a pond. Like his small +cousin, Mr. Muskrat, he was very fond of the water, and felt most at +home and safest there. But he found that sometimes the food which he +liked best, which was the bark of certain kinds of trees, grew some +distance from the water, and it was the hardest kind of hard work to +roll and drag the logs down to the water, where he could eat the bark +from them in safety. + +"He thought about this a great deal, but instead of going to Old +Mother Nature and complaining, as most of his neighbors would have +done in his place, he studied and studied to find some way to make the +work easier. One day he noticed that a lot of sticks had caught in +the stream where he made his home, and that because the water could +not work its way between them as fast as where nothing hindered it, it +made a little pool just above the sticks. That made him think harder +than ever. He brought some of the logs and sticks from which he had +gnawed the bark and fastened them with the others, and right away the +pool grew bigger. The more sticks he added, the bigger the pool grew. +Mr. Beaver had discovered what a dam is for and how to build it. + +"'Why,' thought he, 'if I make a pond at the place nearest to my food +trees, I can carry the water to the trees instead of the trees to the +water; and that will be easier and ever so much safer as well.' + +"So Mr. Beaver built a dam at just the right place, while all the +other little people laughed at him and made fun of him for working so +hard. Just as he had thought it would do, the dam made a pond, and the +pond grew bigger and bigger, until it reached the very place where his +food trees grew. Mr. Beaver built him a big, comfortable house out in +the pond, and then he went to work as hard as ever he could to cut +down trees and then cut them up into the right sized pieces to store +away in his big food pile for the winter. + +"Now cutting down trees is hard work. Yes, Siree, cutting down trees +is the hardest kind of hard work. Mr. Beaver had to sit up on his hind +legs to do it, and his legs grew very, very tired. In those days he +had a tail very much like the tail of Jerry Muskrat. It was very +useful when he was swimming, but it was of no use at all at any other +time. Sometimes he tried to brace himself with it--when he was +sitting up to cut trees, and found it of no help. But he didn't +complain; he just kept right on working, and only stopped to rest when +his legs ached so that he had to. + +"He was working just as usual one day when Old Mother Nature came +along to see how he was getting on. She saw the new dam and the new +pond, and she asked Mr. Beaver who had made them. He told her that he +had and explained why. Old Mother Nature was greatly pleased, but she +didn't say so. She just passed the time of day with him and then sat +down to watch him cut a tree. She saw him try to brace himself with +his useless tail, and she saw him stop to rest his tired legs. + +"'That looks to me like pretty hard work,' said Old Mother Nature. + +"'So it is,' replied Mr. Beaver, stretching first one leg and then +another. 'But things worth having are worth working for,' and with +that he began cutting again. + +"'You ought to have something to sit on,' said Old Mother Nature, her +eyes twinkling. + +"Mr. Beaver grinned. 'It would be very nice,' he confessed, 'but I +never waste time wishing for things I haven't got and can't get,' and +went right on cutting. + +"The next morning when he awoke, he had the greatest surprise of his +life. He had a new tail! It was broad and thick and flat. It wasn't +like any tail he had ever seen or heard of. At first he didn't know +how to manage it, but when he tried to swim, he found that it was even +better than his old tail for swimming. He hurried over to begin his +day's work, and there he made another discovery; his new tail was just +the most splendid brace! It was almost like a stool to sit on, and he +could work all day long without tiring his legs. Then was Mr. Beaver +very happy, and to show how happy he was, he worked harder than ever. +Later, he found that his new tail was just what he needed to pat down +the mud with which he covered the roof of his house. + +"'Why,' he cried, 'I believe it is the most useful tail in all the +world!' + +"And then he wished with all his might that Old Mother Nature would +return so that he might thank her for it. And that," concluded +Grandfather Frog, "is how Mr. Beaver came by his broad tail. You see, +Old Mother Nature always helps those who help themselves. And ever +since that long-ago day, all Beavers have had broad tails, and have +been the greatest workers in the world." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Mother West Wind 'Why' Stories +by Thornton W. 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