"One day he could not find a single berry and not a beetle or a bug could he catch. He was so hungry that he sat down with his back against a big black birch, and clasping both hands over his lean stomach, he wept. There Sister South Wind found him, and her heart was moved to pity, for she knew that his wits were as slow as his body. Softly she stole up behind him.
""Try the bark of the black birch; it"s sweet and good," whispered Sister South Wind. Then she hurried on her way.
"Mr. Porcupine still sat with his hands clasped over his lean stomach, for it took a long time for his slow wit to understand what Sister South Wind meant. "Bark, bark, try bark," said Mr. Porcupine over and over to himself. He rolled his dull little eyes up at the big black birch. "I believe I will try it," said Mr. Porcupine at last.
"Slowly he turned and began to gnaw the bark of the big black birch. It was tough, but it tasted good. Clumsily he began to climb, tearing off a mouthful of bark here and there as he climbed. The higher he got the tenderer and sweeter the bark became. Finally he reached the top of the tree, and there on the small branches the bark was so tender and so sweet that he ate and ate and ate until for the first time in many days Mr. Porcupine had a full stomach. That night he curled up in a hollow log and slept all the night through, dreaming of great forests of black birch and all he wanted to eat.
"The next day he hunted for and found another black birch, and climbing to the top, he ate and ate until his stomach was full. From that time on Mr. Porcupine ceased to hunt for berries or beetles or bugs. He grew stout and stouter. He filled his s.h.a.ggy coat until it was so tight it threatened to burst.
"Now while Mr. Porcupine was so thin and lean he had no enemies, but when he grew stout and then fat, Mr. Panther and Mr. Fisher and Mr.
Bobcat and even old King Bear began to cast longing eyes upon him, for times were hard and they were hungry. Mr. Porcupine began to grow afraid. By night he hid in hollow trees and by day he went abroad to eat only when he was sure that no one bigger than himself was about. And because he no longer dared to move about as before, he no longer depended upon the black birch alone, but learned to eat and to like all kinds of bark.
"One day he had made his breakfast on the bark of a honey-locust. When he came down the tree he brought with him a strip of bark, and attached to it were some of the long thorns with which the honey-locust seeks to protect itself. When he reached the ground whom should he find waiting for him but Mr. Panther. Mr. Panther was very lean and very hungry, for hunting had been poor and the times were hard.
""Good morning, Mr. Porcupine," said Mr. Panther, with a wicked grin.
"How fat you are!"
""Good morning, Mr. Panther," said Mr. Porcupine politely, but his long hair stood on end with fright, as he looked into Mr. Panther"s cruel yellow eyes.
""I say, how fat you are," said Mr. Panther, licking his chops and showing all his long teeth. "What do you find to eat these hard times?"
""Bark, Mr. Panther, just bark," said Mr. Porcupine, while his teeth chattered with fear. "It really is very nice and sweet. Won"t you try a piece, Mr. Panther?" Mr. Porcupine held out the strip of locust bark which he had brought down the tree for his lunch.
"Now Mr. Panther had never tried bark, but he thought to himself that if it made Mr. Porcupine so fat it must be good. He would try the piece of bark first and eat Mr. Porcupine afterward. So he reached out and snapped up the strip of bark.
"Now the locust thorns were long and they were sharp. They pierced Mr.
Panther"s tender lips and his tongue. They stuck in the roof of his mouth. Mr. Panther spat and yelled with pain and rage and clawed frantically at his mouth. He rolled over and over trying to get rid of the thorns. Mr. Porcupine didn"t stay to watch him. For once in his life he hurried. By the time Mr. Panther was rid of the last thorn, Mr.
Porcupine was nowhere to be seen. He was safely hidden inside a hollow log.
"Mr. Porcupine didn"t sleep that night. He just lay and thought and thought and thought. The next morning, very early, before any one else was astir, he started out to call on old Mother Nature.
""Good morning, Mr. Porcupine, what brings you out so early?" asked old Mother Nature.
"Mr. Porcupine bowed very low. "If you please, Mother Nature, I want you to help me," said he.
"Then he told her all about his meeting with Mr. Panther and how helpless he was when he met his enemies, and he begged her to give him stout claws and a big mouth full of long teeth that he might protect himself.
"Old Mother Nature thought a few minutes. "Mr. Porcupine," said she, "you have always minded your own business. You do not know how to fight.
If I should give you a big mouth full of long teeth you would not know how to use them. You move too slowly. Instead, I will give you a thousand little spurs. They shall be hidden in the long hair of your coat and only when you are in danger shall you use them. Go back to the Green Forest, and the next time you meet Mr. Panther or Mr. Fisher or Mr. Bobcat or old King Bear roll yourself into a ball and the thousand little spears will protect you. Now go!"
"Mr. Porcupine thanked old Mother Nature and started back for the Green Forest. Once he stopped to smooth down his long, rough coat. Sure enough, there, under the long hair, he felt a thousand little spears. He went along happily until suddenly he met Mr. Panther. Yes, Sir, he met Mr. Panther.
"Mr. Panther was feeling very ugly, for his mouth was sore. He grinned wickedly when he saw Mr. Porcupine and stepped right out in front of him, all the time licking his lips. Mr. Porcupine trembled all over, but he remembered what old Mother Nature had told him. In a flash he had rolled up into a tight ball. Sure enough, the thousand little spears sprang out of his long coat, and he looked like a huge chestnut burr.
"Mr. Panther was so surprised he didn"t know just what to do. He reached out a paw and touched Mr. Porcupine. Mr. Porcupine was nervous. He switched his tail around and it struck Mr. Panther"s paw. Mr. Panther yelled, for there were spears on Mr. Porcupine"s tail and they were worse than the locust thorns. He backed away hurriedly and limped off up the Lone Little Path, growling horribly. Mr. Porcupine waited until Mr.
Panther was out of sight, then he unrolled, and slowly and happily he walked back to his home in the Green Forest.
"And since that long-ago day when the world was young, the Porcupines have feared nothing and have attended strictly to their own business.
And that is how they happen to have a thousand little barbed spears, which are called quills," concluded Grandfather Frog.
The Merry Little Breezes drew a long breath. "Thank you, Grandfather Frog, thank you ever so much!" they cried all together. "We are going back now to tell p.r.i.c.kly Porky that we know all about his little spears and how he happens to have them."
But first they blew a dozen fat, foolish, green flies over to Grandfather Frog.
IV
PETER RABBIT"S EGG ROLLING
It was spring. Drummer the Woodp.e.c.k.e.r was beating the long roll on the hollow limb of the old hickory, that all the world might know. Old Mother West Wind, hurrying down from the Purple Hills across the Green Meadows, stopped long enough to kiss the smiling little bluets that crowded along the Lone Little Path. All up and down the Laughing Brook were shy violets turning joyful faces up to jolly, round, red Mr. Sun.
Johnny Chuck was sitting on his doorstep, stretching one short leg and then another, to get the kinks out, after his long, long winter sleep.
Very beautiful, very beautiful indeed, were the Green Meadows, and very happy were all the little meadow people--all but Peter Rabbit, who sat at the top of the Crooked Little Path that winds down the hill. No, Sir, Peter Rabbit, happy-go-lucky Peter, who usually carries the lightest heart on the Green Meadows, was not happy. Indeed, he was very unhappy.
As he sat there at the top of the Crooked Little Path and looked down on the Green Meadows, he saw nothing beautiful at all because, why, because his big soft eyes were full of tears. Splash! A big tear fell at his feet in the Crooked Little Path. Splash! That was another tear. Splash!
splash!
"My gracious! My gracious! What _is_ the matter, Peter Rabbit?" asked a gruff voice close to one of Peter"s long ears.
Peter jumped. Then he winked the tears back and looked around. There sat old Mr. Toad. He looked very solemn, very solemn indeed. He was wearing a shabby old suit, the very one he had slept in all winter.
Peter forgot his troubles long enough to wonder if old Mr. Toad would swallow his old clothes when he got a new suit.
"What"s the matter, Peter Rabbit, what"s the matter?" repeated old Mr.
Toad.
Peter looked a little foolish. He hesitated, coughed, looked this way and looked that way, hitched his trousers up, and then, why then he found his tongue and told old Mr. Toad all his troubles.
"You see," said Peter Rabbit, "it"s almost Easter and I haven"t found a single egg."
"An egg!" exclaimed old Mr. Toad. "Bless my stars! What do you want of an egg, Peter Rabbit? You don"t eat eggs."
"I don"t want just one egg, oh, no, no indeed! I want a lot of eggs,"
said Peter. "You see, Mr. Toad, I was going to have an Easter egg rolling, and here it is almost Easter and not an egg to be found!"
Peter"s eyes filled with tears again.
Old Mr. Toad rolled one eye up at jolly, round, red Mr. Sun and winked.
"Have you seen Mrs. Grouse and Mrs. Pheasant?" asked old Mr. Toad.
"Yes," said Peter Rabbit, "and they won"t have any eggs until after Easter."
"Have you been to see Mrs. Quack?" asked old Mr. Toad.
"Yes," said Peter Rabbit, "and she says she can"t spare a single one."
Old Mr. Toad looked very thoughtful. He scratched the tip of his nose with his left hind foot. Then he winked once more at jolly, round, red Mr. Sun. "Have you been to see Jimmy Skunk?" he inquired.
Peter Rabbit"s big eyes opened very wide. "Jimmy Skunk!" he exclaimed.