Mother West Wind's ChildrenBurgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
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Mother West Wind's Children
Burgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
Animals -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories, American
Peter Rabbit didn't have to be invited twice. Away he went,
lipperty-lipperty-lip, as fast as his long legs could take him after
the Merry Little Breeze. And presently they came to the field of
tender young carrots.
"Oh thank you, Merry Little Breeze!" cried Peter Rabbit, and
straightway began to eat his breakfast.
Another Merry Little Breeze, slipping up the Crooked Little Path on the
hill, spied the hind legs of a fat beetle sticking out from under a
flat stone. At once the Little Breeze remembered Jimmy Skunk, who was
hunting for beetles for his breakfast. Off rushed the Little Breeze in
merry whirls that made the grasses sway and bend and the daisies nod.
When after a long, long hunt he found Jimmy Skunk, Jimmy was very much
out of sorts. In fact Jimmy Skunk was positively cross. You see, he
hadn't had any breakfast, for hunt as he would he couldn't find a
single beetle.
When the Merry Little Breeze danced up behind Jimmy Skunk and, just in
fun, rumpled up his black and white coat, Jimmy quite lost his temper.
In fact he said some things not at all nice to the Merry Little Breeze.
But the Merry Little Breeze just laughed. The more he laughed the
crosser Jimmy Skunk grew, and the crosser Jimmy Skunk grew the more the
Merry Little Breeze laughed. It was such a jolly laugh that pretty
soon Jimmy Skunk began to grin a little sheepishly, then to really
smile and finally to laugh outright in spite of his empty stomach. You
see it is very hard, very hard indeed and very foolish, to remain cross
when someone else is perfectly good natured.
Suddenly the Merry Little Breeze danced up to Jimmy Skunk and whispered
in his right ear. Then he danced around and whispered in his left ear.
Jimmy Skunk's eyes snapped and his mouth began to water.
"Where, Little Breeze, where?" he begged.
"Follow me," cried the Merry Little Breeze, racing off up the Crooked
Little Path so fast that Jimmy Skunk lost his breath trying to keep up,
for you know Jimmy Skunk seldom hurries.
When they came to the big flat stone Jimmy Skunk grasped it with both
hands and pulled and pulled. Up came the stone so suddenly that Jimmy
Skunk fell over flat on his back. When he had scrambled to his feet
there were beetles and beetles, running in every direction to find a
place to hide.
"Thank you, thank you, Little Breeze," shouted Jimmy Skunk as he
started to catch beetles for his breakfast.
And the Little Breeze laughed happily as he danced away to join the
other Merry Little Breezes on the Green Meadows. There he found them
very, very busy, very busy indeed, so busy that they could hardly find
time to nod to him. What do you think they were doing? They were
toting _gold_! Yes, Sir, toting gold! And this is how it happened:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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