Mother West Wind "Where" StoriesBurgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
General
Mother West Wind "Where" Stories
Burgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
Animals -- Juvenile fiction
Grandfather Frog chuckled. "He got it from admiring his own reflection
in a pool of water," said he. "You see, in those days way back when the
world was young, people had more time to form habits than they do now.
With plenty to eat and little to do, they had more time to think about
themselves than they do now. Old Mr. Gobbler soon discovered that he was
the biggest of all the birds in that part of the Great World where he
lived, and this discovery was, I suspect, the beginning of his vanity.
Then one day as he was walking along, he came to a little pool of water.
It was very clear, and there wasn't a ripple on the surface. There for
the first time Mr. Gobbler saw his reflection. The more he looked, the
better he liked his own appearance. He spread his tail just to see how
it would look in the water. Then he puffed himself out and strutted.
"'There is nobody to compare with me,' thought he, and strutted more
than ever.
"After that he used to steal away every day to admire himself in that
little pool of water. He tried new ways of strutting and of puffing
himself out. After a while he was no longer content to admire himself.
He wanted others to admire him. So the first chance he got he began to
strut and show off all his grand airs before Mrs. Gobbler. At first she
paid no attention to him. At least that is the way she appeared. She
would turn her back on him and walk off into the bushes. This made Old
Mr. Gobbler very angry until he discovered that she would tiptoe back
and watch him admiringly when she thought he didn't know it. That made
him strut all the more.
"At first all the neighbors used to gather around and admire him and
tell him how handsome he was until his head was quite turned, as the
saying is, and he spent most of his time strutting and showing off. Then
he took to bragging and boasting that there was no bird to compare with
him. Thus he became quite unbearable, and all his neighbors would turn
their backs on him when they saw him coming. Only Mrs. Gobbler continued
to watch in secret and to admire him.
"Now in those days Mr. Gobbler didn't have a red head and neck. One day
Old Mother Nature happened along when Mr. Gobbler was strutting and
boasting how big and brave he was. He didn't see her, and she watched
him quietly for a few minutes. Then she slipped away and hunted up Mr.
Wolf.
"'I want you to steal over where Mr. Gobbler is strutting,' said she,
'and suddenly spring out at him as if you intended to catch him.'
"Mr. Wolf grinned and trotted off to do her bidding. He found Mr.
Gobbler swelled up until he looked as if he must burst, and bragging to
Mrs. Gobbler.
"'I'm the biggest of all the birds,' bragged Mr. Gobbler. 'I'm afraid of
no one. While you have me with you, my dear, you have nothing in all the
Great World to fear.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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