Mother West Wind "Why" StoriesBurgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
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Mother West Wind "Why" Stories
Burgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
Animals -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories, American
"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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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