Now right down in his heart Grandfather Frog knew the answer. Of course
the best thing to do was to go straight back to the Smiling Pool as fast
as he could. But Grandfather Frog is stubborn. Yes, Sir, he certainly is
stubborn. And stubbornness is often just another name for foolishness.
He had told Jerry Muskrat that he was going out to see the Great World.
Now if he went back, Jerry would laugh at him.
"I won't!" said Grandfather Frog.
"What won't you do?" asked a voice so close to him that Grandfather Frog
made a long jump before he thought. You see, at the Smiling Pool he
always jumped at the least hint of danger, and because one jump always
took him into the water, he was always safe. But there was no water
here, and that jump took him right out where anybody passing could see
him. Then he turned around to see who had startled him so. It was Danny
Meadow Mouse.
"I won't go back to the Smiling Pool until I have seen the Great World,"
replied Grandfather Frog gruffly.
[Illustration: "You won't see much of the Great World if you jump like
that every time you get a scare," said Danny. _Page 62._]
"You won't see much of the Great World if you jump like that every time
you get a scare," said Danny, shaking his head. "No, Sir, you won't see
much of the Great World, because one of these times you'll jump right
into the claws of old Whitetail the Marsh Hawk, or his cousin Redtail,
or Reddy Fox. You take my advice, Grandfather Frog, and go straight back
to the Smiling Pool. You don't know enough about the Great World to take
care of yourself."
But Grandfather Frog was set in his ways, and nothing that Danny Meadow
Mouse could say changed his mind in the least. "I started out to see the
Great World, and I'm going to keep right on," said he.
"All right," said Danny at last. "If you will, I suppose you will. I'll
go a little way with you just to get you started right."
"Thank you," replied Grandfather Frog. "Let's start right away."
XIII
DANNY MEADOW MOUSE FEELS RESPONSIBLE
Responsible is a great big word. But it is just as big in its meaning as
it is in its looks, and that is the way words should be, I think, don't
you? Anyway, re-spon-sible is the way Danny Meadow Mouse felt when he
found Grandfather Frog out on the Green Meadows so far from the Smiling
Pool and so stubborn that he would keep on to see the Great World
instead of going back to his big green lily-pad in the Smiling Pool,
where he could take care of himself. You remember Peter Rabbit felt
re-spon-sible when he brought little Miss Fuzzy tail down from the Old
Pasture to the dear Old Briar-patch. He felt that it was his business
to see to it that no harm came to her, and that is just the way Danny
Meadow Mouse felt about Grandfather Frog.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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