第2章 ANIMALS AND BIRDS

07

Bunny Plays a Trick

Bunny Rabbit lived in a big hole under a tree.

He lived with his mother.

One day Bunny said,"Now I am a big rabbit.

I must have my own home."

Mother Rabbit said,"Yes,Bunny.

You are a big rabbit now.

You can make your own home.

You can make it over there under that big tree."

Bunny Rabbit began to dig.

Soon he had made a big hole for his new home.

It had a front door and a back door.

Bunny could go in the front door and come out the back door.

He could go in the back door and come out the front door.

"Now I have my own home,"he said.

One fine morning Bunny Rabbit sat in his own front door.

He said,"I must get some dinner.

I am as hungry as I can be."

So he went down the road to find something to eat.

Hop,hop,hop he went.

All at once he saw a big dog.

"Oh,dear!"said Bunny.

"Here comes a big dog!

I must run home."

Away ran Bunny Rabbit.

Away ran the big dog after him.

Soon Bunny was at his front door.

"I will play a trick on that dog,"he thought.

In he went,hop,hop,hop!

The dog began to dig at the door.

But Bunny ran out the back door,and the dog did not find him.

"What a good trick!"said Bunny.

08

A Surprise for Bobby

Every summer Bobby went to see his grandfather and grandmother.

They lived on a farm.

Bobby liked to go to the farm.

He had a good time there.

He liked to help Grandfather feed the cows and pigs.

It was fun to be at the farm.

Bobby liked to help Grandmother feed the chickens.

One day Grandmother gave him a little yellow chicken.

"You may have this little chicken for your own,"she said.

"But you must feed it every day."

"Oh,thank you!"he said.

Every day Bobby went to feed the little yellow chicken.

He gave it water,too.

Soon the summer was over,and Father came to take Bobby home.

He said good-by to Grandmother and Grandfather.

Then he ran to see his chicken.

"Good-by,Little Yellow Chicken,"said Bobby."Do not forget me.

I will come to see you again next summer."

Next summer Bobby went back to the farm.

He was glad to see Grandfather and Grandmother.

He ran to Grandmother and asked her about his little yellow chicken.

"Where is my chicken?"he asked.

Grandmother said,"We will see."

Soon they went to the barn.

Bobby looked and looked,but he did not see his little yellow chicken.

Just then a big brown hen jumped from a nest.

"Here is your little yellow chicken,"said Grandmother.

Bobby saw an egg in the nest.

"Look,look!"he said.

"I did not know my little chicken.

But she did not forget me.

She gave me an egg for breakfast."

09

The Bluejay Tree

Some bluejays lived in an oak tree in a big yard.

They liked to eat acorns.

Every morning Father Bluejay said,"Come,little bluejays.

Come and eat your breakfast."

Then they had acorns for breakfast.

They had acorns for dinner,too.

They had acorns three times a day.

Father Bluejay said,"There is nothing so good as acorns."

"Dear me!"said Mother Bluejay.

"Some day there may be no acorns.

Then what will we eat?"

Father Bluejay said,"I do not know.

But I will think about it,and then I will tell you."

Father Bluejay began to think.

He thought and thought.

At last he said,"We get acorns from oak trees.

Oak trees grow from acorns.

We must plant acorns so that we will have oak trees.

We must plant them now."

So he called to Mother Bluejay and the four little bluejays.

"Who will help me?"he asked.

"We will!"said all the bluejays.

"Come along,"said Father Bluejay.

All the bluejays flew down to the ground.

"Now see what I am going to do,"said Father Bluejay.

He began to look under the trees for a big acorn.

Soon he found a very big one.

Then he made a hole in the ground and put the acorn into it.

"What are you doing,Father?"asked the little bluejays.

"Why do you hide the acorns in the ground?"

Father Bluejay said,"I will tell you.

We get acorns from oak trees.

We must plant acorns so that oak trees will grow."

"Oh,oh!"cried the little bluejays.

"We want to plant acorns,too."

Then all the bluejays began to plant acorns.

Father Bluejay found a big acorn.

"This is a very fine acorn,"he said.

"I will plant a tree for Betty."

So he flew to the next house and planted the acorn in the front yard.

Betty saw Father Bluejay.

"Mother!"she cried."The bluejay has planted a tree for us."

By and by a little oak tree began to grow from the acorn.

Betty called it the Bluejay Tree.

10

Little Bear and the Honey

Once there was a little brown bear who lived in the woods.

One fine summer morning he went for a walk.

He wanted to see what he could find in the big woods.

As he went along,he thought,"Oh,my,how hungry I am!

I wish I could find something to eat.

I wish I could find something good.

I wish I could find some honey."

All at once Little Bear stopped and began to sniff.

Sniff,sniff,sniff he went.

"Oh,oh!"said Little Bear.

"I smell something good.

It smells like honey.

It must be honey.

It must be up in that tree.

I will see."

Little Brown Bear began to climb up the big tree.

Up,up,up he went.

At last he came to a dark hole in the tree.

Sniff,sniff went his black nose.

"Oh,oh,oh!"said Little Bear.

"How good it smells!

It is honey."

Little Bear put his brown head into the dark hole.

He found some honey,but he found some bees,too.

All at once a bee stung Little Bear on his black nose.

"Oh,my!Oh,my!"he cried.

"I will climb down."

So he went down the tree and ran home to his mother.

"My,my!"said Mother Bear.

"What a big,big nose you have!"

Then Little Bear told his mother about the honey tree.

He told her about the bees,too.

Mother Bear laughed and laughed.

"You funny little bear!"she said.

"The next time you want honey you must ask me how to get it."

Then she put something cold on his big,big nose.

And soon Little Bear was asleep.

11

The Circus Elephant

Baby Elephant was not happy.

"I don't like the circus,"he said.

"I don't want to put on a funny hat and do tricks for boys and girls.

I don't want to walk down town in the parade.

I don't want to stand here.

I want something,"he said.

"But I don't know what I want."

Soon every one in the circus began to get ready for the parade.

Then the big drum began to say,"Come,come!Come,come!"

Baby Elephant said,"Now I know what I want.

I want to run away."

So Baby Elephant ran away from the circus.

By and by Baby Elephant came to the big woods.

There he saw a gray squirrel.

"Hello,"said Baby Elephant.

"This is a fine place to live.

I think I will live here,too."

The gray squirrel said,"Then you will have to hide some nuts.

You must get ready for winter.

Soon the snow will come,and then you will find nothing to eat.

Have you thought about that?"

Baby Elephant went on.

Soon he came to a pony.

"Hello!"said Baby Elephant.

"What a fine place to live.

I am going to live here,too."

"Are you?"asked the pony.

"Then you will have to get ready for winter.

You must cut some grass."

"Why?"asked Baby Elephant.

The pony said,"There is nothing to eat here in the winter.

Have you thought about that?"

Baby Elephant did not want to think about winter.

So he went on and on.

By and by he met a brown bear.

"Hello,"said the bear.

"Did you come from a zoo?"

"Oh,no,"said Baby Elephant.

"I ran away from the circus.

I am going to live in the woods."

"Well,well!"said the bear.

"You will have to dig a big hole."

"Why?"asked Baby Elephant.

"The snow will come very soon,"said the bear."Then there will be nothing to eat in the woods.

So you must sleep all winter in a big hole.

Have you thought about that?"

"This is not a good place to live,"thought Baby Elephant.

"I don't want to cut grass.

I don't like nuts,and I don't want to sleep in a hole all winter."

Just then he heard the big drum say,"Come,come!Come,come!"

Baby Elephant began to run back to the circus as fast as he could go.

He was just in time for the parade.

12

Little Duck Says Quack

Once a little yellow duck went for a walk.

As it went along the road,it met a gray kitten.

"Mew,mew,"said the kitten.

"Oh!"said the little duck.

"What a pretty way to talk!

I wish I could talk that way."

But Little Duck could not say "mew."

All it could say was "m-ack,m-ack."

And that was not pretty at all.

The little yellow duck went on down the road.

Soon it came to a big brown dog.

"Bow-wow,"said the dog.

"Oh!"said the little duck.

"What a pretty way to talk!

I wish I could talk that way."

But it could not say "bow-wow."

All the little duck could say was "b-ack,b-ack."

And that was not pretty at all.

The little yellow duck went on.

By and by it saw a pretty bird.

"Tweet,tweet,"said the bird.

"Oh!"said the little duck.

"What a pretty way to talk!

I wish I could talk that way."

But the little duck found that it could not say "tweet,tweet."

All Little Duck could say was "tw-ack,tw-ack."

And that was not pretty at all.

Little Yellow Duck was not happy.

It could not say "mew,mew."

It could not say "bow-wow."

It could not say "tweet,tweet."

So the little duck went home.

Mother Duck saw it coming.

"Quack,quack,"said Mother Duck.

"Oh!"said Little Duck.

"That is a very pretty way to talk.

I think I will talk that way,too."

And Little Yellow Duck found that it could say "quack,quack"very well.