"Oh,
Grandfather Frog, do tell us why it is that Jerry Muskrat builds his
house in the water. Please do!"
"I have a mind not to, just to get even with you," said Grandfather
Frog, settling himself comfortably, "but I believe I will, to show you
that there are some folks who can take a joke without losing their
temper."
"Goody!" cried Peter and Johnny Chuck together, sitting down side by
side on the very edge of the bank.
Grandfather Frog folded his hands across his white and yellow
waistcoat and half closed his eyes, as if looking way, way back into
the past.
"Chug-a-rum!" he began. "A long, long time ago, when the world was
young, there was very little dry land, and most of the animals lived
in the water. Yes, Sir, most of the animals lived in the water, as
sensible animals do to-day."
Peter nudged Johnny Chuck. "He means himself and his family," he
whispered with a chuckle.
"After a time," continued Grandfather Frog, "there began to be more
land and still more. Then some of the animals began to spend most of
their time on the land. As there got to be more and more land, more
and more of the animals left the water, until finally most of them
were spending nearly all of the time on land. Now Old Mother Nature
had been keeping a sharp watch, as she always does, and when she found
that they were foolish enough to like the land best, she did all that
she could to make things comfortable for them. She taught them how to
run and jump and climb and dig, according to which things they liked
best to do, so that it wasn't very long before a lot of them forgot
that they ever had lived in the water, and they began to look down on
those who still lived in the water, and to put on airs and hold their
heads very high.
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