If he
had had, he would have been saved a great deal of trouble and worry.
For a long time everybody lived at peace with everybody else. Then
came the trying time, of which you already know, when those who lived
on the Green Meadows and in the Green Forest had the very hardest kind
of work to find enough to eat, and were hungry most of the time. Now
Mr. Turtle, living in the Smiling Pool, had plenty to eat. He had
nothing to worry about on that score. Everybody who lives in the
Smiling Pool knows that it is the best place in the world, anyway."
Grandfather Frog winked at Jerry Muskrat, who was listening, and Jerry
nodded his head.
"But presently Mr. Turtle discovered that the big people were eating
the little people whenever they could catch them, and that he wasn't
safe a minute when on shore, and not always safe in the water,"
continued Grandfather Frog. "He had two or three very narrow escapes,
and these set him to thinking. He was too slow and awkward to run or
to fight. The only thing he could do was to keep out of sight as much
as possible. So he learned to swim with only his head out of water,
and sometimes with only the end of his nose out of water. When he went
on land, he would cover himself with mud, and then when he heard
anybody coming, he would lie perfectly still, with his legs and his
tail and his head drawn in just as close as possible, so that he
looked for all the world like just a little lump of brown earth.
"One day he had crawled under a piece of bark to rest and at the same
time keep out of sight of any who might happen along.
Pages:
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98