That made him think harder
than ever. He brought some of the logs and sticks from which he had
gnawed the bark and fastened them with the others, and right away the
pool grew bigger. The more sticks he added, the bigger the pool grew.
Mr. Beaver had discovered what a dam is for and how to build it.
"'Why,' thought he, 'if I make a pond at the place nearest to my food
trees, I can carry the water to the trees instead of the trees to the
water; and that will be easier and ever so much safer as well.'
"So Mr. Beaver built a dam at just the right place, while all the
other little people laughed at him and made fun of him for working so
hard. Just as he had thought it would do, the dam made a pond, and the
pond grew bigger and bigger, until it reached the very place where his
food trees grew. Mr. Beaver built him a big, comfortable house out in
the pond, and then he went to work as hard as ever he could to cut
down trees and then cut them up into the right sized pieces to store
away in his big food pile for the winter.
"Now cutting down trees is hard work. Yes, Siree, cutting down trees
is the hardest kind of hard work. Mr. Beaver had to sit up on his hind
legs to do it, and his legs grew very, very tired. In those days he
had a tail very much like the tail of Jerry Muskrat. It was very
useful when he was swimming, but it was of no use at all at any other
time. Sometimes he tried to brace himself with it--when he was
sitting up to cut trees, and found it of no help.
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