Mother West Wind How Stories Read online

  II

  HOW OLD MR. MINK TAUGHT HIMSELF TO SWIM

  Of all the little people who live in the Green Forest or on the GreenMeadows or around the Smiling Pool, Billy Mink has the mostaccomplishments. At least, it seems that way to his friends andneighbors. He can run very swiftly; he can climb very nimbly; his eyesand his ears and his nose are all wonderfully keen, and--he can swimlike a fish. Yes, Sir, Billy Mink is just as much at home in the wateras out of it. So, wherever he happens to be, in the Green Forest, out onthe Green Meadows, along the Laughing Brook, or in the Smiling Pool, hefeels perfectly at home and quite able to look out for himself.

  Once Billy Mink had boasted that he could do anything that any one elsewho wore fur could do, but boasters almost always come to grief, andGrandfather Frog had brought Billy to grief that time. He had invitedevery one to meet at the Smiling Pool and see Billy Mink do whatever anyone else who wore fur could do, and then, when Billy had run and jumpedand climbed and swum, Grandfather Frog had called Flitter the Bat. Therewas some one wearing fur who could fly, and of course Billy Minkcouldn't do that. It cured Billy of boasting,--for a while, anyway.

  Now Peter Rabbit, who can do little but run and jump, used sometimes tofeel a wee bit of envy in his heart when he thought of all the thingsthat Billy Mink could do and do well. Somehow Peter could never make itseem quite right that one person should be able to do so many thingswhen others could do only one or two things. He said as much toGrandfather Frog one day, as they watched Billy Mink catch a fat trout.

  "Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog and looked sharply at Peter."Chug-a-rum! People never know what they can do till they try. Once upona time Billy Mink's great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather couldn't swimany more than you can, but he didn't waste any time foolishly wishingthat he could."

  "What did he do?" asked Peter eagerly.

  "Learned how," replied Grandfather Frog gruffly. "Made it his businessto learn how. Then he taught his children, and they taught theirchildren, and after a long time it came natural to the Mink family toswim."

  "Did it take old Mr. Mink very long to learn how?" asked Peterwistfully.

  "Quite a while," replied Grandfather Frog. "Quite a while. Perhaps youwould like to hear about it."

  "Oh, if you please, Grandfather Frog," cried Peter. "If you please. Ishould love dearly to hear about it. Perhaps then I can learn to swim."

  Grandfather Frog snapped up a foolish green fly that happened his way,and Peter heard something that sounded very much like a chuckle. Helooked at Grandfather Frog suspiciously. Was that chuckle because of thefoolish green fly, or was Grandfather Frog laughing at him? Peter wasn'tsure.

  "It all happened a long time ago when the world was young, as a greatmany other things happened," began Grandfather Frog. "Old Mr. Mink, theever-so-great-grandfather of Billy Mink, couldn't do all the things thatBilly can now. For instance, he couldn't swim. But he could do a greatmany things, and he was very smart. It has always run in the Mink familyto be smart. He dressed very much as Billy does now, except that hedidn't have the waterproof coat that Billy has. And he was a greattraveler, just as Billy is. Everybody smaller than he and some who werebigger were a little bit afraid of old Mr. Mink, for he was quite as slyand cunning as Mr. Fox, and it was suspected that he knew a great dealmore than he ever admitted about eggs that were stolen and nests thatwere broken up, and other strange things that happened in the GreenForest and along the Laughing Brook. But he never was caught doinganything wrong and always seemed to be minding his own business, so, allthings considered, he got along very well with his neighbors.

  "Now Mr. Mink was small and spry, and his wits were as nimble as hisfeet. He saw all that was going on about him, and he was wise enough tokeep his tongue still, so that it never got him into trouble as gossipytongues do some people I know."

  Peter Rabbit fidgeted uneasily. It seemed to him that Grandfather Froghad looked at him very hard when he said this. But Grandfather Frog justcleared his throat and went on with his story.

  "Yes, Sir, old Mr. Mink kept his eyes wide open and his ears wide openand the wits in his little brown head always working. He noticed thatthose who were fussy about what they ate and insisted on having aspecial kind of food often went hungry or had to hunt long and hard tofind what they liked, so he made up his mind to learn to eat many kindsof food. This is how it happens that he learned to like fish. His bigcousin, Mr. Otter, often caught a bigger fish than he could eat allhimself and would leave some of it on the bank. Mr. Mink would find itand help himself.

  "But having to depend on Mr. Otter to get the fish for him didn't suitMr. Mink at all. In the first place, he didn't have as much as hewanted. And then again he didn't have it when he wanted it. 'If I couldlearn to catch fish for myself, I would be much better off,' thought Mr.Mink. After this he spent a great deal of time on the banks of theSmiling Pool watching Mr. Otter swim to see just how he did it. 'If hecan swim, I can swim,' said Mr. Mink to himself, and went off up theLaughing Brook to a quiet little pool where the water was not deep.

  "At first he didn't like it at all. The water got in his ears and up hisnose and choked him. And then it was so dreadfully wet! But he wouldgrit his teeth and keep at it. After a while he got so that he couldpaddle around a little. Gradually he lost his fear of the water. Then hefound that because he naturally moved so quickly he could sometimescatch foolish minnows who swam in where the water was very shallow. Thiswas great sport, and he quite often had fish for dinner now.

  "But he wasn't satisfied. No, Sir, he wasn't satisfied. Whatever Mr.Mink did, he wanted to do well. He could run well and climb well, andthere was no better hunter in all the Green Forest. He was bound that hewould swim well. So he kept trying and trying. He learned to fill hislungs with air and hold his breath for a long time, while he swam asfast as ever he could with his head under water as he had seen hiscousin, Mr. Otter, swim. The more he did this, the longer he could holdhis breath. After a while he found that because he was slim and trim andmoved so fast, he could out-swim Mr. Muskrat, and this made him feelvery good indeed, for Mr. Muskrat spent nearly all his time in the waterand was accounted a very good swimmer. There was only one thing thatbothered Mr. Mink. The water was so dreadfully wet! Every time he cameout of it, he had to run his hardest to dry off and keep from gettingcold. This was very tiresome and he did wish that there was an easierway of drying off.

  "Then came the bad time, the sad time, when food was scarce, and most ofthe little people in the Green Forest and on the Green Meadow wenthungry. But Mr. Mink didn't go hungry. Oh, my, no! You see, he hadlearned to catch fish, and so he had plenty to eat. When Old MotherNature came to see how all the little people were getting along, she wasvery much surprised to find that Mr. Mink had become a famous swimmer.She watched him catch a fish. Then she watched him run about to dry offand keep from getting cold, and her eyes twinkled.

  "'He who helps himself deserves to be helped,' said Old Mother Nature.Mr. Mink didn't know what she meant by that, but the next morning hefound out. Yes, Sir, the next morning he found out. He found that hehad a brand new coat over his old one, and the new one was waterproof.He could swim as much as he pleased and not get the least bit wet,because the water couldn't get through that new coat. And ever sincethat long-ago day when the world was young, the Minks have hadwaterproof coats and have been famous fishermen. Hello, Peter Rabbit!What under the sun are you trying to do, swelling yourself up that way?"

  "I--I was just practising holding my breath," replied Peter and lookedvery, very foolish.

  "Ho, ho, ho! Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Grandfather Frog. "You can't learn toswim by holding your breath on dry land, Peter Rabbit."

  III

  HOW OLD MR. TOAD LEARNED TO SING