IV
HOW OLD MR. CROW LOST HIS DOUBLE TONGUE
"Caw, caw, caw, caw!" Blacky the Crow sat in the top of a tall tree andseemed trying to see just how much noise he could make with that harshvoice of his. Peter Rabbit peered out from the dear Old Briar-patch andfrowned.
"If I had a voice as unpleasant as that, I'd forget I could talk. Yes,Sir, I'd forget I had a tongue," declared Peter.
Somebody laughed, and Peter turned quickly to find Jimmy Skunk. "Whatare you laughing at?" demanded Peter.
"At the idea of you forgetting that you had a tongue," replied Jimmy.
"Well, I would if I had a voice like Blacky's," persisted Peter,although he grinned a wee bit foolishly as he looked at Jimmy Skunk, foryou know Peter is a great gossip.
"It's lucky for you that you haven't then," retorted Jimmy. "I'm afraidthat you would lose your tongue just as old Mr. Crow did."
That sounded like a story. Right away Peter sat up and took notice. "Didold Mr. Crow really lose his tongue? How did he lose it? Why did he loseit? When--"
Jimmy Skunk clapped a hand over each ear and pretended that he was goingto run away. Peter jumped in front of him. "No, you don't!" he cried."You've just got to tell me that story, Jimmy Skunk."
"What story?" asked Jimmy, as if he hadn't the least idea in the worldwhat Peter was talking about, though of course he knew perfectly well.
"Caw, caw, caw, caw!" shouted Blacky the Crow from the distant tree-top.
"The story of how old Mr. Crow lost his tongue. You may as well tell mefirst as last, because I'll give you no peace until you do," insistedPeter.
Jimmy grinned. "If that's the case, I guess I'll have to," said he."Wait until I find a comfortable place to sit down. I never could tell astory standing up."
At last he found a place to suit him and after changing his position twoor three times to make sure that he was perfectly comfortable, he began.
"Once upon a time--"
"Never mind about that," interrupted Peter. "I don't see why all storieshave to begin 'Once upon a time.' It seems as if everything interestinghappened long ago."
"If you don't watch out, this story won't begin at all," declared Jimmy.
Peter looked properly ashamed for interrupting, and Jimmy started again.
"Once upon a time old Mr. Crow, thegreat-great-ever-so-great-grandfather of Blacky, over there, possessedthe most wonderful tongue of any of the little people who ran, walked,crawled, or flew. He could imitate any and everybody, and he did. Hecould sing like Mr. Meadow Lark, or he could bark like Mr. Wolf. Hecould whistle like Mr. Quail, or he could growl like old King Bear.There wasn't anybody whose voice he couldn't imitate and do it so wellthat if you had been there and heard but not seen him, you never wouldhave guessed that it was an imitation.
"Now the imp of mischief was in old Mr. Crow, just as it is in Blackyto-day, and he was smart too. There wasn't anybody smarter than old Mr.Crow. It's from him that Blacky gets his smartness. It didn't take himlong to discover that no one else had such a wonderful tongue. It waseven more wonderful than the tongue of old Mr. Mocker the Mocking Bird.Mr. Mocker could imitate the songs of other birds, but old Mr. Crowcould imitate anybody, as I have said. He puzzled over it a good dealhimself for a while. He couldn't understand how he could make any soundhe pleased, while his neighbors could make only a few special sounds.
"Being very smart and shrewd, just as Blacky is, he finally made up hismind that it must be in his tongue. As soon as he thought of that, hestarted out to find out, and on one excuse or another he managed to getall his neighbors to show him their tongues. Sure enough, his own tonguewas different from any of the others. It was split a little, so that itwas almost like two tongues in one.
"'That's it,' he chuckled. 'I knew it. It's this little old tongue ofmine. Nobody else has got one like it, but nobody knows that but me. Imust make good use of it. Yes, Sir, I must make good use of it.'
"Now when old Mr. Crow said that, he didn't really mean good use at all.That is, he didn't mean what you or I or any of his neighbors would havecalled good use. What he did mean was the use that would bring tohimself the greatest gain in pleasure, and being a great joker, he beganby having a lot of fun with his neighbors. When he saw Mr. Rabbit, yourgrandfather a thousand times removed, coming along, he would hide, andjust as Mr. Rabbit was passing, he would snarl like Mr. Lynx. Of courseMr. Rabbit would be scared almost to death, and away he would go,lipperty-lipperty-lip, and old Mr. Crow would laugh so that he had tohold his black sides. He would hide in the top of a tree near Mr.Squirrel's home, and just when Mr. Squirrel had found a fat nut andstarted to eat it, he would scream like Mr. Hawk and then laugh to seeMr. Squirrel drop his nut and dive headfirst into the nearest hole. Hewould squeak like a mouse when Mr. Fox was passing, just to see Mr. Foxhunt and hunt for the dinner he felt sure was close at hand.
"But after a while Mr. Crow wasn't satisfied with harmless jokes. Timeswere getting hard, and everybody had to work to get enough to eat. Thisdidn't suit Mr. Crow at all, and one day when he chanced to discover oneof his neighbors just sitting down to a good meal, a new idea came tohim. He stole as near as he could without being seen and suddenlygrowled like old King Bear. Of course that meal was left in a hurry. 'Itis too bad to see all that good food go to waste,' said Mr. Crow andpromptly ate it.
"After that, instead of hunting for food himself, he just kept a sharpeye on his neighbors, and when they had found something he wanted, hefrightened them away and helped himself. All the time he was so slyabout it that never once was he suspected. He was a great talker, wasMr. Crow, and spent a great deal of time gossiping, and he was alwaysone of the first to offer sympathy to those who had lost a meal.
"Now all this time, unknown to old Mr. Crow, Old Mother Nature knew justwhat was going on, for you can't fool her, and it's of no use to try.One morning Mr. Crow discovered Mr. Coon just sitting down to a goodbreakfast. He stole up behind Mr. Coon and opened his mouth to bark likeMr. Coyote, but instead of a bark, there came forth a harsh 'Caw, caw,caw.' It is a question which was the more surprised, Mr. Coon or Mr.Crow. Mr. Coon didn't forget his manners. He politely invited Mr. Crowto sit down and take breakfast with him. But Mr. Crow had lost hisappetite. Somehow his tongue felt very queer. He thanked Mr. Coon andbegged to be excused. Then he hurried over to the nearest pool of waterin which he could see his reflection and stuck out his tongue. It was nolonger split into a double tongue. Then old Mr. Crow guessed that OldMother Nature had found him out and punished him, but to make sure, heflew to the most lonesome place he knew of, and there he tried toimitate the voices of his neighbors; but try as he would, all he couldsay was 'Caw, caw, caw.'
"For a long, long time after that no one ever heard Mr. Crow say a word.His neighbors didn't know what to make of it, for you remember he hadbeen a great gossip. They said that he must have lost his tongue. Ofcourse he hadn't, but he felt that he might as well have. And ever sincethen the Crow family has had the harshest of all voices."
"Caw, caw, caw!" shouted Blacky from the top of the tree where he wassitting.
"I wonder," said Peter Rabbit thoughtfully, "if he could imitate otherpeople if his tongue should be split."
"I've heard say that he could," replied Jimmy Skunk, "but I don't know.One thing is sure, and that is that he is just as smart and sly as hisgreat-great-ever-so-great-grandfather was, and I guess it is just aswell that his tongue is just as it is."
V
HOW HOWLER THE WOLF GOT HIS NAME