Hi,
It's Stefania,
And we're back again with Uncle Wiggly.
This book is called Uncle Wiggly's Fortunes.
Uncle Wiggly is going out to find his fortune,
To be rich.
Let's see if he makes it.
The first story is Uncle Wiggly and the Fox.
Once upon a time,
Not so very many years ago,
There lived an old gentleman rabbit named Uncle Wiggly Long-Ears.
He was a nice,
Quiet sort of a bunny,
And he had lots of friends among other rabbits,
And squirrels,
And ducks,
And dogs,
And cats,
And mice,
And lambs,
And all sorts of animals.
Most especially,
There was a muskrat lady named Miss Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy,
Who liked Uncle Wiggly very much.
She made a crutch for him when he had the rheumatism.
She painted it red,
White,
And blue.
Well,
Uncle Wiggly was a funny old rabbit gentleman.
He was always having adventures.
I've told you some of his adventures in the book before this one,
And about how he traveled all over looking for his fortune.
But he didn't find it for some time.
But lots of things happened in the meantime.
The last thing that happened in the book before this one was that he tore his nice coat,
And a good tailor bird kindly mended it for him.
And he stayed at our house for some time,
Bringing up coal,
Sweeping the sidewalk,
And things like that to be useful.
For Uncle Wiggly was very kind.
He used to sleep in a hollow stump near the nest of the tailor bird.
And one night,
It rained so hard that he had to go to bed and pull the dried leaves up over him to keep warm.
All night it rained,
And in the morning Uncle Wiggly got up.
And he was hoping it cleared off so he could travel on and seek his fortune and get rich.
Out of bed hopped Uncle Wiggly.
In one corner of the stump was his case in which he carried his lunch and clean clothes and things like that.
The day before,
A bad wolf had chased Uncle Wiggly,
Catching him and tearing his coat.
So now,
The rabbit gentleman was quite stiff and sore.
Still,
He managed to move about.
Oh,
Dear me,
He exclaimed as he looked out of the hole in the stump and saw the big raindrops still pattering down.
This is a very poor day for me to find my fortune.
Still,
I can't stay in on an account of the weather,
So I will get my breakfast and travel on.
He had some carrot and lettuce sandwiches in his bag and he ate these.
And then looked out to see if the rain had stopped,
But it had not.
Well,
Uncle Wiggly said,
I don't like to get wet,
But there's no help for it.
I'll start out.
Then he happened to think of something.
I know what I'll do,
He exclaimed.
I'll get the largest toadstool I can find and use it for an umbrella.
Out he ran and soon he had picked up a big toadstool.
And a toadstool is like a big mushroom.
It made as fine an umbrella as one could wish.
Then strapping his satchel to his bag,
Where it would be out of the way,
The old gentleman rabbit hopped off,
Holding the toadstool umbrella over his head and limping along on his barber pole crutch.
And he went over the meadows and through the woods and he sang this little song.
And sometimes,
When one sings it at just the right time,
Why,
It stops raining almost at once.
But it has to be sung at the proper time.
Anyhow,
This is the song.
Splish splash,
Drip dash,
How the raindrops fall.
When the weather gets too wet,
It isn't nice at all.
Mr.
Rain,
Oh please go away,
For my feet are wet and you're splashing on my nose.
What?
You can't stop yet?
Won't you please be nice to me?
Make your raindrops dry.
I'm sure you could do this if you'd only try.
Dry raindrops are very nice and if they would fall,
We could walk in showers and not get wet at all.
Well,
As soon as Uncle Wiggly has sung this song,
He looked up quickly from under his toadstool umbrella to see if it had stopped raining.
But it hadn't and he got a drop right in his left eye,
Which made him sneeze so hard that his spectacles fell off.
And they dropped right into a mud puddle.
Huh,
Hmm,
Exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit.
This is a pretty kettle of fish.
Of course,
He didn't mean that there was a kettle of fish in the mud puddle,
But that was just his way of speaking because he was so surprised.
A very pretty kettle of fish indeed,
Cried the old rabbit gentleman.
And speaking of fish,
I guess I'll have to fish for my spectacles.
So,
What did he do but use his red,
White,
And blue striped barber pole crutch for a fishing pole?
And he dipped it down in the mud puddle and in a little while came up with his glasses wiggling on the end of the crutch,
Just like an eel.
This is good luck,
Said the rabbit as he wiped off the mud and water and put on his spectacles.
But he was just going to put his tall stool umbrella over his head again when he found out that the rain had stopped and he didn't need it.
Then he left the tall stool umbrella hanging on a berry bush by the mud puddle to dry so that whoever came along next time would have an umbrella all ready for the rain.
Well,
Now that the sun is coming out,
I must be on the watch for my fortune,
Said the old gentleman rabbit to himself.
And he looked first on one side of the road and then on the other,
But not a sign of his fortune could he see.
Then,
All of a sudden,
He saw something shining gold and yellow in a field close by.
Oh,
That must be a pile of yellow gold,
Exclaimed Uncle Wiggly.
Now my fortune is made.
And he hopped over to the field.
But alas,
Instead of being gold,
The pile of yellow things were carrots.
Well,
It might be worse,
Said the rabbit.
At least I can eat carrots.
I wonder if whoever they belonged to would mind if I took some.
I wouldn't mind a bit,
Exclaimed a voice.
Take as many as you like,
Uncle Wiggly.
And up jumped Mr.
Groundhog,
Who owned the carrots.
Take all you can eat and fill your case,
Said Mr.
Groundhog.
Thank you very kindly,
Replied the rabbit.
So he ate several carrots and filled his bag with more.
And then he and Mr.
Groundhog talked about the weather and things like that until it was time for Uncle Wiggly to hop on again after his fortune.
But he didn't find it.
And pretty soon it came on towards night.
And the old gentleman rabbit looked for a place to stay while it was dark.
I think this will do,
He said when he came to a small stone cave.
I'll just crawl in here with my carrots and my crutch.
And he crawled in and lay down.
Pretty soon,
Uncle Wiggly was fast,
Fast asleep.
And he never thought the least bit about any danger.
But danger was close at hand just the same.
Hark,
What's that creeping?
It's the fuzzy old fox.
Yes,
As true as I'm telling you,
The old red fox had seen Uncle Wiggly go into the cave.
And now he was snooping and snipping up to catch him if he could.
I'll soon have a fine time,
Said the fox in a whisper,
Smacking his lips and his mouth.
Smacking his lips into the cave he crawled.
And in the darkness,
He happened to knock over Uncle Wiggly's crutch,
Which was standing in a corner.
Quickly the old gentleman rabbit awakened when he heard the noise.
Up he jumped and cried out,
Who's there?
I'm the fox,
Was the answer,
And I came to catch you.
But do you suppose Uncle Wiggly was afraid?
Not a bit.
He ran to his case and he took out a paw full of carrots with their sharp points.
And before the fox could even sneeze,
The rabbit threw one carrot at him and hit him on the nose,
For Uncle Wiggly could see in the dark.
Then he threw another carrot and hit the fox on the ear.
And then he threw still another one and he hit him on the two eyes.
And that fox was so frightened and surprised that he jumped out of the second-door window of the cave house and sprained his toenail.
Then he ran back to his den and didn't bother Uncle Wiggly anymore that night.
And the rabbit slept in peace and quietness and dreamed about ice cream popcorn balls.
But Uncle Wiggly then had another adventure next day.
I'll tell you about that one.
Uncle Wiggly and the Bird's Nest.
No,
I must be very careful today,
Said Uncle Wiggly to himself as he got up after sleeping in the Stone Cave.
As I told you he did in the story before this one,
I must be very careful so that fox won't catch me.
So very carefully and cautiously,
He crept to the window of the Stone Cave house and looked down,
But the red fox was not there.
The sun was brightly shining and the old gentleman rabbit could see the big dent made in the soft crown where the fox had landed when he jumped out of the window and sprained his toenail.
My,
That certainly was a narrow escape for me,
Thought Uncle Wiggly.
Then he fried some of Mr.
Groundhog's carrots for his breakfast and putting some of them in his case for his lunch,
Off he started once more to seek his fortune.
He had gone very far before he came to a place where he heard a funny buzzing sound.
It was just like a small sawmill away off in the woods,
Where the men saw logs and boards in order that houses may be built.
My,
Exclaimed Uncle Wiggly,
I must be careful or I might get my nose cut off in that sawmill.
So,
But of course,
This did not happen.
Uncle Wiggly is safe.
He was very careful and after he had listened a while longer,
He wasn't quite so sure that it was a sawmill that he heard.
For he could hear a little voice crying.
Dear,
I'll never get loose.
I'm caught fast.
If only someone would help me.
That is someone in trouble,
Said the rabbit.
I'm going to see if I can't help them.
So he bravely kept on through the woods and the buzzing sound became louder.
Until all at once,
The old gentleman rabbit saw a nice,
Good bumblebee caught in the web of a big black spider.
The bee was all tangled up in the web and it was his wings fluttering to and fro and up and down that made the buzzing sound.
Can't you get loose?
Asked the rabbit.
Indeed he can't,
Cried the big black spider lady as she sat all hunched up in a corner of her web,
Waiting for the bee to get more tangled up and all tired out.
You'll never get away from me,
Said the spider lady sassy like.
We will have to see about that,
Exclaimed the rabbit.
I am afraid you are mistaken,
Mrs.
Spider.
I am very sorry to have to spoil your cobweb,
But I must help my friend the bumblebee.
And with that,
Uncle Wiggly took his crutch and broke the web away from the bees legs and wings so that he was loose and could fly away.
I can never thank you enough,
Uncle Wiggly,
Said the bee to the rabbit.
And if ever I can do you or any of your friends a favor,
I will.
Don't forget to call on me.
And if ever I can bite you,
I will,
Mr.
Rabbit,
Said the spider in her cross's voice as she set to work to mend her cobweb.
But she was angry,
So maybe we can't blame her.
She did take a lot of trouble to make that cobweb.
Well,
Uncle Wiggly didn't worry much about what the spider said,
As he knew he was going to travel on for a long distance after his fortune.
And he didn't think she would come after him,
And she didn't.
On and on hopped the old gentleman rabbit,
Sometimes going slowly and sometimes fast.
And once in a while,
He would go up a hill,
And then again,
He would go down.
And so it went on.
When it wasn't one thing,
It was another.
But he didn't find his fortune anywhere.
Pretty soon,
When it was nearly noon,
Uncle Wiggly began to feel hungry.
So he looked for a nice place where he might sit down and eat his lunch.
He saw a shady tree,
And he walked towards that.
And just as he did so,
He happened to look up.
And there,
Hanging from a branch,
Was a sort of brown colored round object that looked like a small bag.
Huh,
I think I know what that is,
Exclaimed Uncle Wiggly.
That is the nest of a stingary hornet.
And if I go too close,
I'll get stung.
I'll just keep away and go somewhere else to eat my lunch.
Uncle Wiggly started off,
But at that moment,
He heard some voices calling.
And this is what they said.
Dear,
How hungry we are.
When will mama come back?
If we only had something to eat.
I hope those hornets don't see me and come out to bite me,
Said the rabbit.
And would she ever believe it?
The next moment,
Those who had been calling must have seen Uncle Wiggly.
For a voice exclaimed.
Good,
Mr.
Rabbit,
Won't you please come here?
We can't get out and our mama has gone to the store for something to eat.
And she hasn't come back and we're so hungry.
Please help us.
No,
No indeed I will not,
Said Uncle Wiggly firmly.
I don't want to be unkind,
He said.
But I am afraid you will sting me,
You little hornets.
Why,
The idea.
Cried all the voices at once.
We are not hornets.
We are only little birdies.
And this is a bird's nest.
Why,
Bless my whiskers,
Exclaimed Uncle Wiggly.
I believe I have made a mistake.
Then he put on his glasses and surely enough,
He saw that the brown object,
Like a bag,
Was a nest and it was full of little birds who could not yet fly very much.
For the wings were not strong enough.
Now will you help us?
The birdies asked the rabbit,
Help us please do,
For we won't hurt you.
Bless my whiskers,
Of course I will.
Uncle Wiggly cried and he at once opened his bag and gave them all they could eat.
Now I will go look for your mama,
He said.
All he started,
But he had not gone very far before he heard the birdies in the nest crying,
Help,
Help,
Help.
Uncle Wiggly looked back and there was a great big ugly snake crawling up the tree to get the little birds.
Oh,
I must stop that,
Exclaimed the rabbit.
Looking back,
He started to hop to the nest,
But he was quite a distance off and he saw that he could not get back in time to drive off the snake.
Oh,
What shall I do?
He cried.
If only the bumblebee would come along now and sting that snake,
The crawling creature would run away.
And would you ever believe it if I didn't tell you?
At that moment,
Along buzzed the bee and he saw the snake and stung him,
Stung him so that the snake was glad to jump away and not hurt the little birdies.
Then Uncle Wiggly and the little birds thanked the bee who buzzed off to find some apple blossom honey.
And pretty soon,
The mama bird came home from the store and she was very grateful to the rabbit for taking care of her little ones.
The reason she was away so long was because a boy threw a stone at her and made her spill the bread she ate for her birdies.
So she had to go back to the store for more.
If you will stay with us for a few days,
We will help you look for your fortune,
Said the mama bird.
And Uncle Wiggly did stay and he had an adventure.
I'll tell you about that next.
Uncle Wiggly and a Big Rat When Uncle Wiggly had fed the little birds in the nest after he and the bumblebee had saved them from the snake,
As I told you in another story,
The mama bird said she could not do enough for the old gentleman rabbit.
I'll have my little ones sing a song for you,
She went on.
Come now birdies,
Sing for Uncle Wiggly.
So this is the song the little birds sang.
Uncle Wiggly is good,
Uncle Wiggly is kind,
And we hope with all our hearts that his fortune he may find.
Gold and silver,
Diamonds too,
Ice cream cones and candy sticks,
And we hope he can buy two red monkeys who do tricks.
That is a very nice song birdies,
Said the rabbit as he took off his hat and made a low wow.
But he went on,
I don't know as I care for red monkeys who do tricks.
What in the world would I do with them?
Why you could give them to us and they would amuse us when our mama was away,
Said a little bird who had some feathers sticking crossways in her tail.
Yes,
I suppose I could give you the monkeys,
Went on the old gentleman rabbit,
But I hardly expect to find any in my travels,
Especially red ones.
Won't you stay to supper with us?
Asked the mama bird and we would also be pleased to have you stay all night.
Oh no,
She suddenly exclaimed,
I don't see how you can stay all night.
I can if you want me to,
Said Uncle Wiggly,
For he thought perhaps the bird was afraid the snake might come back in the darkness and the old gentleman made up his mind that if the crawly creature did sneak up,
He would hit it with his crutch.
Well,
Of course,
We'd like to have you stay,
Said the mama bird slowly,
But the truth of the matter is that I have no place for you to sleep,
You see,
Our nest is so small.
Besides,
I never knew of a rabbit in a nest,
Except at Easter time.
Of course,
Agreed Uncle Wiggly,
I never thought of that.
However,
It is very kind of you and I'll travel on until I find a hollow stone for some place like that where I can sleep.
Oh mama,
Exclaimed a little boy bird,
Why can't Uncle Wiggly make a tent and sleep in it right near our nest?
He can pretend that he is camping out.
The very thing,
Cried the rabbit,
I'll do it.
But what,
What can I make a tent?
We can give you the sticks and the cloth,
Said the mama bird.
So she showed Uncle Wiggly where there were some nice long sticks like fishing poles and some old sheets from a bed that no one wanted.
That will make a fine tent,
Said Uncle Wiggly,
And I'm sure I will sleep in it very nicely.
So he set to work to make the tent.
First,
He stuck one stick in the ground,
And then he stuck another stick in,
And then still another until he had about seven sticks sticking around in a circle.
Next,
The mama bird pulled them together at the top,
And then she and all the other little birdies tied them with blades of grass for string and helped put the cloth around to cover up the sticks.
Then if you believe me,
And I hope you do,
There was the tent,
Pointed on top and round at the bottom,
Just like those chocolate drops with white cream inside that are so nice and soft.
This is a very fine tent indeed,
Exclaimed Uncle Wiggly.
Now I'll just move my bag and my crutch inside,
And I'll feel right at home.
And we'll help you make your bed,
Said the little birds.
And away some of the strongest of them flew around,
Gathering up in their bills dozens of soft leaves.
And soon they had made as fine a bed almost as a baby's crib.
Then supper was ready.
And now let me see,
What did they have for supper?
Oh,
I know,
There was some rose leaf pie and some violets with sugar on it and some bird seed boiled in molasses.
And for Uncle Wiggly,
There was the loveliest turnip cake with carrot frosting on top.
It was most delicious.
I'm sure you would like it if you had some.
Now it's bedtime for you little birdies,
Said the mama,
And she sang them a little lullaby and soon their eyes were tightly shut.
Yes,
And I guess I better get in my tent,
Said the rabbit.
So he crawled beneath the cloth that was stretched over the poles,
Down upon the leaves.
He lay and soon he too was fast asleep.
Well,
Along about the middle of the night,
Uncle Wiggly was awakened by hearing something scratching on the side of the tent.
I wonder what can that be?
He asked.
Perhaps it is the bad snake coming back.
If it is,
I must get ready with my crutch.
So he reached out in the darkness to get a hold of the crutch.
And just then he saw a light flickering.
And a moment later,
Something big and black with long whiskers and long sharp teeth came right inside the tent.
And Uncle Wiggly saw it was a big rat.
And that rat had a bottle.
And in it were a lot of flickering lightning bugs.
And that was the lantern the rat carried so he could see in the dark.
Oh,
Hello.
So you're in here,
Eh?
Asked the rat as he waved his whiskers to and fro at Uncle Wiggly.
Well,
I'm disappointed.
Why so?
Asked the rabbit as he got his crutch and stood ready to hit the rat in case he sprang forward to use his sharp teeth.
Why are you disappointed?
Because I thought the birds were in here,
Said the rat.
I meant to take them all down to my den and make them sing me to sleep.
But since you are here,
I'll begin on you first.
And then I'll go out and pull down the bird's nest.
Oh,
No,
You can't do that,
Said Uncle Wiggly firmly.
Why not?
Asked the rat surprised like,
Who will stop me?
I will,
Cried Uncle Wiggly bravely.
And with that,
He raised his crutch and he tickled that rat right on the end of his long tail.
And the rat was so surprised that he thought he had been struck by a policeman's club.
So he jumped around.
And as he did so,
Uncle Wiggly threw a piece of cherry pie at him.
It was all soft and squashy like,
And the juice ran down the rat's eyes and so blinded him that he couldn't even see to bite the rabbit or even a piece of cheese.
Now you get right out of this tent and don't you dare harm the birds,
Cried the old gentleman rabbit.
And the rat went right out,
Taking his long thin tail with him or forgetting his lightning bug lantern which he left on the ground.
So Uncle Wiggly looked out to make sure that the rat didn't go near the bird's nest and the bad creature didn't,
But he scurried back to his hole in the rocks.
Next,
The rabbit took the cork out of the rat's bottle lantern and he let the poor lightning bugs go.
And the lightning bugs or fireflies were very thankful.
Then the rabbit stretched out on the leaves again and went to sleep until morning and nothing more disturbed him.
And that's it for today's stories.
Next time,
I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggly on a raft.
But those are our stories for today.
Bye for now.
