Hi,
It's Stefania,
And it's time for another adventure with Uncle Wiggly.
The last time Uncle Wiggly was in the house of the Red Monkey,
And they began talking,
And now it's time to find out why he's called the Red Monkey.
Uncle Wiggly and the Butterfly.
You have a very nice house here,
Said Uncle Wiggly to the Red Monkey after they had all sat down,
And old dog Percival had been told that there was no need to rescue his rabbit friend from a trap.
Yes,
It is a fine little house,
Said the Red Monkey.
I built it away off in the woods so as to be nice and quiet.
You see,
I used to live with the monkey who plays five hand organs at once,
And finally it got so that I couldn't stand the music any longer.
So I went off by myself and made this little house.
But how did you happen to get splashed with all that lovely red color?
Asked the Grasshopper,
That is,
If you will excuse me for asking you such a personal question.
Pray do not mention it,
I beg of you,
Said the Red Monkey as he tossed up a lump of coal.
I will gladly tell you how I became colored red.
It was this way.
I was writing a letter to a friend and I had no more black ink left.
I didn't know what to do until I happened to think that out in the backyard of my home on a bush were some red raspberries.
I gathered some of them and put them in a teacup.
Then with the potato masher,
I crushed them all up until the red juice ran out.
Then I had the loveliest red ink you ever saw.
But just then a fly lit on the end of my nose.
I went to brush him off with the potato masher when I happened to hit the cup full of red juice by mistake.
Well,
You can imagine what happened.
The raspberry juice splashed all over me until I looked like a strawberry ice cream cone and I've been red ever since.
It's a very fine color,
Said Uncle Wiggly.
Yes,
Agreed the monkey with a sigh,
But sometimes it's quite a trouble.
All the turkey gobblers and bulls in the fields chase me whenever they see me for they don't like red.
I'm thinking of taking some dandelions and coloring myself yellow next year.
But now tell me of your travels,
Uncle Wiggly.
Well,
The old gentleman rabbit did so,
Mentioning how he was searching for his fortune but couldn't find it.
Then Percival told about when he used to be in a circus and do tricks.
And the grasshopper told how he made his music by playing the fiddle with his left hind leg.
And then the red monkey gave them all some chocolate coconut pudding and it was time for bed.
Poor Uncle Wiggly,
In the middle of the night,
Poor Uncle Wiggly was taken ill.
He had a dreadful pain and he was as hot as a fever with a stove with a fire in it.
I'm afraid you have been traveling about too much,
Said the red monkey as he lit a lamp and gave the rabbit a drink of cool water.
We must have Dr.
Possum see you in the morning.
Perhaps I ate too much chocolate coconut pudding,
Said Uncle Wiggly.
And oh,
How I suffer.
Oh,
How hot I am.
Well,
They did all they could for him by putting his paws in water and giving him sweet spirits,
But it didn't seem to do any good.
Yes,
He is a very sick rabbit,
Said Dr.
Possum,
Who came in the morning.
We ought to be home in bed,
But we can't move him now.
He'll have to stay here.
Oh,
The grasshopper and old dog Percival and I will take good care of him,
Said the red monkey kindly.
Yes,
I guess you will,
Agreed Dr.
Possum.
So he left some bitter medicine for Uncle Wiggly and the old gentleman rabbit took it without even wrinkling up his nose.
And it was very,
Very bitter.
Bitter medicine,
I mean,
Not his nose.
Oh,
How hot I am,
Cried Uncle Wiggly as the sun got higher and higher in the sky and beat down on the house where the red monkey lived.
I wish I had some ice.
Then he fell asleep.
We will see if we can't find some,
Said the grasshopper.
So he and the monkey and old dog Percival started off to look for an ice house,
Leaving Uncle Wiggly asleep.
Pretty soon he awakened.
Oh,
I wish I had an electric fan to cool me,
Cried the poor sick old gentleman rabbit.
Oh,
How hot I am.
Oh,
Dear.
Well,
He kept getting hotter and hotter and tossed to and fro on the bed.
And he wished for ice and ice cream cones and all sorts of cool things like that.
Then all of a sudden,
When he was so warm,
He couldn't seem to stand it any longer.
He heard a little voice sing this song.
Away up north in the ice and snow,
That's the place for you to go where wintry winds do always blow and the polar bears on a big ice flow,
Where seals dive down in the icy sea when it's far too cold for a bug like me when snowflakes fall so you cannot see.
That's the place for you to be.
Oh,
I'm sure it is,
Cried Uncle Wiggly.
I wish I was up there in the Arctic regions,
But I can't go.
Oh,
If I only had an electric fan to cool me off,
I'll be an electric fan for you,
Said Uncle Wiggly,
Saw perched on the window sill a big,
Beautiful butterfly with red and yellow wings.
Then the splendid creature flew right up on the rabbit's pillow and began to wave his wings faster and faster.
The butterfly's wings went until you couldn't see them move,
Just like an electric fan and a cool breeze spread over the poor,
Hot Uncle Wiggly and made him feel much better.
Then the butterfly fluttered harder than ever and he sang another song about ice cream freezers and blizzards and snow and hail and icebergs and polar bears and all cool,
Cold things like that.
And he kept on fanning the rabbit with his wings.
And before he knew it,
Uncle Wiggly went fast asleep again.
Then in a little while,
The grasshopper and the red monkey and old dog Percival came back with some ice and they gave the rabbit a cool drink and the butterfly kept on fanning him.
And soon,
Dr.
Possum came in and he said,
Well,
I do declare Uncle Wiggly's all well again.
The butterfly with his cool wings and cold songs has cured him.
Then the rabbit thanked the beautiful winged creature very kindly and got ready to go on seeking his fortune again the next day.
And he had quite an adventure,
Which I'll tell you about next time in the story,
Uncle Wiggly and the Potatoes.
And that's it for today.
Bye for now.
