More Rabbit Adventure Stories With Uncle Wiggily-Book2-Pt 6

We’re starting a new book of Uncle Wiggily stories. Uncle Wiggily goes searching for his fortune. Here are more stories about the lovely adventures of a kind, gentlemen elderly rabbit & all his animal friends, nieces & nephews. Uncle Wiggily’s Fortune…will he find it? Maybe so…eventually! And what is he looking for? This time we bring you, Part 6 of Book 2 - the NEW book of stories.

Transcript

Hi,

It's Stefania,

And here is the next part of Uncle Wiggly's Fortune.

This story is called Uncle Wiggly and the Shell.

Uncle Wiggly's leg hurt a bit the next day after he had been caught under the stone when the wolf nearly got him and the horseshoe crab had dug him out.

You see,

The stone pressed on his leg that had rheumatism in it and it hurt the old gentleman rabbit very much,

But he was quite brave.

And when he got up in the morning,

Even though he had to limp a bit,

He decided that he would hop down the sandy beach at the seashore and see if he couldn't find his fortune there.

It is certainly taking me quite a long time to get rich,

He said to himself as he slowly moved along over the soft sand,

And perhaps I may never find any diamonds or gold.

But no matter,

I am enjoying myself,

And that is something.

Still,

I would like to see Sammy and Susie Littletail again,

And when he thought of the two little rabbit children,

He was a bit sad.

Then he decided that would never do,

So he cheered himself up by singing a little song that went something like this.

Don't be sad,

Just be glad,

For the sun is shining.

Don't be blue,

For it's true,

Clouds have a silver lining.

Sing and dance,

Hop and prance,

Make someone feel jolly.

Go away care,

Don't you dare,

Make me melancholy.

Ho ho ho,

I feel much better after that,

Said Uncle Wiggly,

And he moved his whiskers sideways and up and down and twinkled his nose,

And then he went on looking for his fortune.

Pretty soon,

He came to a big snail that was crawling slowly along the beach.

Have you seen any gold?

Asked the rabbit.

No,

I am sorry to say I have not,

Said the snail,

Slowly and carefully,

But I have not gone very far this morning.

I have only traveled about as far as from one orange seed to another,

And that is not very far,

You know.

Perhaps later I may find some gold.

Then have you seen any diamonds?

Asked Uncle Wiggly.

No,

But I saw a dewdrop inside a flower,

Sparkling in the sunshine,

Said the snail,

And it was brighter than a diamond.

That is very pretty,

But it is not my fortune,

Said the rabbit.

I must keep on.

So on he went,

Singing his jolly song,

And he kept humming it,

Even when the sun went behind a cloud and it looked as if it were going to storm.

The waves of the ocean grew into big billows,

And they dashed upon the beach with a booming,

Thundering sound.

I think we are going to have a shower,

Said the old gentleman rabbit.

I must look about for another towelstool umbrella.

So he found one,

Growing in the grass a little distance from the water,

And he picked it.

Then,

Strapping his case over his shoulder,

He hopped ahead,

Leaning on his crutch.

Pretty soon,

Not so very long,

It began to rain.

My,

How the drops did come pelting down,

Harder and harder.

But Uncle Wiggly didn't get wet,

Because of his towelstool umbrella.

Then,

Before you could eat a stick of peppermint candy,

Something hard hit the old gentleman rabbit on the nose.

Oh,

My umbrella must be leaking,

He cried.

Then,

There came a flash of lightning and a loud clap of thunder,

And something else hit Uncle Wiggly on the end of his nose.

Oh,

I hope I'm not struck by lightning,

He cried.

So he looked up,

And he saw that his towelstool umbrella was full of holes,

And the reason of this was that it was hailing instead of raining.

The raindrops had turned into little round chunks of ice,

Just like white pebbles,

And they were pelting down and had torn the rabbit's umbrella all to pieces.

What ever shall I do?

Cried Uncle Wiggly as he tossed aside the towelstool.

That is of no use to me now,

And there is no place where I can go to get in out of the rain.

Oh,

My,

How these hailstones hurt!

Indeed,

They did,

For they were as large as bird's eggs now,

And they were bouncing down all over and hitting Uncle Wiggly on his ears and nose and all over.

He tried to hold his crutch over his head,

But that did no good.

And then he tried to hold up his case with the cherry pie in it to shelter himself,

But that did no good either.

Oh,

I'll be knocked to pieces by the hailstones,

The rabbit cried.

Where can I go?

Oh,

If I only had a shell house such as the snail carries on her back,

I would be all right.

Here is a house for you,

Cried a little voice.

And looking to one side,

Uncle Wiggly saw his old friend the grasshopper.

And that grasshopper was beneath a big pink shell that was on the beach with one edge raised up like a shed.

Crawl under the shell,

And the hailstone can't hurt you,

Went on the grasshopper.

This pink shell is the best kind of a house.

Well,

I do declare so it is,

Agreed Uncle Wiggly.

And he lost no time in crawling under the pink shell.

Then how the hailstones did rattle down on that shell.

It was just like peas or dried corn falling into a tin pan.

Rattle to bang,

Rattle to bang,

Went the hailstones.

But they couldn't hurt the grasshopper or Uncle Wiggly now,

For the chunks of ice hit on the hard shell and burst to pieces.

Then all of a sudden,

Uncle Wiggly heard someone crying.

Oh,

It was such a sad,

Pitiful voice.

Oh,

What shall I do?

Where can I go?

Wailed the voice.

Someone needs help,

Said the rabbit quickly.

Maybe it's a bear,

Suggested the grasshopper.

Nonsensicalness,

Exclaimed the rabbit.

I'm going to look out.

So he peered out from under the edge of the big pink shell,

And he saw a little baby crab crawling along with a basket of sea peanuts in little bags on one claw.

Oh,

I'm so miserable,

Cried the little crab.

I started out to sell peanuts,

But the hailstones burst the bags open and the peanuts came out and they're all wet and no one will buy wet peanuts.

What shall I do?

Come right in here,

Said Uncle Wiggly kindly.

We'll help you.

So the little crab crawled beneath the pink shell where the hailstones couldn't hit him.

And when the storm was over,

The old gentleman rabbit and the grasshopper built a fire and they dried out the peanuts.

Then the grasshopper took some of his syrup,

His molasses syrup,

And he glued the torn bags together.

And Uncle Wiggly put back the dry peanuts in them,

And then the little crab went off very happy indeed and sold them for five cents a bag.

Ha!

The pink shell did us a great kindness,

Said the old gentleman rabbit as he hopped out.

Now I will look once more for my fortune.

Then the grasshopper flew away over the sea again and the rabbit went on alone,

Eating a few peanuts the baby crab had given him.

And soon he had another adventure,

Which I'll tell you about next.

That story will be about Uncle Wiggly and the Fiddler.

Uncle Wiggly and the Fiddler.

It was the day after Uncle Wiggly had taken shelter under the pink shell when the hailstones came down.

And the old gentleman rabbit was walking along the sandy beach,

Looking to see what he could see.

You can never tell when you are going to find your fortune in this world,

He said,

And I may come upon mine any moment.

So I must be ready for it.

Then he went on a little farther and he felt hungry.

Perhaps there is a bit of cherry pie still in my case,

He said.

So he looked and sure enough,

There was some pie and he ate it.

It was nearly all gone and there were only a few crumbs of the pie left when the old gentleman rabbit heard someone say,

Oh,

How hungry I am.

Oh,

If I only had something to eat,

I wonder where I can find anything.

Then the rabbit looked down and there was the slow crawling snail looking very hungry indeed.

Oh,

So it's you,

Is it?

Asked the rabbit.

Why,

It seems to me you are not very far from the place where I last saw you.

That is so.

I am not,

Answered the snail.

You see,

I go very slowly and in a whole day I only moved about as far as an ice cream cone.

I have been looking for something to eat,

But I can't find it.

Oh,

I'll gladly give you what I have left,

Spoke Uncle Wiggly as he scattered the crumbs of the cherry pie about.

And the snail ate them all up.

I don't suppose you have seen anything of my fortune,

Have you?

Asked the rabbit as he wiped his whiskers on a red napkin and closed up his case.

No,

I haven't,

Said the snail,

But I will tell you something I overheard today and perhaps that will help you.

As I was crawling slowly along,

I heard two sand fleas talking together.

One said to the other that there was going to be a grand dance of all the sand fleas on the beach tonight and that there would be plenty of gold and diamonds at the party.

Perhaps if you went to it,

You might find your fortune.

That is,

If someone had any gold or diamonds they didn't want.

That's a good idea,

Said the rabbit.

I'll be there and I'm much obliged to you for telling me.

Where do the sand fleas hold their dance?

Down on the beach by the wreck of an old sailing ship,

Answered the snail.

Be there at the hour of midnight and I hope you will find your fortune.

I'll be there,

Said the rabbit.

Oh,

I'll be there.

Then the snail crawled away and Uncle Wiggly hopped along on the sand,

But he didn't look for his fortune as he thought he would find it at the fleas party.

Since I am going to be up quite late tonight,

He said,

I had better take a little sleep now.

So he stretched out under some seaweed that he laid over some driftwood for a shady shelter and soon he was fast asleep.

Then after a while he awakened and ate his supper and soon it was midnight and he set off toward the place where the wreck of the old ship was on the beach,

For there the sand fleas were to have their hop and dance.

As he came near the place,

The old gentleman rabbit heard laughing and talking and he saw tiny lights flitting about.

Then he came still nearer and he saw a most curious sight.

All around in the sand were little pieces of wood set in a circle and on each piece of wood was a lightning bug,

A firefly.

They lit up the place like small electric lanterns.

There was a large circle of sand and inside of that was the ballroom where the dance was to take place.

It was all decorated with seaweed and moss and it looked very pretty with lightning bugs scattered here and there in the green drapery like fairy lights.

And then the sand fleas.

Oh,

There were hundreds of them and they were hopping all about,

Sometimes over each other's backs and around corners and through the middle,

While some even turned somersaults and they were having a glorious time.

I wonder when the dance is going to begin.

But Uncle Wiggly,

I wish it would soon start,

For I see that these fleas have on many diamonds and they also have lots of gold in their pockets.

Perhaps when they dance,

They will drop some of the gold and diamonds and in case they don't want them,

I can pick them up and have them for my fortune.

Then all of a sudden,

Some of the fleas began to cry out,

Where is the music?

Why doesn't the music start so that we can dance?

And surely enough,

There was no music for the party.

Then a big gray flea called out,

Alas,

We will have no music.

I had hired a dozen katydids and a dozen katydidns to come and play for us,

But they have just telephoned that they can't come as their legs are stiff.

So we have no dance as we have no music.

Oh,

How perfectly dreadful,

Cried a blue lady flea.

And then,

Just then,

Some of the other fleas saw Uncle Wiggly looking in at them from behind the old wrecked ship.

Perhaps the rabbit can play for us,

Said some of the fleas.

Can you,

Mr.

Rabbit?

No,

I can't,

He said,

And he felt very sorry for them.

But I will see if I can find someone who can,

For Uncle Wiggly was very kind-hearted and always did what he could to help.

So he strolled down the beach looking for someone to play for the sand fleas.

And as he walked along,

He met a fiddler crab,

Which is a crab with very long legs.

And as soon as he saw that fiddler crab,

Uncle Wiggly knew that the long-legged creature could make music.

Will you come and play for the fleas party?

Asked the rabbit.

I will make a fiddle out of my crutch and some seaweed for strings,

And you can play it.

I will,

Said the fiddler crab kindly.

But who will play the drum?

We need a drum.

Who will play it?

I wonder if I had a drum,

Said the rabbit bravely.

I'll be the drum,

Suddenly cried a voice,

And up from the ocean popped a fish called the puff fish or sea robin,

And he can make himself look like a blown-up paper bag full of wind.

I'll be the drum,

And you can make me go boom boom,

Said the blowfish.

Fine,

Cried Uncle Wiggly.

Come on back to the sand fleas party with me.

So the fiddler crab and the drum fish went along.

Then the rabbit soon made a fiddle with seaweed for strings,

And the fiddler crab played it with his long legs,

Making all kinds of tunes,

All kinds of jolly,

Happy tunes,

Dancing tunes,

And the drum fish puffed himself up like a balloon,

And Uncle Wiggly beat him with a soft stick,

Not hurting him,

And there was fine music.

Then the sand fleas hopped and danced about until they could hop and dance no more,

But they didn't drop any gold or diamonds,

And when the party was over,

The rabbit was as poor as when it started,

But still he didn't mind.

Then he went to sleep under a pile of seaweed,

While the sea robin and the fiddler crab went home in the ocean,

And next time round,

Not this time,

Next time,

I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggly and the watermelon.

Bye for now!