Hi,
This is Stefania and we're back with Uncle Wiggly's Fortune.
This is Part 7.
Uncle Wiggly and the Watermelon Well,
Asked the slow snail of Uncle Wiggly as he met the old gentleman rabbit on the beach next day.
Did you get any of your fortune at the fleas party?
None at all,
Answered the old rabbit gentleman.
There was plenty of gold and diamonds to be seen,
But the fleas didn't give me any.
Perhaps they forgot it,
Suggested the snail.
Some of the fleas are very forgetful.
I once knew one whose mother sent him to the store for a pound of sugar and a quart of milk.
And what do you suppose he bought?
I don't know,
Answered the rabbit,
Curious like.
He got a pound of milk and a quart of sugar,
And the milk all ran out of the paper bag in which the grocery man put it.
And the sugar stuck fast to the milk pill.
And they had a dreadful time getting it out.
That shows you what a flea will do sometimes.
Perhaps if you ask them for your fortune,
They will give it to you.
I'll do it the next time I meet one,
Declared Uncle Wiggly.
But now I must go on and look for myself.
Wait until I sing a little song for you,
Said the slow snail.
And he hummed this song.
When I am in a hurry,
I slowly crawl along.
And when I finish crawling,
I sing a little song.
For if I hurried too much,
I'd get there all too soon.
Though someday I am going to climb up to the moon.
And then when I get there,
I'll sleep the whole long day,
Or crawl upon the moonbeams,
Or jump into the hay.
Hum,
Exclaimed Uncle Wiggly.
That's a very good song,
And I'm sure it will help me find my fortune.
Now I must say goodbye and travel along.
If you will wait,
I'll come with you,
Spoke the snail.
But then I suppose you are in a hurry,
Uncle Wiggly.
And I go too slow for you.
That's it,
Said the rabbit kindly.
And he gave one big hop that carried him twice as far as the snail could travel in a week of Sundays.
Well,
It wasn't very long after this before Uncle Wiggly got to the top of a hill.
When he started to climb up from the bottom,
He thought perhaps there might be gold at the top.
But when he did get to the top,
All he found there was a big green thing with stripes on.
I wonder,
What can this be?
Thought the rabbit.
It looks like a baseball,
And yet it's too large for that.
And besides,
It isn't quite round.
And once more,
It's green instead of white.
For all baseballs are white.
I know what it is.
That must be a football,
Which the boys kick about.
I guess I'll kick it.
Perhaps there may be gold inside.
So he got ready to kick it.
But you know how it is with old gentleman rabbits who have the rheumatism and have to go about on a crutch.
As soon as Uncle Wiggly lifted up one foot,
The foot that had no rheumatism in it,
And when he leaned on his crutch,
The crutch suddenly slipped and down he went,
Kaflumas,
Kaflumas,
All in a heap.
Well,
Here's a pretty kettle of fish,
He cried.
I ought never have tried to kick that green football.
I should have waited until it was ripe.
So he sat down on top of the hill and looked at the ocean tumbling and foaming on the beach below him.
And he waited for the green football to get ripe.
And every once in a while he would poke it with his crutch to see if it was getting soft.
But it wasn't.
And once,
Right after he did this,
The old gentleman rabbit heard someone cry out.
My goodness,
Uncle Wiggly,
What are you doing?
Waiting for this green football to get ripe so that I can kick it,
Was the rabbit's reply.
Oh,
Laughed the grasshopper,
For it was that leaping insect who had spoken.
That is not a football.
It is a watermelon.
And inside it all red and sweet and juicy.
Come,
If you can,
Cut it open.
We will have a fine feast.
I haven't had any watermelon in some time.
Can you cut it?
Oh,
I can cut it fast enough,
Declared the rabbit.
Here goes.
And I hope it is better looking on the inside than it is on the outside.
So the rabbit took out his knife with which he usually spread his bread and butter,
And he cut a hole in the watermelon.
Then Uncle Wiggly and the grasshopper scooped out all the nice red juicy part and ate it.
And would you ever believe it?
Something happened right after that.
They had no sooner wiped the red watermelon juice off their faces than there was a terrible roaring sound in the bush and out jumped a big black bear.
Oh,
He was going on something frightful.
Yes,
Really,
He was.
But don't be frightened,
For I won't let him hurt anybody.
On the bear came straight for the watermelon.
Oh,
What can I do?
Cried Uncle Wiggly,
That bear will get me,
But he won't hurt you,
Mr.
Grasshopper,
As you are so small.
Don't worry,
Said the grasshopper kindly.
I'll find a way to save you quick before the bear sees you pop inside the watermelon.
For you see,
They had eaten up all the inside and left the melon rind hollow,
Just like a pumpkin at Halloween.
Uncle Wiggly saw that this was the best thing to do.
So inside the melon he hopped and then the grasshopper put back in place the piece they had cut out,
And you never would have known,
But that the melon was a whole new one,
Never having been cut and the inside eaten out.
On came the bear sniffing with his black nose.
Then he saw the grasshopper and asked,
Suspicious like,
Is there a rabbit around here?
I don't see any,
Spoke the grasshopper,
And he really couldn't see anyone but the bear because Uncle Wiggly was inside the melon,
You know.
Well,
If there is no rabbit,
I'll have to eat this watermelon then,
Said the bear,
For I am very hungry.
Now,
The grasshopper knew that if the bear once bit into the melon and opened it,
He'd see the rabbit hiding inside.
So what did the grasshopper do?
But give the melon a shove with his strong hind legs and down the hill the melon rolled with a rabbit in it.
Faster and faster down the hill rolled the melon with Uncle Wiggly in it.
And then the bear saw one of the rabbit's paws sticking out of a crack.
Oh,
You have fooled me,
Cried the bear to the grasshopper.
Now I'll chase after that melon and get the rabbit,
Too.
So the bear started down the hill after the melon,
But his foot slipped and he slid down oh so fast that he got to the bottom of the hill first.
There he stood waiting for Uncle Wiggly.
But a strange thing happened.
The melon hit a stone,
Burst open and out flew the rabbit on a pile of soft sand.
But the pieces of the melon hit the bear on his soft and tender nose,
And he thought he was surely killed.
And off he ran to the woods,
Howling and growling.
So that's how Uncle Wiggly escaped from the bear.
For the old gentleman rabbit wasn't hurt a bit for all his tumble.
Then he washed the pieces of melon off his clothes and traveled on again with the grasshopper to seek his fortune.
And he had another advantage soon.
I'll tell you about it in a minute.
The next story will be about Uncle Wiggly and the Kate did.
Uncle Wiggly and the Kate did.
Well,
What are we going to do today?
Asked the grasshopper of Uncle Wiggly as they sat down to breakfast one sunny morning after a rain the night before.
Oh,
I suppose I must keep on searching for some gold or diamonds for my fortune,
Answered the old gentleman rabbit.
But I am getting quite tired of going around so much and finding nothing.
I'll keep it up a week or so longer,
And then if I don't find any money,
I'm going back home.
Anyhow,
I'm quite lonesome for Sammy and Susie,
Little Tail and all my friends.
When you go home,
I hope I can go with you,
Said the grasshopper.
Sort of sad like,
I'll be sorry when you leave me.
Of course you can come along,
Answered Uncle Wiggly kindly as he flopped his long ears back and forth.
Then he and the grasshopper finished their breakfast,
Washed the acorn cups and saucers and shook the crumbs off the green leaf,
Which they had used for a tablecloth.
And pretty soon a whole lot of little black ants crawled along and ate up all the crumbs so that nothing was wasted.
Well,
Here we go,
Cried the old gentleman rabbit cheerfully as he picked up his barber pole crutch and slung his pack over his shoulder.
Then he hopped off and so did the grasshopper,
Singing a funny little song on the way and also playing the fiddle with his left hind leg.
The song went something like this.
Here we go,
Fast and slow,
Hopping on our way.
In heat and cold,
We look for a gold,
Which you may find someday.
Sing a song not too long,
Cheerful,
Gay and bright.
When wide awake,
We eat sweet cake and then we sleep all night.
Hipping,
Hopping,
Without stopping,
We sing and do not cry.
Skip and jump around the pump.
Now we'll say goodbye.
Why,
What in the world did you say that for?
Asked Uncle Wiggly of the grasshopper as the insect finished his song.
There is no one here to whom we can say goodbye and not a sign of a pump.
I know.
What you say,
I'm just making believe.
Just pretending,
Replied the cheerful little fellow,
Turning one somersault and part of another one.
Oh,
Then that's different,
Agreed the old gentleman rabbit as he stooped over to take a stone out of his shoe.
And just as he did so,
There came bouncing down out of a tall tree,
A big green hickory nut,
And it almost hit Uncle Wiggly on the end of his twinkling nose.
Hmm,
Exclaimed the grasshopper as he crawled under a big leaf in order to be out of danger.
Someone is throwing things at us.
I wonder who it can be.
I don't know,
Answered the rabbit.
And then he and the grasshopper looked up in a tree,
But they could see no one.
So they went on a little farther.
And pretty soon Uncle Wiggly got another stone in his shoe.
He stooped over to take it out.
When slam bang down came a green butternut this time,
And it struck him on the end of his left ear.
This must stop,
Cried the old gentleman rabbit.
If it doesn't,
The first thing we know there will be coconuts falling down on us,
And then we will be hurt.
Oh,
I don't think there are any monkeys around here to throw coconuts at us,
Said the grasshopper.
But this is certainly very strange.
Perhaps it is the alligator or the fussy fox up in a tree trying to hurt us by throwing little nuts.
Perhaps,
Agreed Uncle Wiggly.
We will hurry on and get out of these woods.
So they hurried all they could.
But as it happened,
The grasshopper got a big wooden splinter in his left front leg,
And it took him and Uncle Wiggly quite a while to get it out.
And when at last they did so,
It was almost night.
They were hopping along,
Looking for a place to sleep in the woods,
When all of a sudden down came a big black walnut,
And it hit Uncle Wiggly's crutch,
Bouncing off it with a bang.
Who did that?
Cried the rabbit,
Looking up as well as he could in the darkness.
Who threw that nut?
Katie did,
Cried a shrill voice up in a tree.
Katie did.
Oh,
She did,
Eh?
Exclaimed the old gentleman rabbit.
Well,
I always thought Katie was a nice little girl.
I can't believe she'd throw anything at me.
It's not possible.
Katie did.
She did,
Cried the voice in the tree again.
Oh,
Would you ever think such a thing of her?
Asked the grasshopper,
Who was quite excited.
No,
I wouldn't,
Declared Uncle Wiggly,
Sad like.
Where does this Katie live?
He went on.
Perhaps if I speak to her and tell her how unpleasant it is to have nuts thrown down at one,
She won't do it again.
Where does she live?
Katie did.
Katie did.
Katie did,
Was all the voice said.
Of course I know that by this time,
Said Uncle Wiggly.
But where does she live?
Where about in these woods?
Katie did.
Katie did,
Cried the voice again.
I see,
Exclaimed the grasshopper.
That means she once did live here,
But that she's moved away.
That must be it.
Then I'm glad of it,
Spoke the rabbit.
I hope she doesn't come back to throw any more things at us.
Do you think she will?
And he looked up in the tree to see who had been talking so about Katie.
Katie did.
Katie did,
Was all the answer there was.
But all of a sudden there was a rustling in the bushes and out into the moonlight,
Which was then shining in the forest.
There came a little white pussycat with four legs and a long tail.
Oh,
Dear,
She cried.
I'm Katie,
And I heard what you all said about me,
But I didn't do it at all.
I didn't throw a thing at you,
Uncle Wiggly or at the grasshopper either.
I wouldn't do such a thing.
Oh,
How can you believe it?
I didn't do it at all.
Katie did.
Katie did,
Came the shrill voice up in the tree.
Katie did.
She did.
Huh,
Hmm,
Cried the old rabbit gentleman.
This must be looked into.
If Katie didn't do it,
We mustn't have her talked about in that way.
Come on,
Mr.
Grasshopper,
We'll see who's calling out about Katie so much.
But just as the rabbit was helping the grasshopper to climb up the tree to see who it was that had been calling,
All of a sudden from behind a stump,
There sprang a fox who wanted to eat up Uncle Wiggly and the cat and the grasshopper too,
But the rabbit happened to see a hole in the ground.
Quick,
Jump down here.
All of you,
He cried,
And he helped the cat and the grasshopper to get into the hole where they would be safe from the fox.
And as they disappeared onto the ground,
The voice in the treetop cried once more.
Katie did.
Katie did.
Oh,
I'll put a stop to that tomorrow,
Declared Uncle Wiggly.
Don't cry,
Katie,
Dear.
I'll see that whoever is bothering you will stop.
Then the little white cat dried her tears,
And the three friends slept safely in the hole all night,
And the fox did not bother them a bit.
And the next day,
Uncle Wiggly found out who was calling to Katie and who threw the nuts at him.
And I'll tell you about it in the next story next time.
Not this time.
Next time.
Bye for now.
