Hi,
This is Stefania and we're back with Uncle Wiggily,
Part 12.
This is the story of Uncle Wiggily and the Puff Ball.
Are you going for a walk today as you nearly always do,
Uncle Wiggily?
Asked Nurse Jane Fuzzy,
The muskrat lady housekeeper of the Rabbit Gentlemen,
As he got up from the breakfast table in the hollow stump bungalow one morning.
Why,
Yes,
Janey,
I am going for a walk in the woods very soon,
Answered Uncle Wiggily.
Is there anything I can do for you?
There is,
Said the muskrat lady,
Something for yourself also.
What is it?
Uncle Wiggily wanted to know,
Sort of making his pink nose turn orange color by looking up at the sun and sneezing.
What is it that I can do for myself as well as for you,
Janey?
Cream puffs,
Answered Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy.
Cream puffs?
Cried the bunny uncle,
Heartily knowing whether his housekeeper was fooling or telling the truth.
Yes,
I want some cream puffs for supper.
And if you stop at the baker's and get them,
You will be doing yourself a favor as well as me,
For we will both eat them.
Right,
Gladly will I do it,
Uncle Wiggily made answer.
Cream puffs I shall bring from the baker's.
And then,
Whistling a funny little tune away,
He hopped to the woods.
It did not take him long to get to the place where the baker had his shop.
And in a few minutes,
Uncle Wiggily was on his way back with some delicious cream puffs in a basket.
I'll take them home to nurse Jane for supper,
Thought the bunny uncle,
And then I can keep on with my walk,
Looking for an adventure.
You know what cream puffs are,
I dare say.
They are little round puffy balls made of something like pie crust,
And they are hollow,
And the inside is filled with delicious cream.
Uncle Wiggily was going along with the cream puffs in his basket when coming to a nice place in the woods where the sun shone on a green mossy log,
The bunny uncle said.
I will sit down here a minute and rest.
So he did,
But he rested longer than he meant to,
For before he knew it,
He fell asleep.
And while he slept,
Along came a bad old weasel who is as sly as a fox.
And the weasel,
Smelling the cream puffs in the basket,
Slyly lifted the cover and took out every one,
Eating them one after the other.
Now to play a trick on Uncle Wiggily,
Said the weasel in a whisper,
For the bunny uncle was still sleeping.
So the bad creature found a lot of puff balls in the woods and put them in the basket in place of the cream puffs.
Puff balls grow on little plants.
They are brown and round and hollow and so far they are like cream puffs,
Except that inside they have a brown fluffy powder that flies all over when you break the puff ball.
And if you are not careful,
It gets in your eyes and nose and makes you sneeze.
I should like to see what Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane do when they open the basket and find puff balls instead of cream puffs,
Snickered the weasel as he went on,
Licking his face where the cream pudding was stuck on his whiskers.
It will be a great joke on them.
But let us see what happens.
Uncle Wiggily awakened from his sleep in the woods and started off towards his hollow stump bungalow.
I declare,
He cried,
That sleep made me hungry.
I shall be glad to eat some of the cream puffs I have in my basket.
What's that?
Asked a sharp voice in the bushes.
What did you say you had in the basket?
Cream puffs,
Answered Uncle Wiggily without thinking,
And then all of a sudden,
Out jumped the bad old skillery,
Skillery alligator with the humps on his tail.
Cream puffs,
Cried the gator,
As I call him for short.
Cream puffs,
If there's one thing I like more than another,
It is cream puffs.
It is lucky you brought them with you or I would have nothing for dessert when I have you for supper.
Are you going to have me for supper?
Asked Uncle Wiggily,
Sort of anxious like.
I am,
Cried the alligator positively,
But I will eat the dessert first.
Give me those cream puffs,
He cried.
And he made a grab for the bunny's basket and reaching in,
Scooped out the puff balls thinking they were cream puffs.
The gator,
Without looking,
Took one bite and a chew and then.
My.
Good snoozeo.
Good snoozeo.
Good chew.
He sneezed as the powder from the puff balls went up his nose and into his eyes.
What funny cream puffs,
Wow.
And not stopping so much as to nibble at Uncle Wiggily,
Away ran the alligator to get a drink of lemonade.
So you see,
After all,
The weasels trick saved Uncle Wiggily,
Who soon went back to the store for more cream puffs,
Real ones this time.
And he got safely home with them.
And nothing else happened that day.
Now,
I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggily and the May Flowers.
Uncle Wiggily and the May Flowers.
Rattatatt,
Came a knock on the door of the hollow stump bungalow,
Where Uncle Wiggily Long Ears,
The rabbit gentleman,
Lived in the woods with Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy,
His muskrat lady housekeeper.
My,
Someone is calling early today,
Said the bunny uncle.
Sit still and eat your breakfast,
Spoke Nurse Jane.
I'll see who it is.
When she opened the door,
There stood Jimmy Wibble Wobble,
The boy duck.
Why,
Where are you going so early this morning,
Jimmy?
Asked Uncle Wiggily.
I'm going to school,
Answered the Wibble Wobble chap,
Who was named that because his tail did wibble and wobble from side to side when he walked.
Aren't you a bit early?
Asked Mr.
Long Ears.
I came early to get you,
Said Jimmy.
Will you come for a walk with me,
Uncle Wiggily?
We can walk towards the hollow stump school where the lady mouse teaches our lessons.
Why,
It's so very early,
Uncle Wiggily went on.
I have hardly had my breakfast.
Why so early,
Jimmy?
The duck boy whispered in Uncle Wiggily's ear.
I want to go early so I can gather some May flowers for the teacher.
This is the first day of May,
You know,
And the flowers that have been wet by the April showers ought to be blooming now.
So they had,
Cried Uncle Wiggily.
I'll hurry with my breakfast,
Jimmy,
And we'll go gathering May flowers in the woods.
Soon,
The bunny uncle and the boy duck were walking along where the green trees grew up out of the carpet of soft green moss.
Here are some yellow violets,
Cried Jimmy as he saw some near an old stump.
Yes,
And I see some white ones,
Cried the bunny uncle as he picked them.
Well,
Jimmy plucked the yellow violets with his strong bill,
Which was also yellow in color.
Then they went on a little farther and saw some bluebells growing.
And the bluebell flowers were tinkling a pretty tinkle tune.
The bluebells even kept tinkling after Jimmy had picked them for his bouquet.
The boy duck waddled on a little farther and all of a sudden he cried.
What a funny flower this is,
Uncle Wiggily.
It's just like the little ice cream cones that come on Christmas trees.
Only it's covered with a flap,
Like a leaf,
And under the flap is a little green thing standing up.
What is it?
That is a jack in the pulpit,
Answered the bunny uncle.
And the jack is the funny green thing.
Jack preaches sermons to all the other flowers,
Telling them how to be beautiful and make sweet perfume.
I'm going to put a jack in the bouquet for the lady mouse teacher,
Said Jimmy,
And he did.
Then he and Uncle Wiggily went farther and farther on in the woods,
Picking May flowers.
And they were almost at the hollow stump school when all at once,
From behind a big stone,
Popped the bad ear-scratching cat.
Aha,
Howl the cat,
I am just in time,
I see.
I haven't scratched any ears in ever and ever so long.
And you have such nice big ears,
Uncle Wiggily,
That it is a real pleasure to scratch them.
Do you mean it is a pleasure for me or for you?
Ask the bunny uncle softly like.
For me,
Of course,
Meow the cat.
Get ready now for the ear-scratching,
Here I come.
Please don't scratch my ears,
Begged Uncle Wiggily,
Please don't.
Yes,
I shall.
Said the bad cat,
Stretching out his claws.
Would you mind scratching my ears instead of Uncle Wiggily's?
Asked Jimmy,
I'll let you scratch mine all you want.
I don't want to,
Spoke the cat.
Your ears are so small that it is no pleasure for me to scratch them,
None at all.
It was very kind of you to offer your ears in place of mine,
Said Uncle Wiggily to the duck boy.
But I can't let you do that.
Go on,
Go on,
Bad cat.
If you are going to scratch my ears,
Please do it now and have it over with.
All right,
Snarled the cat,
I'll scratch your ears.
She was just going to do it when Jimmy suddenly picked up a new flower and holding it toward the cat,
Cried.
Now,
You can't scratch Uncle Wiggily's ears.
This is a dog tooth violet I have just picked.
And if you harm Uncle Wiggily,
I'll make the dog tooth violet bite you.
And then the big violet went,
Bow,
Bow,
Bow,
Bow,
Bow,
Bow,
Just like a dog and the cat thinking a dog was after him meowed.
My dear,
Dear,
This is no place for me.
And away he ran,
Not scratching Uncle Wiggily at all.
Then,
Jimmy put the dog tooth violet on the dog.
Put the dog toothed violet,
Which did not bark anymore,
In his bouquet.
And the lady mouse teacher liked the May flowers very much.
Uncle Wiggly took his flowers to nurse Jane.
And now I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggly and the Beech Tree.
Uncle Wiggly and the Beech Tree Will you go to the store for me,
Uncle Wiggly?
Asked nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy,
The muskrat lady housekeeper of the Rabbit Gentleman one day as he sat out on the porch of his hollow stump bungalow in the woods.
Indeed I will,
Miss Fuzzy Wuzzy,
Said Mr.
Long ears most politely.
What is it you want?
A loaf of bread and a pound of sugar,
She answered,
And Uncle Wiggly started off.
Better take your umbrella,
Nurse Jane called after him.
All the April showers are not over yet,
Even if it is May.
So the Rabbit Gentleman took his umbrella.
On his way to the store through the woods,
The bunny uncle came to a big beech tree,
Which had nice shiny white bark on it.
And to his surprise,
The Rabbit Gentleman saw a big black bear standing up on his hind legs and scratching at the tree bark as hard as he could.
Oh,
That is not the right thing to do,
Said Uncle Wiggly to himself.
If that bear scratches too much of the bark from the tree,
The tree will die.
For the bark of a tree is just like my skin to me.
I must drive the bear away.
The bear,
Scratching the bark with his sharp claws,
Stood with his back to Uncle Wiggly,
And the Rabbit Gentleman thought he could scare the big creature away.
So Uncle Wiggly picked up a stone and throwing it at the bear,
Hit him on the back where the skin was so thick it hardly hurt at all.
And as soon as he had thrown the stone,
Uncle Wiggly shouted in his loudest voice,
Bang,
Bang,
Bungety bang,
Bang.
Oh,
Oh my goodness,
Cried the bear,
Not turning around.
The hunter man with his gun must be after me.
He has shot me once,
But the bullet did not hurt.
Oh,
I'd better run away before he shoots me again.
And the bear ran away,
Never once looking around,
For he thought the stone Mr.
Long Ears threw was a bullet from a gun,
You see.
And he thought when Uncle Wiggly said bang,
That it was a gun going off.
So the Bunny Gentleman scared the bear away.
Thank you,
Uncle Wiggly,
Said the beech tree.
You saved my life by not letting the bear scratch off all my bark.
I am glad I did,
Spoke the rabbit,
Making a polite bow with his tall silk hat.
For Mr.
Long Ears was polite even to a tree.
The bear would not stop scratching my bark when I asked him to,
Went on the beech tree.
So I am glad you came along and scared him.
You did me a great favor,
And I will do you one if ever I can.
Thank you,
Spoke Uncle Wiggly.
And then he hopped on to the store to get the loaf of bread and the pound of sugar for Nurse Jane.
It was on the way back from the store that an adventure happened to Uncle Wiggly.
He came to the place where his friend,
The beech tree,
Was standing up in the woods.
And a balsam tree next door to it was putting on some salve,
Healing cream,
Or balsam,
On the places where the bear had scratched off the bark to make the cuts heal.
Then all of a sudden,
Out from behind a bush,
Jumped the same bad bear that had done the scratching.
Uh-huh,
Growled the bear as soon as he saw Uncle Wiggly.
You can't fool me again,
Making believe a stone is a bullet and that your bang is a gun.
You can't fool me.
I know all about the trick you played on me.
A little bird sitting up in a tree saw it and told me.
Well,
Said Uncle Wiggly slowly,
I'm sorry I had to fool you,
But it was all for the best.
I wanted to save the beech tree.
Oh,
I don't care,
Cried the bear,
Saucy-like and impolitely.
I'm going to scratch as much as I like.
My goodness,
You're almost as bad as the ear-scratching cat,
Said Uncle Wiggly.
I guess I'd better run home to my hollow stump bungalow.
No,
You don't,
Cried the bear and reaching out his claws.
He caught hold of Uncle Wiggly,
Who with his umbrella and the bread and the sugar was standing under the beech tree.
You can't get away from me like that.
And the bear held tightly to the bunny uncle.
Oh dear,
What are you going to do to me?
Asked the rabbit gentleman.
First,
I'll bite you,
Said the bear.
No,
No,
No,
I guess I'll first scratch you.
No,
No,
No,
I won't either.
I'll scratch you.
That's what I'll do.
I'll scryte you.
What's scryte?
Asked Uncle Wiggly,
Curious like.
It's a scratch and a bite made into one,
Said the bear.
And now I'm going to do it.
Oh,
No,
You aren't,
Suddenly cried the beech tree who had been thinking of a way to save Uncle Wiggly.
No,
You don't scryte my friend.
And with that,
The brave tree gave itself a shiver and a shake and shook down on the bear a lot of sharp three cornered beech nuts.
They fell on the bear's soft and tender nose and the sharp edges hurt him so that he cried.
Whoa,
I guess I made a mistake.
I must run away.
And away he ran from the shower of sharp beech nuts,
Which didn't hurt Uncle Wiggly at all because he raised his umbrella and kept them off.
Then he thanked the tree for having saved him from the bear and went safely home.
And next time,
I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggly and the bitter medicine.
That's all for today.
Bye for now.
