Rabbit Adventures With Uncle Wiggily - Pt 5 – Children's Story

We had a request from a listener for a story about rabbits. So, here’s one. It’s part of a series about the lovely adventures of a kind, gentlemen elderly rabbit and all his animal friends, nieces & nephews. Uncle Wiggily in the Woods – passing on rabbit wisdom to help and teach the youngsters about nature, trees, life, life in the woods, and having fun! This time, we bring you Part 5.

Transcript

Hi, This is Stefania. And this is Uncle Wiggly in the Woods. Part 5. Uncle Wiggly and the Birch Tree. Uncle Wiggly Long Ears, The nice old rapid gentleman, Was walking along through the woods one afternoon when he came to the hollow stump school, Where the lady mouse teacher taught the animal boys and girls how to jump, Crack nuts, Dig homes underground, And do all manner of things that animal folk have to do. And, Just as the rapid gentleman was wondering whether or not school was out, He heard a voice inside the hollow stump saying, Oh dear, I wish I had someone to help me, I'll never get them clean all by myself, Oh dear. That sounds like trouble, Thought Mr. Long Ears to himself. I wonder who it is and if I can help. I guess I better see. He looked in through a window and there he saw the lady mouse teacher cleaning off the school blackboards. The boards were all covered with white chalk marks, You see. What's the matter, Lady mouse teacher? Asked Uncle Wiggly, Making a polite low bow. Oh, I told Johnny and Billy Bushytail, The two squirrel boys, To stay in and clean off the blackboards, So they would be all ready for tomorrow's lesson, Said lady mouse, But they forgot and ran off to play ball with Jackie and Petey Bow Wow. The puppy dog boys. So, I have to clean the boards myself and I really ought to be home now, For I am very tired. Then, You trot right along, Said Uncle Wiggly kindly. Tie a knot in your tail so you won't step on it and hurry along. But what about the blackboards? Asked the lady mouse. They must be cleaned off. I will tend to that, Promised the bunny uncle. I will clean them myself. Run along, Miss Mouse. So, Miss Mouse thanked the bunny uncle and ran along, And the rabbit gentleman began brushing the chalk marks off the blackboards at the same time, Humming a little tune that went this way. I love to be a teacher within a hollow stump. I teach the children how to fall and never get a bump. I'd let them out at recess, A game of tag to play. I give them all fresh lollipops most every other day. Oh, My, Wouldn't we just love to come to school with you, Cried a voice at the window, And looking up, Uncle Wiggly saw Billy Bushy-Tail, The boy squirrel, And Brother Johnny with him. Hoi, What happened to you two chaps? Asked the bunny uncle. Why did you run off without cleaning the blackboards for the lady mouse teacher? We forgot, Said Johnny, Sort of ashamed-like and sorry. That's what we came back to do, Clean the boards. Well, That was good of you, Spoke Uncle Wiggly, But I have the boards nearly cleaned now. Then we will give them a dusting with our tails, And that will finish them, Said Billy, And the squirrel boys did. So the blackboards were very clean. Now it's time to go home, Said Uncle Wiggly. So he locked the school, Putting the key under the doormat where the lady mouse could find it in the morning, And with the Bushy-Tail squirrel boys he started off through the woods. You and Billy can go back to your play now, Johnny, Said the bunny uncle. It was good of you to leave it to come back to do what you were told. The three animal friends hopped and scrambled on together until, All of a sudden, The billy bad old fox, Who so often had made trouble for Uncle Wiggly, Jumped out from behind the bush crying, Ah ha ha, Now I have you, Mr. Long-Ears, And two squirrels besides. Good luck. Bad luck, Whispered Billy. The fox made a grab for the rabbit gentleman, But all of a sudden the paw of the bad creature slipped in some mud, And down he went head first into a puddle of water, Coughing and sneezing. Come on, Uncle Wiggly, Quickly cried Billy and Johnny, This is our chance. We'll run away before the fox gets the water out of his eyes. He can't see us now. So away ran the rabbit gentleman and the squirrel boys, But soon the fox had dried his eyes on his big brush of a tail, And on he came after them. Oh, I'll get you, I'll get you, He cried, Running very fast. But Uncle Wiggly and Billy and Johnny ran fast too. The fox was coming closer, However, And Billy, Looking back, Said, Oh, I know what let's do, Uncle Wiggly, Let's take the path that leads over the duck pond ocean, That's shorter, And we can get to your bungalow before the fox can catch us. He won't dare come across the bridge over the duck pond, For old dog Percival will come out and bite him if he does. We will, Said Uncle Wiggly, Over the bridge we will go, But alas, When the three friends got to the bridge, It wasn't there. The wind had blown the bridge down, And there was no way of getting across the duck pond ocean, For neither Uncle Wiggly nor the squirrel boys could swim very well. Oh, What are we going to do, Cried Billy sadly. We must get across somehow, Chattered Johnny, For here comes the fox. And surely enough the fox was coming, Having by this time gotten all the water out of his eyes so he could see very well. Oh, Only we had a boat, Exclaimed Uncle Wiggly, Looking along the shore of the pond, But there was no boat to be seen. Nearer and nearer came the fox. Uncle Wiggly and the squirrel boys were just going to jump in the water whether or not they could swim, When all of a sudden a big white birch tree on the edge of the woods near the pond said, Listen Uncle Wiggly, And I will save you. Strip off some of my bark. It will not hurt me, And you can make a little canoe boat of it, As the Indians used to do. Then in the birch bark boat you can sail across the water and the fox can get you. Good, Thank you, Cried the bunny uncle. With their sharp teeth he, Billy and Johnny peeled off long strips of birch bark. They quickly bent them in the shape of a boat and sewed up the ends with long thorns for needles and ribbon grass for thread. Quick, Into the birch bark boat, Cried Uncle Wiggly, And they all jumped in just as the fox came along. Billy and Johnny held up their bushy tails and Uncle Wiggly held up his tall silk hat for sails, And soon they were safe on the other side and the fox, Not being able to swim, Could not get them. So that's how the birch tree of the woods saved the bunny uncle and the squirrels, For which I am very glad. I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggly and the Butter Nut Tree. Uncle Wiggly and the Butter Nut Tree. Well, I declare, Exclaimed Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, The muskrat lady housekeeper of Uncle Wiggly Long Ears, The rabbit, As she looked in the pantry of the hollow stump bungalow one day. Well, I do declare. What's the matter? Asked Mr. Long Ears, Peeping over the top of his spectacles. I hope that the chimney hasn't fallen down, Or the egg beater run away with the potato masher. No, Nothing like that, Nurse Jane said, But we haven't any butter. No butter, Spoke Uncle Wiggly, Sort of puzzled like and abstracted. Not a bit of butter for supper, Went on Nurse Jane sadly. Ha, That sounds like something from Mother Goose, Not a bit of butter for supper, Laughed Uncle Wiggly. Not a bit of better butter for the pitter patter supper. If Peter Piper picked a pick a pick a peppers. Oh, Don't start that, Begged Nurse Jane. All I need is some supper for butter. No, No, No, Bumper for batter. No, No, Oh dear, I'll never get it straight, She cried. I'll say it for you, Said Uncle Wiggly kindly. I know what you want, Some butter for supper. I'll go get it for you. Thank you, Nurse Jane exclaimed. And so the old rabbit gentleman started off over the fields and through the woods for the butter store. The monkey doodle gentleman, Owner of the store, Waited on him, And soon Uncle Wiggly was on his way back to the hollow stump bungalow with the butter for supper. And he was thinking of how nice the carrot muffins would taste, For Nurse Jane had promised to make some. And Uncle Wiggly was sort of smacking his whiskers and twinkling his nose when all of a sudden he heard someone in the woods calling. Uncle Wiggly. Oh, I say, Uncle Wiggly. Won't you stop for a moment and say how do you do? Why, Of course I can, Answered the bunny. And looking around the corner of an old log, He saw Grandpa Whackam, The old beaver gentleman who lived with toodle and noodle flat-tail, The Beaver Boys. Come in and sit down for a minute and rest yourself, Invited Grandpa Whackam. I will, Said Uncle Wiggly, And I'll leave my butter outside where it will be cool. For Grandpa Whackam lived down in an underground house where it was so warm in summer that butter would melt. Grandpa Whackam was a beaver, And he was called Whackam because he used to whack his broad flat tail on the ground, Like beating a drum to warn the other beavers of danger. Beavers, You know, Are something like big muskrats, And they like water. Their tails are flat like a pancake. Well, How are things with you, And how is Nurse Jane? Asked Grandpa Whackam. Oh, Everything is fine, Said Uncle Wiggly. Nurse Jane is well. I've just been to the store to get her some butter. That's just like you, Always doing something for someone, Said Grandpa Whackam, Please, Like. Then the two friends talked for some little while longer until it was almost six o'clock, And time for Uncle Wiggly to go. I'll take my butter and travel along, He said. But when he went outside, Where he had left the pound of butter on a flat stump, It wasn't there. Why? This is queer, Said the bunny uncle. I wonder if Nurse Jane could have come along and taken it to the hollow stump bungalow herself. More likely a bad fox took the butter, Spoke the old gentleman. And Beaver? But we can soon tell. I'll look in the dirt around the stump and see whose footprints are there. A fox makes different tracks from a muskrat. So Grandpa Whackam looked, And he said, Why, This is queer. I can only see Beaver tracks and rabbit tracks near the stump. Only you and I were here, And we didn't take anything. But where is my butter? Asked Uncle Wiggly. Just then, Off in the woods near the Beaver house came the song of laughter and voices called, Oh, Is my turn now, Toodle? Yes, Noodle, And then it's mine. Oh, What fun we are having, Aren't we? It's Toodle and Noodle, My two Beaver grandsons, Said Grandpa Whackam. I wonder if they could have taken your butter. Come on, We'll find out. They went softly behind a clump of bushes, And there they saw Toodle and Noodle sliding down the slanting log of a tree that was like a little hill, Only there was no snow on it. Why, They're coasting, Cried Grandpa Whackam. And how can they do it without snow? I don't see. But I see, Said Uncle Wiggly, Those two little Beaver boys have taken my butter that I left outside your house, And with the butter they have greased the slanting log until it is as slippery as ice. That's how they slide down, On Noose James Butter. Oh, The little rascals, Cried Grandpa Whackam. Well, They didn't mean anything wrong, Uncle Wiggly kindly said. Then he called, Toodle, Noodle, Is there any of my butter left? Your butter? Said Noodle, Surprised Like. Was that your butter? Asked Toodle. Oh, Please forgive us, We thought no one wanted it, And we took it to grease the big log so we could slide down. It was as good as sliding down a muddy slippery bank of mud into the lake. We used all your butter, Spoke Noodle, Every bit. Oh dear. That's too bad, Uncle Wiggly said. It is now after six o'clock and all the stores will be closed. How can I get more? And he looked at the butter the Beaver boys had spread on the tree. It cannot be used for bread as it was all full of bark. Oh, How can I get some good butter for Nurse Jane? Asked the Bunny Uncle sadly. Ah, I will give you some, Spoke a voice high in the air. Who? Who are you? Asked Uncle Wiggly, Startled. I am the butter nut tree, Was the answer. I'll drop some nuts down and all you will have to do will be to crack them, Pick out the meats and squeeze out the butter. It is almost as good as that which you bought in the store. God, Cried Uncle Wiggly, And thank you. Then the butter tree rattled down some butter nuts, Which Uncle Wiggly took home and Nurse Jane said the butter squeezed from them was very good. And Toodle and Noodle were sorry for having taken Uncle Wiggly's other butter to make a slippery tree slide, But they meant no harm. So happily and luckily everything worked out, Didn't it? Uncle Wiggly got some more butter from the butter nut tree. Have you ever seen a butter nut tree? Now we know. Butternut trees were very good for saving Uncle Wiggly, So he didn't go home empty handed. That's it for now. I'll be back again soon with more stories. Bye for now.

Reviews

amazing 😻