Chapter 15,
Farmer Brown's Boy Tries to Make Friends Nobody lives who's wholly bad.
Some good you'll find in every heart.
Your enemies will be your friends,
If only you will do your part.
All his life,
Chatterer the Red Squirrel had looked on Farmer Brown's Boy as his enemy.
Just as did all the other little people of the Green Meadows,
The Green Forest and the Smiling Pool.
They feared him,
And because they feared him,
They hated him.
So,
Whenever he came near,
They ran away.
Now,
At first,
Farmer Brown's Boy used to run after them for just one thing.
Because he wanted to make friends with them.
And he couldn't see however he was going to do it,
Unless he caught them.
After a while,
When he found that he couldn't catch them by running after them,
He made up his mind that they didn't want to be friends.
And so,
Then,
He began to hunt them,
Because he thought it was fun to try and outwit them.
Of course,
When he began to do that,
They hated him and feared him all the more.
You see,
They didn't understand that really he had one of the kindest hearts in the world.
And he didn't understand that they hated him,
Just because they didn't know him.
So,
When Chatterer had been caught in the trap in Farmer Brown's corn crib,
He hadn't doubted in the least that Farmer Brown's Boy would give him to Black Pussy,
Or do something equally cruel.
And even when he found that he was only to be kept a prisoner in a very comfortable prison,
With plenty to eat and drink,
He wasn't willing to believe any good of Farmer Brown's Boy.
Indeed,
He hated him more than ever.
But,
Farmer Brown's Boy was very patient.
He came to Chatterer's prison ever so many times a day,
And whistled and clucked and talked to Chatterer.
And he brought Chatterer to his room,
And whistled and clucked and talked to Chatterer.
And he brought good things to eat.
It seemed as if he were,
All the time,
Trying to think of some new treat for Chatterer.
He never came without bringing something.
At first,
Chatterer would hide in his hollow stump as soon as he saw Farmer Brown's Boy coming,
And wouldn't so much as peek out until he had gone away.
When he was sure that the way was clear,
He would come out again,
And always he found some delicious fat nuts,
Or some other delicious treat waiting for him.
After a little,
As soon as he saw Farmer Brown's Boy coming,
Chatterer would begin to wonder what good thing he had brought this time,
And would grow terribly impatient for Farmer Brown's Boy to go away,
So that he could find out.
By and by,
It got so that he couldn't wait,
But would slyly peep out of his little round doorway to see what he had brought for him.
Then,
One day,
Farmer Brown's Boy didn't come at all.
Chatterer tried to make himself believe that he was glad.
He told himself that he hated Farmer Brown's Boy,
And he hoped that he never,
Never would see him again.
But all the time,
He knew that it wasn't true.
It was the longest day since Chatterer had been a prisoner.
Early the next morning,
Before Chatterer was out of bed,
He heard a step in the woodshed,
And before he thought what he was doing,
He was out of his hollow stump to see if it really was Farmer Brown's Boy.
It was,
And he had three great fat nuts,
Which he dropped into Chatterer's cage.
It seemed to Chatterer that he just couldn't wait for Farmer Brown's Boy to go away.
Finally,
He darted forward and seized one.
Then he scampered to the shelter of his hollow stump to eat it.
When it was finished,
He just had to have another.
Farmer Brown's Boy was still watching,
But somehow Chatterer didn't feel so much afraid.
This time,
He sat up on one of the little branches of the stump.
This time,
He sat up on one of the little branches of the stump and ate in plain sight.
Farmer Brown's Boy smiled,
And it was a pleasant smile.
I believe we shall be friends after all,
Said he.
Chapter 16.
Chatterer Has a Pleasant Surprise Chatterer the Red Squirrel,
The mischief-maker of the Green Forest,
Had never been more comfortable in his life.
No matter how rough Brother North Wind roared across the green meadows and through the Green Forest,
Piling the snow in great drifts,
He couldn't send so much as one tiny shiver through the little red coat of Chatterer.
And always right at hand was plenty to eat,
Corn and nuts and other good things such as Chatterer loves.
No,
He never had been so comfortable in all his life.
But he wasn't happy,
Not truly happy.
You see,
He was in prison.
And no matter how nice a prison may be,
No one can truly be happy there.
Since he had been a prisoner,
Chatterer had learned to think very differently of Farmer Brown's Boy from what he used to think.
In fact,
He and Farmer Brown's Boy had become very good friends.
For Farmer Brown's Boy was always very gentle and always brought him something good to eat.
He isn't at all what I had thought,
Said Chatterer.
And if I were free,
I wouldn't be afraid of him at all.
I'd like to tell some of the other little Green Forest people about him,
If only… Chatterer didn't finish.
Instead,
A great lump filled his throat.
You see,
He was thinking of the Green Forest and the old orchard and how he used to race through the treetops and along the stone wall.
Half the fun in life had been in running and jumping.
And now there wasn't room for him.
And now there wasn't room in this little prison to stretch his legs.
If only he could run,
Run as hard as ever he knew how once in a while,
He felt that his prison wouldn't be quite so hard to put up with.
That very afternoon,
While Chatterer was taking a nap in his bed in the hollow stump,
Something was slipped over his round doorway and Chatterer awoke in a terrible fright to find himself a prisoner inside his hollow stump.
There was nothing he could do about it.
But just lie there in his bed and shake with fright and wonder what dreadful thing was going to happen next.
He could hear Farmer Brown's boy very busy about something in his cage.
After a long,
Long time,
His little round doorway let in the light once more.
The door had been opened.
At first,
Chatterer didn't dare go out.
But he heard the soft little whistle with which Farmer Brown's boy was sleeping.
With which Farmer Brown's boy always called him when he had something especially nice for him to eat.
So,
At last,
He peeped out.
There on the floor of the cage were some of the nicest nuts.
Chatterer came out at once.
Then his sharp eyes discovered something else.
It was an odd-looking thing made of wire at one end of his cage.
Chatterer looked at it with great suspicion.
Could it be a new kind of trap?
But what would a trap be doing there when he was already a prisoner?
He ate all the nuts,
All the time watching this new odd-looking thing.
It seemed harmless enough.
He went a little nearer.
Finally,
He hopped into it.
It moved.
Of course,
That frightened him.
And he started to run up.
But he didn't go up.
No,
Sir.
He didn't go up.
You see,
He was in a wire wheel.
He was in a wire wheel.
And as he ran,
The wheel went around.
Chatterer was terribly frightened.
And the faster he tried to run,
The faster the wheel went around.
Finally,
He had to stop because he was out of breath and too tired to run another step.
When he stopped,
The wheel stopped.
Little by little,
Chatterer began to understand.
Farmer Brown's boy had made that wheel to give him a chance to run all he wanted to and whenever he wanted to.
When he understood this,
Chatterer was as nearly happy as he could be in a prison.
It was such a pleasant surprise.
He would race and race in it until he just had to stop for breath.
Farmer Brown's boy looked on and laughed to see how much happier he had made Chatterer.
