MOTHER WEST WIND "WHY" STORIES

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. WHY STRIPED CHIPMUNK IS PROUD OF HIS STRIPES
II. WHY PETER RABBIT CANNOT FOLD HIS HANDS
III. WHY UNC' BILLY POSSUM PLAYS DEAD
IV. WHY REDDY FOX WEARS RED
V. WHY JIMMY SKUNK NEVER HURRIES
VI. WHY SAMMY JAY HAS A FINE COAT
VII. WHY JERRY MUSKRAT BUILDS HIS HOUSE IN THE WATER
VIII. WHY OLD MAN COYOTE HAS MANY VOICES
IX. WHY MINER THE MOLE LIVES UNDER GROUND
X. WHY MR. SNAKE CANNOT WINK
XI. WHY BOBBY COON HAS RINGS ON HIS TAIL
XII. WHY THERE IS A BLACK HEAD IN THE BUZZARD FAMILY
XIII. WHY BUSTER BEAR APPEARS TO HAVE NO TAIL
XIV. WHY FLITTER THE BAT FLIES AT NIGHT
XV. WHY SPOTTY THE TURTLE CARRIES HIS HOUSE WITH HIM
XVI. WHY PADDY THE BEAVER HAS A BROAD TAIL




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


"HE WENT RIGHT ON ABOUT HIS BUSINESS"

"AS THEY WERE ALL VERY HUNGRY, THEY WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHEN THE FEAST
WOULD BE READY"

"YOU DON'T MEAN TO SAY SO, PETER," INTERRUPTED GRANDFATHER FROG

HE WOULD MAKE NO REPLY, SAVE TO RUN OUT HIS TONGUE AT THEM

"THEN OLD KING BEAR WISHED THAT HE HADN'T A TAIL"

"IT MUST BE FINE TO FLY," THOUGHT PETER. "I WISH I COULD FLY"

"HI, SPOTTY!" HE SHOUTED, "WHERE DO YOU LIVE?"

THE FIRST THING PETER LOOKED TO SEE WAS WHAT KIND OF A TAIL PADDY HAS




I

WHY STRIPED CHIPMUNK IS PROUD OF HIS STRIPES


The Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind are great friends of
Striped Chipmunk. They hurry to call on him the very first thing every
morning after Old Mother West Wind has brought them down from the
Purple Hills. They always beg him to stop and play with them, but
often he refuses. But he does it in such a merry way and with such a
twinkle in his eyes that the Merry Little Breezes never get cross
because he won't play. No, Sir, they never get cross. If anything,
they think just a little bit more of Striped Chipmunk because he won't
play. You see, they know that the reason he won't play is because he
has work to do, and Striped Chipmunk believes and says:

"When there is work for me to do
The sooner started, sooner through."

So every morning they ask him to play, and every morning they laugh
when he says he has too much to do. Then they rumple up his hair and
pull his whiskers and give him last tag and race down to the Smiling
Pool to see Grandfather Frog and beg him for a story. Now Grandfather
Frog is very old and very wise, and he knows all about the days when
the world was young. When he is feeling just right, he dearly loves to
tell about those long-ago days.

One morning the Merry Little Breezes found Grandfather Frog sitting
as usual on his big green lily-pad, and they knew by the way he folded
his hands across his white and yellow waistcoat that it was full of
foolish green flies.

"Oh, Grandfather Frog, please do tell us why it is that Striped
Chipmunk has such beautiful stripes on his coat," begged one of the
Merry Little Breezes.

"Chug-a-rum! They are stripes of honor," replied Grandfather Frog, in
his deep, gruff voice.

"Honor! Oh, how lovely! Do tell us about it! Please do!" begged the
Merry Little Breezes.

"Chug-a-rum!" began Grandfather Frog, his big, goggly eyes twinkling.
"Once upon a time, when the world was young, old Mr. Chipmunk, the
grandfather a thousand times removed of Striped Chipmunk, lived very
much as Striped Chipmunk does now. He was always very busy, very
busy, indeed, and it was always about his own affairs. 'By attending
strictly to my own business, I have no time to meddle with the affairs
of my neighbors, and so I keep out of trouble,' said old Mr.
Chipmunk,"

"Just what Striped Chipmunk says now," broke in one of the Merry
Little Breezes.

"That shows that he is just as wise as was his grandfather a thousand
times removed, about whom I am telling you," replied Grandfather Frog.
"Old Mr. Chipmunk wore just a little, plain brown coat. It didn't
worry him a bit, not a bit, that his coat was just plain brown. It
kept him just as warm as if it were a beautiful red, like that of Mr.
Fox, or handsome black and white, like that of Mr. Skunk. He was
perfectly satisfied with his little plain brown coat and took the best
of care of it.