Mother West Wind Where Stories
Page 6
VI
WHERE GLUTTON THE WOLVERINE GOT HIS NAME
Glutton the Wolverine is a dweller in the depths of the Great Forests ofthe Far North, and it is doubtful if Peter Rabbit would ever have knownthat there is such a person but for his acquaintance with Honker theGoose, who spends his summers in the Far North, but each spring and fallstops over for a day or two in a little pond in the Green Forest, a pondPeter often visits. This acquaintance with Honker and Peter'severlasting curiosity have resulted in many strange stories. At leastthey have seemed strange to Peter because they have been about furredand feathered people whom Peter has never seen. And one of the strangestof these is the story of how Glutton the Wolverine got his name.
Of course you know what a glutton is. It is one who is very, very, verygreedy and eats and eats as if eating were the only thing in life worthwhile. It is one who is all the time thinking of his stomach. No onelikes to be called a glutton. So when Honker the Goose happened tomention Glutton, it caused Peter to prick up his ears at once.
"Who's a glutton?" he demanded.
"I didn't say any one was a glutton," replied Honker. "I was speaking ofGlutton the Wolverine who lives in the Great Forests of the Far North,and whom everybody hates."
"Is Glutton his name?" asked Peter, wrinkling his brows in perplexity,for it seemed a very queer name for any one.
"Certainly," replied Honker. "Certainly that is his name, and a verygood name for him it is. But then of course it is because he _is_ aglutton that he is named Glutton. Rather I should say that is the reasonthe first Wolverine was named Glutton. The name has been handed downever since, and it fits Mr. Wolverine of today quite as well as ever itdid his great-great-ever-so-great-grandfather."
"Tell me about it," Peter begged. "Please tell me about it."
"Tell you about what?" asked Honker, pretending not to understand.
"About how the first Wolverine got the name of Glutton," replied Peterpromptly. "There must have been a very good reason, and if there was avery good reason, there must be a story. Please, Honker, tell me allabout it."
Honker swam a little way out from shore, and with head held high andvery still, he looked and listened and listened and looked until he wasquite certain that no danger lurked near. Then he swam back to wherePeter was sitting on the bank.
"Peter," said he, "I never in all my born days have seen such a fellowfor questions as you are. If I lived about here, I think I should swimaway every time I saw you coming. But as I only stop here for a day ortwo twice a year, I guess I can stand it. Besides, you really ought toknow something about some of the people who live in the Great Forest. Itis shameful, Peter, that you should be so ignorant. And so if you willpromise not to ask for another story while I am here, I will tell youabout Glutton the Wolverine."
Of course Peter promised. He wanted that story so much that he wouldhave promised anything. So Honker told the story, and here it is just asPeter heard it.
"Once upon a time long, long, long ago, the first Wolverine was sent outto find a place for himself in the Great World just as every one elsehad been sent out. Old Mother Nature had told him that he was related toMr. Weasel and Mr. Mink and Mr. Fisher and Mr. Skunk, but no one wouldhave guessed it just to look at him. In fact, some of his new neighborswere inclined to think that he was related to Old King Bear. Certainlyhe looked more like King Bear than he did like little Mr. Weasel. Butfor his bushy tail he would have looked still more like a member of theBear family. He was clumsy-looking. He was rather slow moving, but hewas strong, very strong for his size. And he had a mean disposition.Yes, Sir, Mr. Wolverine had a mean disposition. He had such a meandisposition that he would snarl at his own reflection in a pool ofwater.
"Now you know as well as I do that no one with a mean disposition hasany friends. It was so with Mr. Wolverine. When his neighbors found outwhat a mean disposition he had, they let him severely alone. They wouldgo out of their way to avoid meeting him. This made his disposition allthe meaner. He didn't really care because his neighbors would havenothing to do with him. No, he didn't really care, for the simple reasonthat he didn't want anything to do with them. But just the same it madehim angry to have them show that they didn't want to have anything to dowith him. Every time he would see one of them turn aside to avoidmeeting him, he would snarl under his breath, and his eyes would glowwith anger; he would resolve to get even.
"Being slow in his movements because of his stout build, he earlyrealized that he must make nimble wits make up for the lack of nimblelegs. He also learned very early in life that patience is a virtue fewpossess, and that patience and nimble wits will accomplish almostanything. So, living alone in the Great Forest, he practised patienceuntil no one in all the Great World could be more patient than he. Noone knew this because, you see, everybody kept away from him. And allthe time he was practising patience, he was studying and studying theother people of the Great Forest, both large and small, learning alltheir habits, how they lived, where they lived, what they ate, and allabout them.
"'One never knows when such knowledge may be useful,' he would say tohimself. 'The more I know about other people and the less they knowabout me the better.'
"So Mr. Wolverine kept out of sight as much as possible, and none knewhow he lived or where he lived or anything about him save that he had amean disposition. Patiently he watched the other people, especiallythose of nimble wits who lived largely by their cunning andcleverness--Mr. Fox, Mr. Coyote, Mr. Lynx and his own cousins, Mr. Minkand Mr. Weasel. From each one he learned something, and at last he wasmore cunning and more clever than any of them or even than all of them,for that matter.
"Living alone as he did, and having a mean disposition, he grew more andmore sullen and savage until those who at first had avoided him simplybecause of his mean disposition now kept out of his way through fear,for his claws were long and his strength was great and his teeth weresharp. It didn't take him long to discover that there were few who didnot fear him, and he cunningly contrived to increase this fear, for hehad a feeling that the time might come when it would be of use to him.
"The time did come. As you know, there came a time when food was scarce,and everybody, or almost everybody, had hard work to get enough to keepalive. Mr. Wolverine didn't. The fact is, Mr. Wolverine lived very wellindeed. He simply reaped the reward of his patience in learning allabout the ways of his neighbors, of his nimble wits and of the fearwhich he inspired. Instead of hunting for food himself, he depended onhis neighbors to hunt for him. They didn't know they were hunting forhim, but somehow whenever one of them had secured a good meal, Mr.Wolverine was almost sure to happen along. A growl from him was enough,and that meal was left in his possession.
"Knowing how scarce food was and the uncertainty of when he would getthe next meal, Mr. Wolverine always made it a point on these occasionsto stuff himself until it was a wonder his skin didn't burst. If therewas more than he could eat, he would take a nap right there, and becauseof fear of him the rightful owner of the food would not dare take whatwas left. When he awoke Mr. Wolverine would finish what remained.
"Those who secured more food than they could eat and tried to store awaythe rest found that no matter how cunningly they chose a hiding-placefor it and covered their tracks, Mr. Wolverine was sure to find it. Infact, he made a business of robbing storehouses, and the habit ofgreediness became so strong that he would stuff himself at onestorehouse and immediately start for another. When it did happen that hecouldn't eat all he found and yet didn't want to stay until he couldfinish it, he would tear to bits all that remained and scatter it allabout. You know I told you he had a mean disposition.
"Even when good times returned and there was no possible excuse forsuch greed, Mr. Wolverine continued to stuff himself until it seemedthat instead of eating in order to live, as the rest of us do, he livedin order to eat. Of course it wasn't long before some one called him aglutton, and presently he was named Glutton, and no one called himanything else. Glutton by name and a glutton in habi
t he remained aslong as he lived. Both name and habits he handed down to his childrenand they to their children. So it is that today there is no more cunningthief, no greedier rascal, and no one with a meaner disposition in allthe Great Woods of the Far North than Glutton the Wolverine."
"Queer how a habit will stick, isn't it?" said Peter thoughtfully.
"Particularly a bad habit," added Honker.