III
HOW PRICKLY PORKY GOT HIS QUILLS
The newcomer in the Green Forest was a source of great interest to theMerry Little Breezes. Ever since they had seen him turn himself into ahuge prickly ball, like a giant chestnut burr, and with a slap of histail send Bowser the Hound yelping home with his lips stuck full oflittle barbed spears, they had visited the Green Forest every day towatch Prickly Porky.
He was not very social. Indeed, he was not social at all, but attendedstrictly to his own business, which consisted chiefly of stripping barkfrom the trees and eating it. Never had the Merry Little Breezes seensuch an appetite! Already that part of the Green Forest where he hadchosen to live had many bare stark trees, killed that Prickly Porky thePorcupine might live. You see a tree cannot live without bark, andPrickly Porky had stripped them clean to fill his stomach.
But if Prickly Porky was not social he was not unfriendly. He seemed toenjoy having the Merry Little Breezes about, and did not in the leastmind having them rumple up the long hair of his coat to feel the sharplittle barbed spears underneath. Some of these were so loose that theydropped out. Peter Rabbit's curiosity led him to examine some of theseamong bits of bark at the foot of a tree. Peter wished that he had leftthem alone. One of the sharp little barbs pierced his tender skin andPeter could not get it out. He had to ask Johnny Chuck to do it forhim, and it had hurt dreadfully.
After that the little meadow people and forest folks held Prickly Porkyin greater respect than ever and left him severely alone, which was justwhat he seemed to want.
One morning the Merry Little Breezes failed to find Prickly Porky in theGreen Forest. Could he have left as mysteriously as he had come? Theyhurried down to the Smiling Pool to tell Grandfather Frog. Burstingthrough the bulrushes on the edge of the Smiling Pool, they nearly upsetJerry Muskrat, who was sitting on an old log intently watching somethingout in the middle of the Smiling Pool. It was Prickly Porky. Some of thesharp little barbed spears were standing on end; altogether he was thequeerest sight the Smiling Pool had seen for a long time.
He was swimming easily and you may be sure no one tried to bother him.Little Joe Otter and Billy Mink sat on the Big Rock and for once theyhad forgotten to play tricks. When Prickly Porky headed towards the BigRock, Little Joe Otter suddenly remembered that he had business down theLaughing Brook, and Billy Mink recalled that Mother Mink had forbiddenhim to play at the Smiling Pool. Prickly Porky had the Smiling Poolquite to himself.
When he had swum to his heart's content he climbed out, shook himselfand slowly ambled up the Lone Little Path to the Green Forest. The MerryLittle Breezes watched him out of sight. Then they danced over to thebig green lily-pad on which sat Grandfather Frog. The Merry LittleBreezes are great favorites with Grandfather Frog. As usual they broughthim some foolish green flies. Grandfather Frog's eyes twinkled as hesnapped up the last foolish green fly.
"Chug-a-rum!" said Grandfather Frog, "and now I suppose you want astory." And he folded his hands across his white and yellow waistcoat.
"If you please!" shouted the Merry Little Breezes. "If you please, dotell us how it is that Prickly Porky has spears on his back!"
Grandfather settled himself comfortably. "Chug-a-rum!" said he. "Onceupon a time when the world was young, Mr. Porcupine, the grandfather athousand times removed of Prickly Porky, whom you all know, lived in theGreen Forest where old King Bear ruled. Mr. Porcupine was a slow clumsyfellow, just as his grandson a thousand times removed is to-day. He wasso slow moving, and when he tried to hurry tumbled over himself somuch, that he had hard work to get enough to eat. Always some onereached the berry patch before he did. The beetles and the bugs were sospry that seldom could he catch them. Hunger was in his stomach, andlittle else most of the time. Mr. Porcupine grew thin and thinner andstill more thin. His long, shaggy coat looked twice too big for him.Because he was so hungry he could sleep little, and night as well as dayhe roamed the forest, thinking of nothing but his empty stomach, andlooking for something to put in it. So he learned to see by night aswell as by day.
"One day he could not find a single berry and not a beetle or a bugcould he catch. He was so hungry that he sat down with his back againsta big black birch, and clasping both hands over his lean stomach, hewept. There Sister South Wind found him, and her heart was moved topity, for she knew that his wits were as slow as his body. Softly shestole up behind him.
"'Try the bark of the black birch; it's sweet and good,' whisperedSister South Wind. Then she hurried on her way.
"Mr. Porcupine still sat with his hands clasped over his lean stomach,for it took a long time for his slow wit to understand what Sister SouthWind meant. 'Bark, bark, try bark,' said Mr. Porcupine over and over tohimself. He rolled his dull little eyes up at the big black birch. 'Ibelieve I will try it,' said Mr. Porcupine at last.
"Slowly he turned and began to gnaw the bark of the big black birch. Itwas tough, but it tasted good. Clumsily he began to climb, tearing off amouthful of bark here and there as he climbed. The higher he got thetenderer and sweeter the bark became. Finally he reached the top of thetree, and there on the small branches the bark was so tender and sosweet that he ate and ate and ate until for the first time in many daysMr. Porcupine had a full stomach. That night he curled up in a hollowlog and slept all the night through, dreaming of great forests of blackbirch and all he wanted to eat.
"The next day he hunted for and found another black birch, and climbingto the top, he ate and ate until his stomach was full. From that time onMr. Porcupine ceased to hunt for berries or beetles or bugs. He grewstout and stouter. He filled his shaggy coat until it was so tight itthreatened to burst.
"Now while Mr. Porcupine was so thin and lean he had no enemies, butwhen he grew stout and then fat, Mr. Panther and Mr. Fisher and Mr.Bobcat and even old King Bear began to cast longing eyes upon him, fortimes were hard and they were hungry. Mr. Porcupine began to growafraid. By night he hid in hollow trees and by day he went abroad to eatonly when he was sure that no one bigger than himself was about. Andbecause he no longer dared to move about as before, he no longerdepended upon the black birch alone, but learned to eat and to like allkinds of bark.
"One day he had made his breakfast on the bark of a honey-locust. Whenhe came down the tree he brought with him a strip of bark, and attachedto it were some of the long thorns with which the honey-locust seeks toprotect itself. When he reached the ground whom should he find waitingfor him but Mr. Panther. Mr. Panther was very lean and very hungry, forhunting had been poor and the times were hard.
"'Good morning, Mr. Porcupine,' said Mr. Panther, with a wicked grin.'How fat you are!'
"'Good morning, Mr. Panther,' said Mr. Porcupine politely, but his longhair stood on end with fright, as he looked into Mr. Panther's cruelyellow eyes.
"'I say, how fat you are,' said Mr. Panther, licking his chops andshowing all his long teeth. 'What do you find to eat these hard times?'
"'Bark, Mr. Panther, just bark,' said Mr. Porcupine, while his teethchattered with fear. 'It really is very nice and sweet. Won't you try apiece, Mr. Panther?' Mr. Porcupine held out the strip of locust barkwhich he had brought down the tree for his lunch.
"Now Mr. Panther had never tried bark, but he thought to himself thatif it made Mr. Porcupine so fat it must be good. He would try the pieceof bark first and eat Mr. Porcupine afterward. So he reached out andsnapped up the strip of bark.
"Now the locust thorns were long and they were sharp. They pierced Mr.Panther's tender lips and his tongue. They stuck in the roof of hismouth. Mr. Panther spat and yelled with pain and rage and clawedfrantically at his mouth. He rolled over and over trying to get rid ofthe thorns. Mr. Porcupine didn't stay to watch him. For once in his lifehe hurried. By the time Mr. Panther was rid of the last thorn, Mr.Porcupine was nowhere to be seen. He was safely hidden inside a hollowlog.
"Mr. Porcupine didn't sleep that night. He just lay and thought andthought and thought. The next morning, very early, before any one elsewas astir, he star
ted out to call on old Mother Nature.
"'Good morning, Mr. Porcupine, what brings you out so early?' asked oldMother Nature.
"Mr. Porcupine bowed very low. 'If you please, Mother Nature, I want youto help me,' said he.
"Then he told her all about his meeting with Mr. Panther and howhelpless he was when he met his enemies, and he begged her to give himstout claws and a big mouth full of long teeth that he might protecthimself.
"Old Mother Nature thought a few minutes. 'Mr. Porcupine,' said she,'you have always minded your own business. You do not know how to fight.If I should give you a big mouth full of long teeth you would not knowhow to use them. You move too slowly. Instead, I will give you athousand little spurs. They shall be hidden in the long hair of yourcoat and only when you are in danger shall you use them. Go back to theGreen Forest, and the next time you meet Mr. Panther or Mr. Fisher orMr. Bobcat or old King Bear roll yourself into a ball and the thousandlittle spears will protect you. Now go!'
"Mr. Porcupine thanked old Mother Nature and started back for the GreenForest. Once he stopped to smooth down his long, rough coat. Sureenough, there, under the long hair, he felt a thousand little spears. Hewent along happily until suddenly he met Mr. Panther. Yes, Sir, he metMr. Panther.
"Mr. Panther was feeling very ugly, for his mouth was sore. He grinnedwickedly when he saw Mr. Porcupine and stepped right out in front ofhim, all the time licking his lips. Mr. Porcupine trembled all over,but he remembered what old Mother Nature had told him. In a flash he hadrolled up into a tight ball. Sure enough, the thousand little spearssprang out of his long coat, and he looked like a huge chestnut burr.
"Mr. Panther was so surprised he didn't know just what to do. He reachedout a paw and touched Mr. Porcupine. Mr. Porcupine was nervous. Heswitched his tail around and it struck Mr. Panther's paw. Mr. Pantheryelled, for there were spears on Mr. Porcupine's tail and they wereworse than the locust thorns. He backed away hurriedly and limped off upthe Lone Little Path, growling horribly. Mr. Porcupine waited until Mr.Panther was out of sight, then he unrolled, and slowly and happily hewalked back to his home in the Green Forest.
"And since that long-ago day when the world was young, the Porcupineshave feared nothing and have attended strictly to their own business.And that is how they happen to have a thousand little barbed spears,which are called quills," concluded Grandfather Frog.
The Merry Little Breezes drew a long breath. "Thank you, GrandfatherFrog, thank you ever so much!" they cried all together. "We are goingback now to tell Prickly Porky that we know all about his little spearsand how he happens to have them."
But first they blew a dozen fat, foolish, green flies over toGrandfather Frog.
Mother West Wind's Animal Friends Page 3