Walter the Lazy Mouse (Nancy Pearl's Book Crush Rediscoveries)

by Marjorie Flack

  “Hop on, sir.” Carefully Walter climbed upon his back, and they were off to Mouse Island.

  Lulu and Leander and Percy reached the Island first, but they waited among the lily pads for Walter and the Turtle.

  Carefully, the Turtle climbed up on the shore, and Walter slid down from his back and looked about him.

  Overhead the water plants made a green bower and the soft velvet green moss grew over the ground.

  “Welcome to your island, Sir Mouse,” said the Turtle, bowing his head.

  Walter was surprised to hear himself called “Sir Mouse.”

  “Thank you for the ride,” he said politely, “but I don’t think my name is ‘Sir Mouse,’ it has always been Walter Mouse before.”

  “Oh, but now you are The Mouse of Mouse Island!” said the Turtle, and he looked so polite and respectful Walter felt very important for the first time in his life.

  Then the three frogs came bouncing up. “Welcome to your island, Sir Mouse!” they all said together, bowing very low.

  This made Walter feel so important he was a little uncomfortable.

  “I wish you would call me just ‘Walter,’” he said.

  “As you like,” said Lulu, “but it is easier to call you Sir Mouse.”

  “Or if you like two names,” suggested Percy, “we might call you ‘Mouse Mouse.’”

  “It doesn’t matter,” added Leander. So always after that, they called Walter “Mouse Mouse” because it was easier to remember.

  “Doesn’t the Turtle have any name?” asked Walter, changing the subject.

  “Oh, no,” said Lulu, “he is just ‘Turtle.’”

  “Wouldn’t you like a name?” Walter asked the Turtle. “I know lots of names.”

  But Turtle showed no interest in the matter, in fact, he rather rudely pulled his head into his shell along with his feet and his hands and his tail, and Walter found himself talking to what looked like an empty shell.

  “He does that,” said Lulu. “He does that quite often.”

  “Oh,” said Walter.

  “This is a nice home,” said Percy, looking about him.

  “But there is no house!” said Walter.

  “House?” asked Leander.

  “House?” asked Percy.

  “What do you mean by house?” asked Lulu.

  “Why, you must have a house to have a home,” said Walter. “A home is a house.”

  “What does a house look like, Mouse Mouse?” asked Lulu.

  Walter tried to explain, “My house had an inside and an outside and a front door and a back door and stairs and a roof and a chimney and a kitchen and—”

  “Do all houses have to have all those things?” asked Percy.

  “Oh, no,” said Walter, “but every house must have an inside and an outside and a roof and a doorway so you can go inside of it.”

  “Then why don’t you make yourself a little one?” asked Lulu.

  Now Walter was a lazy mouse, but he felt so lonely without a home he got very busy and made himself a little house on his island. He made it of small twigs and of grasses and it had an inside and an outside and a roof and there was a doorway so he could go inside of it. By the time it was finished the sun had set and Walter was very tired because he had never worked so hard in his life, so he said good night to the three frogs and Turtle. Then he went inside his house and lay down on the moss which made a soft green carpet floor and he went to sleep—sound asleep within his own walls and under his own roof.

  Chapter Three

  How Walter Makes Furniture

  When he woke up the next day Walter looked up at his own roof and at his own walls, but he felt that something was missing. “Oh, dear me,” said Walter, “I forgot the furniture!”

  He went outdoors, and to his surprise, there he found Lulu and Leander and Percy already waiting for him.

  “Good morning,” he said. “It is nice of you to come to call so early.”

  “We didn’t come,” said Lulu.

  “Why, you must have come,” said Walter, “or you would not be here.”

  “Oh, no,” said Lulu, “we did not come because we never went away.”

  “You see,” explained Leander, “we live here now. We like it here.”

  “That’s very nice,” said Walter. “Would you like me to help build you a house to live in? I am afraid there is not enough room in my house for us all to sleep at night.”

  “Thank you,” said Percy, “we don’t need a house.”

  “But won’t you miss a house for a home?” asked Walter.

  “Oh, no,” said Lulu, laughing. “How could we miss something we have never had?”

  “Then I am going to make myself some furniture,” said Walter.

  “And I don’t want you to see it until it is all done because I want to surprise you.”

  So Lulu and Leander and Percy went off to play while Walter made himself some furniture.

  Walter spent a long time making the furniture for his new home. He made himself a beautiful bed out of twigs with a mattress of pine needles, and he made himself a beautiful chair of twigs and grasses, and he made himself a table, but since he had no nails or hammer he carefully tied all the pieces together with grasses as best he could.

  When he was finished, he called Lulu and Leander and Percy to come look. Even Turtle came. Although he was much too large to fit into the little house, he put his head through the doorway and he could see very nicely.

  “See my beautiful bed,” said Walter, pointing to the bed he had made.

  “What is it for?” asked Percy.

  “To sleep in like this,” said Walter, climbing up on the bed and lying down, but crash! Down fell the headboard, and down fell the footboard, and down fell the whole bed with Walter under the pieces.

  “Ha, ha, ha, ha,” laughed the frogs together. “That’s a funny way to sleep!”

  Walter climbed out from under the pieces, and brushed the pine needles off his clothes; he looked very sad, but then he went on as if nothing had happened. “Now,” said he, “look at my beautiful chair.” And he pointed to the beautiful chair which he had made.

  “What’s it for?” asked Leander.

  “You sit in it like this,” said Walter, and he sat down very carefully in the beautiful chair, but crash! Down he came on the floor, and the chair came down in pieces on top of him!

  “Ha, ha, ha, ha,” laughed all the frogs together as Walter climbed out from under the pieces. “That is a funny way to sit down.”

  Walter did not say a word, he waited a moment and then he smiled and he pointed to the beautiful table he had made. “Look,” he said, “look at the beautiful table I have made!”

  “What’s it for?” asked Lulu all ready to begin to laugh again.

  But Walter did not move; he just stood there and pointed at it. “That,” said Walter, “is just made to look at.”

  “Oh,” said Leander and Lulu and Percy all together, “but we liked the bed and chair better. Won’t you make some more?”

  “No,” said Walter, shaking his head. “No, I don’t really think I need any furniture, except the table.”

  Chapter Four

  How Walter Does Nothing

  The next day when Walter came out of his house, there were Lulu and Leander and Percy waiting for him.

  “Good morning, Mouse Mouse,” they said. “What are you going to make for yourself today?”

  “Good morning,” said Walter. “I have my house and I have all the furniture I need so I am not going to make anything today.”

  “Then what are you going to do with yourself?” asked Lulu.

  “Nothing,” said Walter.

  So Walter did nothing whatever all that day. The frogs were very busy swimming and jumping and singing together, but Walter did nothing but eat, sleep, and be lazy.

  Every morning for the next three days, he found Lulu, Leander, and Percy waiting for him when he came out of his house.

  Each morning they would say, “
Good morning, Mouse Mouse, and what are you doing today?”

  And each morning Walter would say, “Nothing,” and he did nothing—he did not play with them or talk with them for the rest of the day.

  On the fourth day, when Walter came out of his house in the morning, Lulu, Leander, and Percy were not waiting to wish him good morning.

  Walter could see them playing together out on the lily pads, but they did not come near him.

  Walter did nothing but be lazy as usual, but after a while he grew tired of being lazy. He grew tired of doing nothing because he was lonely.

  So very carefully he stepped on one of the lily pads nearest the shore, and he walked on tiptoes over it to the next one, and then he hopped from one lily pad to another until he was quite far from shore and near where Leander and Lulu and Percy were swimming.

  “Good morning,” he called to them. “Good morning.”

  Lulu and Leander and Percy climbed up one at a time and sat on the lily pad near him. “Good morning,” they said politely, but they looked at Walter strangely. They looked at him as if they had never seen him before.

  He heard Lulu whisper to Leander, “It’s a mouse. I wonder where he came from.”

  He heard Leander whisper to Percy, “Say something. It isn’t polite to stare at a stranger that way.”

  “I am not a stranger,” said Walter. “I am Walter. I am Walter Mouse. I am your friend Mouse Mouse!”

  But they only looked at him with their large eyes and smiled politely, and Walter knew then that they had forgotten him completely.

  “My name is Frog,” said Lulu, and Leander said, “My name is Frog,” and Percy said, “My name is Frog.”

  And then Walter knew they had not only forgotten him and forgotten his name, but they had forgotten their own names he had given them!

  “Come swim with us!” they all said together, smiling pleasantly.

  “But I have no bathing suit. Don’t you remember I told you I have no bathing suit?” Then Walter began to cry—he cried because he felt so lonely and so strange because his friends the frogs did not remember him.

  Just then Turtle came swimming up, and by this time Walter was so sad and felt so strange he felt it was no use to wish Turtle good morning. He did not feel like himself, but to his surprise Turtle spoke to him. He said, “Good morning, Mouse Mouse!”

  “Turtle, Turtle,” Walter cried, running over. “Oh, Turtle, Turtle, Lulu and Leander and Percy have all forgotten me,” he cried. “What shall I do?”

  “That’s strange,” said Turtle. “Don’t they live on your island? Don’t they see you every day? Don’t they play with you? Don’t they play with you all the time?”

  “Yes, they live on my island,” said Walter, “but I have done nothing for quite a few days so they have seen little of me.”

  “Then that’s why they forgot,” said Turtle. “They just can’t seem to help forgetting things, and if you were not around to remind them, of course they forgot you!”

  So Walter taught Lulu and Leander and Percy their names all over again and he showed them his house and his table. And though they did not seem to remember either having heard their names or Walter’s name before, or having seen his house or his table before, they thought everything very nice, and they were happy to be friends of Walter’s all over again.

  Chapter Five

  How Walter Learns to Swim

  Walter never dared to be lazy again. He still remembered how his own family had moved away and forgotten him because he had been lazy, and, now that he knew his friends the frogs could not remember very long, he was very careful to be with them every moment of the day so they would not forget him again.

  When he did take time out for a nap, Walter would curl up inside a water lily to be near them while they sunned themselves on the lily pads. He tried to play the way they did. He learned to play leapfrog, and although his legs were much too short, he managed to bounce over their backs very nicely.

  He even tried to learn to sing but without much success.

  But always when they would ask him to come swim with them, Walter would say, “No, I have no bathing suit.” Still they never seemed to remember this and they would always ask him again and again, until one day Walter said, “I wish I could swim with you, but I have no bathing suit.” Then he thought a while and said, “I could go swimming in my underwear, but I don’t know how to swim very well. I wish I could swim like you.”

  “We will teach you, we will teach you,” said all three frogs together.

  So Walter took off his shoes and his socks and his overalls and his blouse. Then he walked out to the edge of a lily pad and he looked down; he looked down into the clear deep water of the pond.

  “Jump, jump, jump and dive in,” sang the frogs.

  Water got ready to jump; he crouched low and he rose on his toes all ready to spring into the air—but he could not make himself jump.

  He could not jump because he was afraid.

  “I don’t think I want to jump and dive in,” he said, and he sat down on the edge of the lily pad. “I guess I’d rather just paddle my feet in the water instead.”

  So he sat there and paddled his feet in the water instead. Walter paddled his feet for quite a long time, but all the time he was paddling he wanted to swim, he wanted to swim beautifully through the water as the frogs did. At last he said, “Maybe Turtle would help me.”

  “Help you what?” asked Lulu, who was resting in the water nearby.

  “Help me swim beautifully,” said Walter.

  “But Turtle isn’t such a fine swimmer himself,” said Lulu.

  “But he can stay on top the water,” said Walter, “and he might let me hold onto him.”

  “I will find him and ask him,” said Lulu, and she swam off to find Turtle.

  Soon she was back again with Turtle swimming along after her. Turtle was pleased to help Walter swim beautifully like the frogs.

  “I will stay right here,” he said as he paddled himself a little away from the lily pad where Walter was sitting.

  So once again Walter stood up on the edge of the lily pad and got ready to jump.

  “Jump, jump, jump and dive in!” sang the frogs.

  Walter shut his eyes tight and he jumped. He rose in the air and then down he came—splash—into the water. He felt the water all around him and he went down, down, down, and then he felt himself coming up, up, up, and then he opened his eyes and there was Turtle. “Grab hold of my tail,” shouted Turtle. “Grab hold!” Quickly Walter grabbed hold of Turtle’s tail with both his hands.

  “Swim, swim, SWIM!” sang the frogs. “Kick out your legs and swim!”

  “Kick out your legs like this,” and they swam near Walter, kicking out their beautiful strong legs while they swam.

  Slowly Turtle paddled through the water, towing Walter behind him. Walter kicked his little legs, he kicked them faster and faster.

  “Pull them up and kick them out!” sang the frogs. “Pull them up and kick them out.”

  But Walter’s legs were too short. Try as he might, he could not make them kick out like the frogs’.

  Walter turned to look at his legs kicking, but as he turned his hands slipped from Turtle’s tail, and Walter felt himself going down.

  “Push with your hands, push with your hands!” sang the frogs.

  So Walter pushed with his hands and he kicked with his legs while the frogs kept singing, “Swim, swim, kick and swim, push with your hands and kick with your legs, pull them up and kick them out, push kick, push and kick, swim, swim, SWIM!”

  Then they shouted, “Stop paddling—do it this way—this way.” Then they said, “Ha-ha-ha. Your legs aren’t much for swimming.” For poor Walter could only paddle and puff, paddle and puff slowly through the water.

  At last he reached a lily pad near the shore. Slowly he climbed upon it for he felt very tired and wet and sad because he could not swim beautifully like the frogs.

  He was so wet his fur stuck closely to him
and his whiskers hung limply down. The frogs climbed up beside him. Walter began to shiver and shake with the cold and then he began to sneeze, “Ketch-choo, ketch-choo!”

  Now the frogs did not know what it meant to be cold. Their satin-smooth skins were shiny and fresh whether wet or dry. They thought Walter was playing a game.

  “Catch you, catch you!” they cried, and started to chase Walter, jumping over the lily pads. Walter ran lightly away from them. “Run, run, run,” he shouted as he saw them jumping awkwardly, and they tried, but they were clumsy and fell all in a heap.

  “Oh, oh, oh!” laughed Walter. “Your legs aren’t much for running!” The frogs began to laugh, too, and soon Walter and Lulu and Leander and Percy were laughing so hard they quite forgot what they were laughing about and Walter was warm and dry again.

  Chapter Six

  How Walter Teaches School

  As the days and nights went by, Walter quite forgot about time. He was so busy doing things with his friends, the frogs, all the time so they would not forget him that he was no longer a slow and lazy young mouse.

  One day he began to wonder how many days he had lived on Mouse Island. He asked the frogs if they knew, but they did not seem to know what he meant.

  “Don’t you know how to count?” he asked them, but they did not know what counting meant.

  “Don’t you know how to write?” he asked, but they did not know what writing meant.

  “Don’t you know how to read?” Walter asked, but the frogs did not know what reading meant.

  “Have you never been to school?” he asked.

  “School?” asked the frogs. “What is school?”