Mrs Peter Rabbit | Page 2

no safe castle like the dear Old Briar-patch
where he could always be safe. Every minute of every day Danny had
to keep his eyes wide open and his wits working their very quickest, for
any minute he was likely to be in danger. Old Man Coyote or Reddy
Fox or Granny Fox or Digger the Badger or Mr. Blacksnake was likely
to come creeping through the grass any time, and they are always
hungry for a fat Meadow Mouse. And as if that weren't worry enough,
Danny had to watch the sky, too, for Old Whitetail the Marsh Hawk, or

his cousin Redtail, or Blacky the Crow, each of whom would be glad of
a Meadow Mouse dinner. Yet in spite of all this, Danny was happy and
never once lost his appetite.
But Peter Rabbit, with nothing to worry him so long as he stayed in the
Old Briar-patch, couldn't eat and grew more and more unhappy.
"I don't know what's the matter with me. I really don't know what's the
matter with me," said Peter, as he turned up his nose at a patch of sweet,
tender young clover. "I think I'll go and cut some new paths through the
Old Briar-patch."
Now, though he didn't know it, that was the very best thing he could do.
It gave him something to think about. For two or three days he was
very busy cutting new paths, and his appetite came back. But when he
had made all the paths he wanted, and there was nothing else to do, he
lost his appetite again. He just sat still all day long and moped and
thought and thought and thought. The trouble with Peter Rabbit's
thinking was that it was all about himself and how unhappy he was. Of
course, the more he thought about this, the more unhappy he grew.
"If I only had some one to talk to, I'd feel better," said he to himself.
That reminded him of Johnny Chuck and what good times they used to
have together when Johnny lived on the Green Meadows. Then he
thought of how happy Johnny seemed with his little family in his new
home in the Old Orchard, in spite of all the worries his family made
him. And right then Peter found out what was the matter with him.
"I believe I'm just lonesome," said Peter. "Yes, Sir, that's what's the
matter with me.
"It isn't good to be alone, I've often heard my mother say. It makes one
selfish, grouchy, cross, And quite unhappy all the day. One needs to
think of other folks, And not of just one's self alone, To find the truest
happiness, And joy and real content to own.
"Now that I've found out what is the trouble with me, the question is,
what am I going to do about it?"

CHAPTER II
PETER RABBIT PLANS A JOURNEY
It's a long jump that makes no landing. Peter Rabbit.
"The trouble with me is that I'm lonesome," repeated Peter Rabbit as he
sat in the dear Old Briar-patch. "Yes, Sir, that's the only thing that's
wrong with me. I'm just tired of myself, and that's why I've lost my
appetite. And now I know what's the matter, what am I going to do
about it? If I were sure, absolutely sure, that Old Man Coyote meant
what he said about our being friends, I'd start out this very minute to
call on all my old friends. My, my, my, it seems an age since I visited
the Smiling Pool and saw Grandfather Frog and Jerry Muskrat and
Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter! Mr. Coyote sounded as if he really
meant to leave me alone, but, but--well, perhaps he did mean it when
he saw me sitting here safe among the brambles, but if I should meet
him out in the open, he might change his mind and--oh, dear, his teeth
are terrible long and sharp!"
Peter sat a little longer, thinking and thinking. Then a bright idea
popped into his head. He kicked up his heels.
"I'll do it," said he. "I'll make a journey! That's what I'll do! I'll make a
journey and see the Great World.
"By staying here and sitting still I'm sure I'll simply grow quite ill. A
change of scene is what I need To be from all my trouble freed."
Of course if Peter had really stopped to think the matter over
thoroughly he would have known that running away from one kind of
trouble is almost sure to lead to other troubles. But Peter is one of those
who does his thinking afterward. Peter is what is called impulsive. That
is, he does things and then thinks about them later, and often wishes he
hadn't done them.