Mrs Peter Rabbit | Page 8

You see, Rabbits like to keep a
record of how they grow, just as some little boys and girls do, but as
they have no doors or walls to stand against, they use trees. And this
was the measuring-tree of the Rabbit whose tracks Peter had been
following. Peter stopped at the foot of it and sat down to think it over.
He knew what that tree meant perfectly well. He had one or two
measuring-trees of his own on the edge of the Green Forest. He knew,
too, that it was more than a mere measuring-tree. It was a kind of "no
trespassing" sign. It meant that some other Rabbit had lived here for
some time and felt that he owned this part of the Old Pasture. Peter's
nose told him that, for the tree smelled very, very strong of Rabbit--of
the Rabbit with the big feet. This was because whoever used it for a
measuring-tree used to rub himself against it as far up as he could
reach.

Peter hopped up close to it. Then he sat up very straight and stretched
himself as tall as he could, but he wisely took care not to rub against
the tree. You see, he didn't want to leave his own mark there. So he
stretched and stretched, but stretch as he would, he couldn't make his
wobbly little nose reach the mark made by the other Rabbit.
"My sakes, he is a big fellow!" exclaimed Peter. "I guess I don't want to
meet him until I feel better and stronger than I do now."
CHAPTER IX
AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE
Legs are very useful when you want to run away; Long, sharp teeth are
splendid if to fight you want to stay; But a far, far greater blessing,
whether one may stay or quit, Is a clever, trusty, quick and ever ready
wit. Peter Rabbit.
Peter Rabbit sat in a snug hiding-place in the Old Pasture and thought
over what he had found out about the strange Rabbit whose tracks he
had followed. They had led him to a rubbing or measuring-tree, where
the strange Rabbit had placed his mark, and that mark was so high up
on the tree that Peter knew the strange Rabbit must be a great deal
bigger than himself.
"If he's bigger, of course he is stronger," thought Peter, "and if he is
both bigger and stronger, of course it won't be the least bit of use for
me to fight him. Then, anyway, I'm too stiff and sore to fight. And then,
he has no business to think he owns the Old Pasture, because he doesn't.
I have just as much right here as he has. Yes, Sir, I have just as much
right in this Old Pasture as he has, and if he thinks he can drive me out
he is going to find that he was never more mistaken in his life! I'll show
him! Yes, Sir-e-e, I'll show him! I guess my wits are as sharp as his,
and I wouldn't wonder if they are a little bit sharper."
Foolish Peter Rabbit! There he was boasting and bragging to himself of
what he would do to some one whom he hadn't even seen, all because
he had found a sign that told him the Old Pasture, in which he had

made up his mind to make his new home, was already the home of
some one else. Peter was like a lot of other people; he wasn't fair. No,
Sir, he wasn't fair. He let his own desires destroy his sense of fair play.
It was all right for him to put up signs in the dear Old Briar-patch and
the Green Forest, warning other Rabbits that they must keep away, but
it was all wrong for another Rabbit to do the same thing in the Old
Pasture. Oh, my, yes! That was quite a different matter! The very
thought of it made Peter very, very angry. When he thought of this
other Rabbit, it was always as the stranger. That shows just how unfair
Peter was, because, you see, Peter himself was really the stranger. It
was his first visit to the Old Pasture, while it was very plain that the
other had lived there for some time.
But Peter couldn't or wouldn't see that. He had counted so much on
having the Old Pasture to himself and doing as he pleased, that he was
too upset and disappointed to be fair. If the other Rabbit had been
smaller than he--well, that might have made a difference. The truth is,
Peter was just a wee bit afraid. And perhaps it was that wee bit of fear
that made him unfair and unjust. Anyway, the longer he sat and thought
about it, the angrier