IV. WHEN OLD MR. PANTHER LOST HIS HONOR
|PETER RABBIT, always curious, had overheard his cousin, Jumper theHare, tell Prickly Porky the Porcupine that it was lucky for him Pumathe Panther was too much afraid of men to come down to the Green Forestto live, but kept to the Great Woods and the Big Mountains. At the verymention of Puma the thousand little spears of Prickly Porky had rattledtogether, and Peter had a queer feeling that this time, instead of beingrattled purposely to make others afraid, they rattled because PricklyPorky himself shook with something very like fear. In fact, it seemed toPeter that Prickly Porky actually turned pale.
Now Peter knew nothing at all about Puma the Panther, and right away hewas so full of questions that he could hardly wait to get Jumper aloneso that he might satisfy his curiosity. The first chance he got he beganto ask questions so fast that Jumper clapped his hands over both earsand threatened to run away.
"Who is Puma? Where does he live? Why is Prickly Porky afraid of him?What does he look like? Why--" It was then that Jumper clapped his handsover his ears. Peter grinned. "Please, Cousin Jumper, tell me abouthim," he begged.
Jumper pretended to consider for a few minutes. Then, because like mostpeople he likes to air his knowledge, and also because he is very fondof his cousin Peter, he told him what he knew about Puma the Panther.
"In the first place," said he, "Puma is the biggest member of the Catfamily living in the Great Woods."
"Is he bigger than Tuffy the Lynx?" asked Peter eagerly.
Jumper nodded, and Peter's eyes opened very wide. "He looks very muchlike Black Pussy, Farmer Brown's cat, only he is yellowish-brown insteadof black, and is ever and ever and ever so many times bigger," continuedJumper. "He has a long tail, just like Black Pussy, and great clawswhich are terribly sharp. He is so soft-footed that he can steal throughthe woods without making a sound; he can climb trees like Happy JackSquirrel, and he is so big and strong that every one but Buster Bear isafraid of him, even Prickly Porky, for he is so smart and cunning thathe has found a way to make Prickly Porky's thousand little spears quiteuseless to protect him. But big and strong and smart as he is, he is acoward because he is a sneak, and all sneaks are cowards. Of course, youknow that, Peter."
Peter nodded. "Everybody knows that," said he. "But if he is so big andstrong and smart, why is he a sneak?"
"I guess it's in his blood, and he can't help himself," repliedJumper. "I guess it is because way back in the beginning of things hisgreat-great-ever-so-great-grandfather lost his honor, and none of thefamily ever has got it back again."
"How did old Mr. Panther lose his honor?" demanded Peter, fairly itchingwith curiosity and eagerness.
"Well," replied Jumper, "all I know is what I've heard whispered aboutamong the people of the Great Woods. It may be true and it may not be,but every one seems to believe it. As I said before, it happened wayback in the beginning of things. Old King Bear ruled the Great Woodsthen, and there was peace between all the animals. Mr. Panther was sleekand handsome and graceful in all his movements. He knew it, too. Hespent a great deal of time washing himself and smoothing his fur, justas Black Pussy does. He would stretch out in the sun for hours with hiseyes closed until they were just slits. But all the time he saw all thatwas going on around him.
"He would watch old King Bear shuffling about in his clumsy fashion, andhe would curl the end of his tail up and twitch it scornfully. Thenhe would look at his own trim form admiringly and think how muchfiner-looking a king he would make. The more he watched old King Bear,the more this feeling grew. He became envious and then jealous. But hetook care never to let old King Bear know this. You see, there was onething about King Bear which Mr. Panther did respect, and that was hisstrength. He had no desire to quarrel with King Bear. So whenever theymet he was very polite and said flattering things to him. But behind hisback Mr. Panther made fun of him, but did it in such an artful waythat his neighbors merely thought that they themselves were making thediscovery of how much handsomer Mr. Panther was than old King Bear.
"After a while came the hard time when food was scarce, and in order tokeep from starving, the big and strong began to prey on their neighborswho were smaller or weaker or more helpless. But the law was made thatnone should kill more than was needed to fill an empty stomach for thetime being. It was then that Mr. Panther thought of a plan for makingold King Bear hated by all his subjects.
"'If they hate him, they will refuse to have him as king any longer,and I, being next in strength and far more kingly in appearance, will bemade king in his place,' reasoned Mr. Panther, but he took care not tohint such a thing.
"Presently ugly stories began to float about. Some one was killingseemingly for the fun of killing. It was dreadful, but it was true.Almost every day some one was found killed but not eaten, and alwaysthere were footprints going to and away from the place, and they werethe footprints of _old King Bear!_ So all the forest people began tohate King Bear and to mutter among themselves that they would have himfor king no longer. Finally some of them went to Old Mother Nature andtold her all about it; they asked that old King Bear be punished andthat some one else be made king in his place. Old Mother Nature toldthem that she would think it over.
"Quite unknown to old King Bear, she followed him about and watched himas he shuffled about in his clumsy way. 'Hm-m, it ought not to be veryhard to keep out of his way. Those who are caught must be very stupidif _he_ catches them,' thought she. Presently her sharp eyes caught aglimpse of a shadowy form sneaking along behind old King Bear. It wasMr. Panther, and he was stepping with the greatest care so as to leaveno footprints. Old Mother Nature sat down and waited. She saw Mr.Panther bound away through the trees. By and by he came back, bringingthe body of a Hare which he had killed. He laid it down where old KingBear had left a footprint in the soft earth and then, with his long tailtwitching, he looked this way and that way to make sure that no one hadseen him and then bounded away.
"The next day Old Mother Nature called all the people of the forestbefore her, and they all came, for none dared stay away. When they wereall there, she had each in turn look her straight in the face while sheasked if they had hunted fairly and honorably and only when they werehungry. Each in turn looked her straight in the face and said that hehad until it came the turn of Mr. Panther. Mr. Panther's tail twitchednervously, and he looked everywhere but at Old Mother Nature as she putthe question to him.
"'Look me straight in the face and tell me on your honor that you havehunted fairly,' commanded Old Mother Nature. Mr. Panther knew that alleyes were upon him, and he tried his best to look her in the face, buthe couldn't do it. You see, he hadn't any honor. He had lost it, andwithout honor no one can look another straight in the face. Instead heturned and began to slink away, and all who saw him wondered how theyever could have thought him kingly-looking.
"Then Old Mother Nature told what she had seen the day before, and atonce everybody understood who it was that had been doing the killing andtrying to make it appear that it was old King Bear, and they all turnedand shouted 'Coward! Sneak! Coward! Sneak!' until Mr. Panther fairly ranto get out of hearing. From that time on he lived by himself and wouldnot look even timid Mr. Hare in the face. Instead of hunting openly andboldly like Mr. Wolf, he sneaked about in the forest and hunted bystealth, so that all the people of the forest looked on him with scorn,and though most of them feared him, they called him a coward and theynicknamed him 'Sneak-cat.'
"And to this day all Panthers have been the same, sneaking and cowardlyin spite of their great size and strength, for it has been in theirblood ever since the time when old Mr. Panther lost his honor," endedJumper.
Peter was silent for a minute. Then he said softly: "I'm little andtimid, but I'd rather be that way than to be big like Puma but a cowardand a sneak. I can look any one in the face."
Mother West Wind When Stories Page 4
