IX
WHERE THUNDERFOOT THE BISON GOT HIS HUMP
Thunderfoot the Bison, often called Buffalo, is not a handsome fellow,as you very well know if you have seen him or a picture of him. His headis carried low, very near the ground, and on his shoulders is a greathump. No, you wouldn't call him handsome. You would hardly call himgood-looking even. In fact, you would, I suspect, call him homely.Certainly there is nothing about him to suggest pride. Yet according tothe story Digger the Badger once told Peter Rabbit, pride and nothingless was the cause of that big hump which makes Thunderfoot appear soclumsy and homely.
Peter Rabbit, as you know, is very fond of stories. In this respect heis very like some other folks I know. Anyway, he never misses a chancefor a story if he can help it. He had discovered that Digger the Badgerand Old Man Coyote, both of whom had come to the Green Meadows from theFar West, were full of stories about their neighbors of the distantprairies, folk whom Peter never had seen. Sometimes when he had nothingelse to do, Old Man Coyote would come over to the dear Old Briar-patchand tell stories to Peter, who sat safe behind the brambles. Perhaps OldMan Coyote hoped that Peter would become so interested that he wouldforget and come out of the dear Old Briar-patch. But Peter never did.
But most of the stories of the people of the Far West Peter got fromDigger the Badger because, you see, he wasn't afraid to go beg for them.He knew that Digger couldn't catch him if he wanted to, and so whenGrandfather Frog hadn't a story for him, Peter would go tease Digger forone. It was thus that he heard about Thunderfoot the Bison and where hegot that great hump of his.
"I don't suppose," said Peter, "that there are any very big people outthere on those prairies where you used to live any more than there arehere on the Green Meadows. All the very big people seem to prefer tolive in the Green Forest."
"It is that way now, I must admit," said Digger the Badger, "but itwasn't so in the old days, in the good old days when there were noterrible guns, and Thunderfoot and his followers shook the ground withtheir feet." Digger shook his head sadly.
Instantly Peter pricked up his ears. "Who was Thunderfoot?" he demanded.
Digger looked at Peter with such a look of pity for Peter's ignorancethat Peter felt almost ashamed. "He doesn't live here and never did, sofar as I have heard, so how should I know anything about him?" he addeda wee bit defiantly.
"If that's the case," replied Digger, "it is time you learned about theLord of the Prairies."
"But I want to know about Thunderfoot first!" cried Peter. "You can tellme about the Lord of the Prairies another time."
"Were you born stupid or have you grown so?" asked Digger impatiently.Then without waiting for an answer he added: "Thunderfoot was the Lordof the Prairies. He ruled over the Wide Prairies just as Old King Bearruled in the Green Forest. He ruled by might. He ruled because no onedared deny him the right to rule. He ruled because of his great size andhis great strength. And all who lived on the Wide Prairies looked up tohim and admired him and bowed before him and paid him the utmostrespect. When he and his followers ran the earth shook, and the noisewas like thunder, and everybody hastened to get out of the way and towarn his neighbors, crying: 'Here comes my Lord of the Prairies! Makeway! Make way!' And truly Thunderfoot and his followers were amagnificent sight, so my great-grandfather told me, and he had it fromhis great-grandfather, who was told so by his great-grandfather, who sawit all with his own eyes. But that was in the days before Thunderfoot'shead was brought low, and he was given the great hump which none of hisdescendants have ever been able to get rid of."
"Tell me about that hump and where my Lord of the Prairies, Thunderfootthe Bison, got it!" begged Peter, with shining eyes. That there was astory he hadn't the least doubt.
Digger the Badger flattened himself out on the ground, and into his eyescrept a dreamy, far-away look as if he were seeing things a great, greatway off. "Way back In the days when the world was young, so mygreat-grandfather said," he began, "Thunderfoot, the first Bison, wasgiven the Wide Prairies for a kingdom by Old Mother Nature and strodeforth to take possession. Big was he, the biggest of all livingcreatures thereabouts. Strong was he with a strength none cared to test.And he was handsome. He held his head proudly. All who lived on the WidePrairies admired him with a great admiration and hastened to pay homageto him.
"For a long time he ruled wisely. All the other people brought theirdisputes to him to be settled, and so wisely did he decide them that thefame of his wisdom spread even beyond the Wide Prairies and was talkedabout in the Green Forest. The humblest of his subjects could come tohim freely and be sure of a hearing and that justice would be done. Bigas he was and mighty as he was, he took the greatest care never toforget the rights of others.
"But there came a time when flattery turned his head, as the saying is.Mr. Coyote and Mr. Fox were the chief flatterers, and in all the GreatWorld there were no smoother tongues than theirs. They never lost anopportunity to tell him how handsome he was, and how mighty he was, andhow they admired him and looked up to him, and how unequaled was hiswisdom. You see, being themselves dishonest and mischief-makers, theyfrequently were in trouble with their neighbors and would have to appearbefore Thunderfoot for judgment. Even when it went against them theypraised the wisdom of it, admitting that they were in the wrong andbegging forgiveness, all of which was very flattering to Thunderfoot.
"Little by little, without knowing it, he yielded to the flattery ofMr. Coyote and Mr. Fox. He liked to hear the pleasant things they said.Little by little it became easier to find them in the right than in thewrong when they were accused of wronging their neighbors. Of course theyflattered him still more. They hinted to him that it was beneath thedignity of one so big and strong and handsome to take notice of the verysmall and humble people like Mr. Meadow Mouse and Mr. Toad and Mr.Meadow Lark and others of his subjects.
"Gradually the little people of the Wide Prairies began to notice achange in Thunderfoot. He became proud and vain. He openly boasted ofhis strength and fine appearance. When he met them he passed themhaughtily, not seeing them at all, or at least appearing not to. Nolonger did he regard the rights of others. No longer did he watch outnot to crush the nest of Mrs. Meadow Lark or to step on the babies ofDanny Meadow Mouse. It came about that when the thunder of his feet washeard, those with homes on the ground shivered with fright and hopedthat my Lord of the Prairies would not come their way.
"One day, as he raced over the Wide Prairies for no reason but that hefelt like running, Mr. Meadow Lark flew to meet him. Mr. Meadow Lark wasin great distress. 'Turn aside, my Lord!' he begged. 'Turn aside, myLord of the Prairies, for before you lies my nest with four preciouseggs, and I fear you will step on them!'
"Thunderfoot the Bison, Lord of the Wide Prairies, tossed his head. 'Ifyou will build your nest where it can be trodden on, you can't expect meto look out for it,' said he. 'If anything so unfortunate happens to it,it is your own fault, and you mustn't blame me.' And he neither lookeddown to see where he was putting his feet nor turned aside so much as aninch. On he galloped, and presently with a cry of fright out frombeneath his feet flew Mrs. Meadow Lark, and at the very next step hetrod on the little nest in the grass and crushed the four eggs.
"Mr. Coyote, who was racing beside him on one side and saw what hadhappened, grinned. Mr. Fox, who was racing beside him on the other sideand saw what had happened, grinned. Seeing them grin, Thunderfoothimself grinned. Thus grinning heartlessly, they continued to run untilthey came to a place where Mother Nature walked among the flowers ofthe Wide Prairies. Mr. Coyote and Mr. Fox, whose heads were not held sohigh, saw her in time to put their tails between their legs and slinkaway. Thunderfoot, holding his head high, failed to see her until he wasso close to her that it was with difficulty he stopped before runningher down.
"'My Lord of the Prairies seems in fine spirits,' said Mother Naturesoftly. 'Is all well with my Lord?'
"Thunderfoot tossed his head proudly. 'All is well,' said he.
"'I am sorry that ot
hers cannot say as much,' replied Mother Nature, andall the softness was gone from her voice, and it was sharp. 'I seem tohear the sobs of a broken-hearted little Meadow Lark,' she continued.'Little though she be and humble, she is as much to me as is my Lord ofthe Prairies who has made her suffer.'
"Stooping swiftly, Mother Nature picked up her staff and with it struckThunderfoot on the neck, so that his head was brought low, and in fearof another blow he humped his shoulders up. 'Thus shall you be, stillbig, still strong, but hump-shouldered and carrying your head low inshame, no longer Lord of the Prairies, until such time as you restore toMrs. Meadow Lark the eggs you destroyed,' said she, and turned her backon him.
"It was so. From that day on, Thunderfoot ceased to rule over the WidePrairies. He was hump-shouldered and he carried his head low, lookingand looking for the eggs he never could find to restore to Mrs. MeadowLark. And though his children and his children's children became many,there never was one without the hump or who ceased to carry his head lowin shame," concluded Digger the Badger.