XIV
WHY HOOTY THE OWL DOES NOT PLAY ON THE GREEN MEADOWS
The Merry Little Breezes of Old Mother West Wind were having agood-night game of tag down on the Green Meadows. They were having_such_ a jolly time while they waited for Old Mother West Wind and herbig bag to take them to their home behind the Purple Hills. Jolly,round, red Mr. Sun had already put his nightcap on. Black shadowscrept softly out from the Purple Hills onto the Green Meadows. TheMerry Little Breezes grew sleepy, almost too sleepy to play, for OldMother West Wind was very, very late.
Farther and farther and farther out onto the Green Meadows crept theblack shadows. Suddenly one seemed to separate from the others.Softly, oh so softly, yet swiftly, it floated over towards the MerryLittle Breezes. One of them happened to look up and saw it coming. Itwas the same Little Breeze who one time stayed out all night. When helooked up and saw this seeming shadow moving so swiftly he knew that itwas no shadow at all.
"Here comes Hooty the Owl," cried the Little Breeze.
Then all the Merry Little Breezes stopped their game of tag to look atHooty the Owl. It is seldom they have a chance to see him, for usuallyHooty the Owl does not come out on the Green Meadows until after theMerry Little Breezes are snugly tucked in bed behind the Purple Hills.
"Perhaps Hooty the Owl will tell us why it is that he never comes outto play with us," said one of the Little Breezes.
But just as Hooty the Owl floated over to them up came Old Mother WestWind, and she was in a great hurry, for she was late, and she wastired. She had had a busy day, a very busy day indeed, hunting for arain cloud which had gone astray. So now she just opened her big bagand tumbled all the Merry Little Breezes into it as fast as she couldwithout giving them so much as a chance to say "Good evening" to Hootythe Owl. Then she took them off home behind the Purple Hills.
Of course the Merry Little Breezes were disappointed, very muchdisappointed. But they were also very sleepy, for they had played hardall day.
"Never mind," said one of them, drowsily, "to-morrow we'll askGreat-Grandfather Frog why it is that Hooty the Owl never comes out toplay with us on the Green Meadows. He'll know."
The next morning Old Mother West Wind was late in coming down from thePurple Hills. When she finally did turn the Merry Little Breezes outof her big bag onto the Green Meadows jolly, round, red Mr. Sun wasalready quite high in the blue sky. The Merry Little Breezes waitedjust long enough to say "Good-by" to Old Mother West Wind, and thenstarted a mad race to see who could reach the Smiling Pool first.
There they found Great-Grandfather Frog sitting on his big green lilypad as usual. He was very contented with the world, was GrandfatherFrog, for fat green flies had been more foolish than usual that morningand already he had all that he could safely tuck inside his white andyellow waistcoat.
"Good morning, Grandfather Frog," shouted the Merry Little Breezes."Will you tell us why it is that Hooty the Owl never comes out to playwith us on the Green Meadows?"
"Chug-a-rum," said Great-Grandfather Frog, gruffly, "how should I know?"
You see, Grandfather Frog likes to be teased a little.
"Oh, but you do know, for you are so old and so very wise," cried theMerry Little Breezes all together.
Grandfather Frog smiled, for he likes to be thought very wise, and alsohe was feeling very good, very good indeed that morning.
"Chug-a-rum," said Grandfather Frog. "If you'll sit perfectly stillI'll tell you what I know about Hooty the Owl. But remember, you mustsit perfectly still, _per-fect-ly_ still."
The Merry Little Breezes sighed, for it is the hardest thing in theworld for them to keep perfectly still unless they are asleep. Butthey promised that they would, and when they had settled down, each onein the heart of a great white water lily, Grandfather Frog began:
"Once upon a time, when the world was young, Hooty the Owl'sgrandfather a thousand times removed used to fly about in daylight withthe other birds. He was very big and very strong and very fierce, wasMr. Owl. He had great big claws and a hooked bill, just as Hooty theOwl has now, and he was afraid of nothing and nobody.
"Now when people are very big and very strong and afraid of nothing andnobody they are very apt to care for nothing and nobody but themselves.So it was with Mr. Owl. Whatever he saw that he wanted he took, nomatter to whom it belonged, for there was no one to stop him.
"As I have already told you, Mr. Owl was very big and very strong andvery fierce and he was a very great glutton. It took a great manylittle birds and little animals to satisfy his appetite. But he didn'tstop there! No, Sir, he didn't stop there! He used to kill harmlesslittle meadow people just for the fun of killing, and because he could.Every day he grew more savage. Finally no one smaller than himselfdared stir on the Green Meadows when he was around. The little birdsno longer sang. The Fieldmice children no longer played among themeadow grasses. Those were sad days, very sad days indeed on the GreenMeadows," said Grandfather Frog, with a sigh.
"At last old Mother Nature came to visit the Green Meadows and she soonsaw what a terrible state things were in. No one came to meet her, foryou see no one dared to show himself for fear of fierce old Mr. Owl.
"Now I have told you that Mr. Owl was afraid of nothing and nobody, butthis is not quite true, for he was afraid, very much afraid of oldMother Nature. When he saw her coming he was sitting on top of a talldead stump and he at once tried to look very meek and very innocent.
"Old Mother Nature wasted no time. 'Where are all my little meadowpeople and why do they not come to give me greeting?' demanded oldMother Nature of Mr. Owl.
"Mr. Owl bowed very low. 'I'm sure I don't know. I think they mustall be taking a nap,' said he.
"Now you can't fool old Mother Nature and it's of no use to try. No,Sir, you can't fool old Mother Nature. She just looked at Mr. Owl andshe looked at the feathers and fur scattered about the foot of the deadstump. Mr. Owl stood first on one foot and then on the other. Hetried to look old Mother Nature in the face, but he couldn't. You see,Mr. Owl had a guilty conscience and a guilty conscience never looksanyone straight in the face. He did wish that Mother Nature would saysomething, did Mr. Owl. But she didn't. She just looked and lookedand looked and looked straight at Mr. Owl. The longer she looked theuneasier he got and the faster he shifted from one foot to the other.Finally he shifted so fast that he seemed to be dancing on top of theold stump.
"Gradually, a few at a time, the little meadow people crept out fromtheir hiding places and formed a great circle around the old deadstump. With old Mother Nature there they felt sure that no harm couldcome to them. Then they began to laugh at the funny sight of fierceold Mr. Owl hopping from one foot to the other on top of the old deadstump. It was the first laugh on the Green Meadows for a long, long,long time.
"Of course Mr. Owl saw them laughing at him, but he could think ofnothing but the sharp eyes of old Mother Nature boring straight throughhim, and he danced faster than ever. The faster he danced the funnierhe looked, and the funnier he looked the harder the little meadowpeople laughed.
"Finally old Mother Nature slowly raised a hand and pointed a longforefinger at Mr. Owl. All the little meadow people stopped laughingto hear what she would say.
"'Mr. Owl,' she began, 'I know and you know why none of my littlemeadow people were here to give me greeting. And this shall be yourpunishment: From now on your eyes shall become so tender that theycannot stand the light of day, so that hereafter you shall fly aboutonly after round, red Mr. Sun has gone to bed behind the Purple Hills.No more shall my little people who play on the Green Meadows all theday long have cause to fear you, for no more shall you see to do themharm.'
"When she ceased speaking all the little meadow people gave a greatshout, for they knew that it would be even as Mother Nature had said.Then began such a frolic as the Green Meadows had not known for many along day.
"But Mr. Owl flew slowly and with difficulty over to the darkest partof the deep wood, for the light
hurt his eyes dreadfully and he couldhardly see. And as he flew the little birds flew around him in a greatcloud and plucked out his feathers and tormented him for he could notsee to harm them."
Grandfather Frog paused and looked dreamily across the Smiling Pool.Suddenly he opened his big mouth and then closed it with a snap. Onemore foolish green fly had disappeared inside the white and yellowwaistcoat.
"Chug-a-rum," said Grandfather Frog, "those were sad days, sad daysindeed for Mr. Owl. He couldn't hunt for his meals by day, for thelight blinded him. At night he could see but little in the darkness.So he got little to eat and he grew thinner and thinner and thinneruntil he was but a shadow of his former self. He was always hungry,was Mr. Owl, always hungry. No one was afraid of him now, for it wasthe easiest thing in the world to keep out of his way.
"At last old Mother Nature came again to visit the Green Meadows andthe Green Forest. Far, far in the darkest part of the deep wood shefound Mr. Owl. When she saw how very thin and how very, very miserablehe was her heart was moved to pity, for old Mother Nature loves all hersubjects, even the worst of them. All the fierceness was gone from Mr.Owl. He was so weak that he just sat huddled in the thickest part ofthe great pine. You see he had been able to catch very little to eat.
"'Mr. Owl,' said old Mother Nature gently, 'you now know something ofthe misery and the suffering which you have caused others, and I thinkyou have been punished enough. No more may you fly abroad over theGreen Meadows while the day is bright, for still is the fear of you inthe hearts of all my little meadow people, but hereafter you shall notfind it so difficult to get enough to eat. Your eyes shall grow big,bigger than the eyes of any other bird, so that you shall be able tosee in the dusk and even in the dark. Your ears shall grow large,larger than the ears of any of the little forest or meadow people, sothat you can hear the very least sound. Your feathers shall become assoft as down, so that when you fly none shall hear you.'
"And from that day it was even so. Mr. Owl's eyes grew big and biggeruntil he could see as well in the dusk as he used to see in the fulllight of day. His ears grew large and larger until his hearing becameso keen that he could hear the least rustle, even at a long distance.And when he flew he made no sound, but floated like a great shadow.
"The little meadow people no longer feared him by day, but when theshadows began to creep out from the Purple Hills each night and theyheard his voice 'Whoo-too-whoo-hoo-hoo' they felt all the old fear ofhim. If they were wise they did not stir, but if they were foolish andso much as shivered Mr. Owl was sure to hear them and silently pounceupon them.
"So once more Mr. Owl grew strong and fierce. But only at night hadanyone cause to fear him, and then only the foolish and timid.
"And now you know," concluded Grandfather Frog, "why it is that Hootythe Owl never comes out to play with you on the Green Meadows, and whyhis eyes are so big and his ears so large."
"Thank you, thank you, Grandfather Frog!" cried the Merry LittleBreezes, springing up from the white water lilies and stretchingthemselves. "We'll bring you the first foolish green fly we can find."
Then away they rushed to hunt for it.