His legs were
rather short. As he sat eating that fish, his back was arched.
Old Mother Nature waited until he had finished his feast. "Now
then, Billy," said she, "I want you to answer a few questions.
Which do you like best, night or day?"
"It doesn't make any particular difference to me," replied Billy.
"I just sleep when I feel like it, whether it be night or day, and
then when I wake up I can hunt. It all depends on how I feel."
"When you go hunting, what do you hunt?" asked Old Mother Nature.
Billy grinned. "Anything that promises a good meal," said he. "I'm
not very particular. A fat Mouse, a tender young Rabbit, a Chipmunk,
a Frog, Tadpoles, Chickens, eggs, birds, fish; whatever happens to
be easiest to get suits me. I am rather fond of fish, and that's
one reason that I live along the Laughing Brook and around the Smiling
Pool. But I like a change of fare, and so often I go hunting in the
Green Forest. Sometimes I go up to Farmer Brown's for a Chicken. In
the spring I hunt for nests of birds on the ground. In winter, if
Peter Rabbit should happen along here when I was hungry, I might be
tempted to sample Peter." Billy snapped his bright eyes wickedly
and Peter shivered.
"If Jerry Muskrat were not my friend, I am afraid I might be tempted
to sample him," continued Billy Mink.
"Pooh!" exclaimed Peter Rabbit.
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