Hi,
It's Stefania,
And we're back with another Uncle Wiggly story.
This one's called Uncle Wiggly and the Brown Wren.
This is about how Uncle Wiggly,
In his travels about the country,
In search of his fortune,
Helped the little brown wren.
Well,
Where are you going this morning?
Asked the Red Squirrel's mother as Uncle Wiggly finished his breakfast and shook out from his long ears the oatmeal crumbs that had fallen in them.
Oh,
I suppose I will have to be traveling on,
Answered the rabbit.
That fortune of mine seems to be a long distance off.
I've tried rainbows and moonbeams,
And I didn't find any money at their ends.
I guess I'll have to look under the water next,
But I'll wait till I get back home,
And then I'll have Jimmy Wibble Wobble,
The duck boy,
Put his head at the bottom of the pond and see if there's any gold down there.
So off the old gentleman rabbit started,
Limping on his crutch,
For his rheumatism was troubling him again,
And as a side swung his case,
With some crackers and cheese and bread and butter and jam in it.
Plenty of jam,
Too,
Let me tell you,
For the Red Squirrel's mama could make lovely preserves,
And this was carrot jam with turnip frosting on it.
Well,
Uncle Wiggly traveled on and on over the hills and through the deep woods,
And pretty soon he came to a place where he saw a lot of little black ants trying to carry to their nest a nice big piece of meat that someone had dropped.
Boy,
How hard those ants are working,
Thought the rabbit,
But that meat is too heavy for them.
I'll have to help carry it.
Now,
The piece of meat was only as big as a quarter of a small coconut,
But of course that's too big for an ant to carry,
Or even for eleven ants.
So Uncle Wiggly kindly lifted it for them and put it in their nest.
Thank you very much,
Said the biggest ant.
If ever we can do you a favor or any of your friends.
We will.
The old gentleman rabbit said he was glad to hear that,
And then,
Taking up his crutch and case again,
On he went.
Pretty soon he came to a place in the woods where the sun was shining down through the trees and a little brook was making pretty music over the stones.
And then,
All at once,
The old gentleman rabbit heard a different kind of music,
And it was that of a bird singing.
And this is the song.
The bird sang so sweetly.
Here's how it goes.
There was a little brown bird sitting up in a tree.
He's singing to you and he's singing to me.
And what does he say?
Little girl,
Little boy,
All the world's running over with joy.
Then the bird sang about how there were five eggs laid away in a nest and how pretty soon little birds would come out from them.
And then,
All of a sudden,
The bird sang like this.
But don't meddle,
Don't touch,
Little girl,
Little boy,
All the world will lose some of its joy.
You seem quite happy this beautiful morning,
Said Uncle Wiggly as he paused under the tree where the bird was singing.
Why,
I do declare,
He exclaimed,
If it isn't Mrs.
Wren.
Well,
I never in all my born days.
I didn't know you were back from the South yet.
Yes,
Uncle Wiggly,
Said the little brown Wren.
I came up some time ago,
But I'm real glad to see you.
I'm going to take my little birdies out of the shell pretty soon.
They are almost hatched.
Glad to hear it,
Said the rabbit politely.
And then he told about seeking his fortune.
And all of a sudden,
A great,
Big,
Ugly crow bird flew down out of a tall tree and made a dash for Mrs.
Wren to eat her up.
But Mrs.
Wren got out of the way just in time and didn't get caught.
But alas,
And alas,
A day,
The crow knocked down the Wren's nest and all the sticks and feathers of which it was made were scattered all about.
And the eggs,
Which the little birdies were inside,
Would have been all broken,
Kersmash,
Only that they happened to fall down on some soft moss.
Oh,
Dear,
Cried Mrs.
Wren sorrowfully.
Now see what the crow has done.
My home is broken up and my birdies will be killed.
Cried the crow as unkindly as he could.
And it sounded just as if he laughed.
Oh,
Whatever shall I do?
Asked Mrs.
Wren.
My birdies will have no nest and I haven't time to make another and break up the little fine sticks that I need and gather the feathers that are scattered all over.
Oh,
What shall I do?
Soon my birdies will be out of the shells.
Never fear,
Said Uncle Wiggly bravely.
I will help you.
I'll gather the sticks for you.
Oh,
But you haven't time.
You must be off seeking your fortune,
Answered the Wren.
Oh,
I guess my fortune can wait.
It has been waiting for me a long time and it won't hurt to wait a bit longer.
I'll get you the sticks,
Said the rabid gentleman.
So while Mrs.
Wren sat over the eggs to keep them warm with her fluffy feathers,
Uncle Wiggly looked for sticks with which to make a new nest.
He couldn't find any short and small enough.
So what do you think he did?
Well,
He took some big sticks and he jumped a jiggly dance up and down on them with his sharp paws and broke them up as fine as toothpicks for the nest.
Then he arranged them as well as he could in a sort of hollow like a teacup.
Oh,
If we only had some feathers now,
We would be all right,
Said Mrs.
Wren.
It's a very good nest for a rabbit to make.
Don't say a word,
Cried some small voices on the ground.
We will gather up the feathers for you.
And there came marching up a lot of the little ants that Uncle Wiggly had been so kind to.
And soon they had gathered up all the scattered feathers and the nest was made on a mossy stump and lined with the feathers.
And the warm eggs were put in it by Mrs.
Wren,
Who then hovered over them to hatch out the birdies.
And she was very thankful to Uncle Wiggly for what he had done.
And that's the end of our story.
Sleep well.
Bye-bye for now.
