Jasper
Jay
Tells Some News
Written
by: Arthur Scott Bailey, 1915
Recorded by: Patricia Thornton-Houser
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It
was quite late in the fall, and the weather
had grown very cold. Mrs. Coon and her family had not left their
home for several days; but on this day she thought it would be pleasant
to go out in the sunshine and get a
breath of fresh air and a
bite to eat.
Fatty
was the only one of her children that was not asleep; and he complained
of being very hungry.
So Mrs. Coon decided to take him with her.
The
hunting
was not very good. There were no birds' eggs at all to be found
in the trees. The river and the brook
and the creek
were all frozen
over, so Fatty and his mother could not catch
any fish. And as for corn--Farmer
Green had long ago gathered
the last ear
of it. Fatty wished that it was summertime.
But it only made him hungrier than ever, to think of all the good
things to eat that summer brings. He was feeling very unhappy when
his mother said to him sharply--
"Run
up this tree! Hurry,
now! Don't ask any questions."
Now,
Fatty did not always obey
his mother as quickly as he might have. But this time he saw that
she had stopped and was sniffing
the air as if there was something about it she did not like.
That
was enough for Fatty. He scrambled
up the nearest tree. For he knew that his mother had discovered
danger of some sort.
Mrs.
Coon followed close behind Fatty. And they had no sooner hidden
in the branches
than Fatty saw what it was that his mother had smelled.
It
was Johnnie Green! He passed right underneath
the tree where they were perched.
And as Mrs. Coon peeped
down at him she shuddered
and shivered
and shook
so hard that Fatty couldn't help noticing it.
"What's
the matter?"
he asked, as soon as Johnnie Green was out of sight.
"His
cap!" Mrs. Coon exclaimed.
"He is wearing a coon-skin cap!" Now do you wonder
that she was upset?
"Don't ever go near Farmer Green's house," she warned
Fatty. "You don't want to be made into a cap, or a pair
of gloves,
or a coat, or anything like that, do you?"
"No,
indeed,
Mother!" Fatty was quite sure that such an adventure
wouldn't please him at all. And he told himself right then and
there that he would never go anywhere near Farmer Green's house.
We shall see how well Fatty remembered.
That
very afternoon Fatty Coon heard some very pleasant news. It was
Jasper Jay who told him.
Jasper
Jay was a very noisy
blue jay who lived in the neighborhood.
He did not go south
with most of the other birds when the cold weather came. He liked
the winter and he was forever tearing
about the woods, squalling
and scolding
at everybody. He was a very noisy fellow.
Well!
when Fatty and his mother had reached
home after their hunt, Fatty stayed out
of doors. He climbed
to the top of a tall pine
tree nearby and stretched
himself along a limb,
to enjoy the sunshine, which felt very good upon his broad
back. It was there that Jasper Jay found him and told him the pleasant
news. And Fatty was very glad to hear the news, because he was still
hungry.
This
is what Jasper Jay told Fatty: he told him that Farmer Green had
as many as forty fat turkeys,
which roosted
every night in a spreading oak
in Farmer Green's front yard.
"If
I liked turkeys I would certainly
go down there some night and get one," said Jasper Jay.
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