Written by: Arthur Scott Bailey,
1915
Recorded by: Patricia Thornton-Houser
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It made Fatty Coon feel
sad, just to think that there was that field full of corn, and that
he could never eat all of it. But Fatty made up his mind that he
would do the best he could. He would visit the cornfield
every night and feast
on those sweet, tender
kernels.
The very next
night Fatty set
out toward Farmer
Green's. It was hardly
dark. But Fatty could not wait any longer. He could not even wait
for his mother and his sisters and his brother. He hurried
away alone. And when he came in
sight of the cornfield he felt better. He had been a
bit afraid
that the corn might be gone. He thought that maybe Farmer Green
had picked
it, or that some of the forest people had eaten it all. But there
it was--a forest of corn, waving and rustling
in the moonlight as the breeze
touched it. Fatty felt very happy as he slipped
through the fence.
I wouldn't dare
say how many ears
of corn Fatty ate that night. And he would have eaten more,
too, if it hadn't been for just one thing. A dog barked.
And that spoiled
Fatty's fun. For the dog was altogether
too near for Fatty to feel safe. He even dropped the ear of corn
he was gnawing
and hurried
toward the woods.
It was lucky
for Fatty that he started when he did. For that dog was close behind
him in
no time. There was only one thing to do: Fatty knew that he
must climb
a tree at once. So he made for the nearest tree in
sight--a big, spreading
oak,
which stood all alone just beyond
the fence. And as Fatty crouched
on a tree limb
he felt safe enough, though the dog barked and whined,
and leaped
against the tree, and made a great
fuss.
Fatty looked
down at the dog and scolded
a little. He was not afraid.
But it made him cross
to be driven
out of the cornfield. And he wished the dog would go away. But
the dog--it was Farmer Green's Spot--the dog had no idea of leaving.
He stayed right there and barked so loudly that it was not long
before Farmer Green and his hired
man came in sight. And with them was Johnnie Green and a little,
young dog that had just been given to him.
When Farmer
Green saw Fatty he seemed disappointed. "He's too young to
bother
with," he said. "His skin's not worth
much. We'll go along and see what we can find."
But Johnnie
Green stayed behind. He wanted that young coon. And he intended
to have him, too. Leaving the young dog to watch Fatty Coon,
Johnnie went back to the farmhouse. After a while he appeared
again with an axe
over his shoulder. And when he began to chop
away at the big oak, Fatty Coon felt very uneasy.
Whenever Johnnie drove his axe into the tree, both the tree and
Fatty shivered
together. And Fatty began to wish he had stayed away from the
cornfield. But not for long, because Johnnie Green soon gave
up the idea of chopping down the big oak. The wood was so hard
to cut, and the tree was so big, that Johnnie had not chopped long
before he saw that it would take him all night to cut through it.
He looked up
longingly at Fatty Coon. And Johnnie started to climb the tree
himself. But the higher he climbed, the higher Fatty climbed. And
Johnnie knew that he could never catch that plump
young coon in that way.
At last Johnnie
Green started off, calling his dog after him. And then Fatty Coon
came down. But he did not go back to the cornfield. He decided that
he had had adventures
enough for one night. But Fatty had learned something--at least
he thought he had. For he made
up his mind that once he climbed a tree, no man could reach
him. TREES COULD NOT BE CHOPPED DOWN! That was what Fatty believed.
Perhaps you will know, later, whether Fatty ever found out that
he was mistaken.
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Johnnie
Green is