“The fact is,” remarked Mr. Rabbit, “I was just telling the story—if you can call it a story—to please company. If you think the end of Brother Lion’s tale is the end of the story, well and good; but it didn’t stop there when I told it in my young days. And it didn’t stop there when it happened. But maybe I’ve talked too long and said too much. You know how we gabble when we get old.”  
“I like to hear you talk,” said Sweetest Susan, edging a little closer to Mr. Rabbit and smiling cutely.
 
Mr. Rabbit took off his glasses and wiped them on his big red handkerchief.
 
“There’s some comfort in that,” he declared. “If you really like to hear me talk, I’ll go right ahead and tell the rest of the story. It’s a little rough in spots, but you’ll know how to make allowances¹ for that. The creatures had claws and tushes, and where these grow thick and long, there’s bound to be more or less scratching and biting.
 
“Of course, when Brother Lion had the wool scalded off his hide, he was in a pretty bad condition. He managed to get home, but it was a long time before he could come out and go roaming² around the country. As he was the king of the animals, of course all the rest of the creatures called on him to see how he was getting on. I didn’t go myself, because I didn’t know how he felt towards me. I was afraid he had heard me laugh when he backed into the hogshead of hot water, though I made believe I was sneezing. Consequently, I didn’t go and ask him how he was getting on.
 
“But I went close enough to know that Brother Fox had told Brother Lion a great rigamarole about me. That was Brother Fox’s way. In front of your face, he was sweeter than sauce and softer than pudding, but behind your back—well, he didn’t have any claws, but what tushes he had he showed them.
 
“I never did hear what Brother Fox said about me in any one place and at any one time, but I heard a little here and a little there, and when it was all patched up and put together it made a great mess. I had done this, and I had done that; I had laughed at Brother Lion behind his back, and I had snickered at him before his face; I had talked about him and made fun of him; and, besides all that, I had never had the politeness to call on him.
 
“All the other animals found Brother Lion so willing to listen that they learned Brother Fox’s lies by heart, and went and recited them here and there about the country; and in that way I got hold of the worst of them. The trouble with Brother Fox was that he had an old grudge³ against me. He had been trying to outdo me for many a long year, but somehow or other he always got caught in his own trap. He had a willing mind and a thick head, and when these get together there’s always trouble. The willing mind pushes and the thick head goes with its eyes shut.
 
“In old times, people used to say that Brother Fox was cunning⁴, but I believe they’ve quit that since the facts have come to light. My experience with him is that he is blessed with about as much sense as a half-grown guinea pig. He’s a pretty swift runner, but he doesn’t even know when the time comes to run.
 
“Of course, when Brother Fox found out that for some reason or other I wasn’t visiting Brother Lion, he seized the chance to talk about me, and it wasn’t such a great while before he managed to make Brother Lion believe that I was the worst enemy he had and the cause of all his trouble.
 
“I knew pretty well that something of the sort was going on, for every time I’d meet any of the other animals, they’d ask me why I didn’t call and see Brother Lion. Brother Fox, especially, was anxious to know why I hadn’t gone to ask after Brother Lion’s health.
 
“I put them all off for some time, until finally one day I heard that Brother Lion had given Brother Fox orders to catch me and bring me before him. This didn’t worry me at all, because I knew that Brother Fox was just as able to catch me as I was to catch a wild duck in the middle of a mill-pond. But I concluded I’d go and see Brother Lion and find out all about his health.
 
“So I went, taking good care to go galloping⁵ by Brother Fox’s house. He was sitting on his front porch⁶, and I could see he was astonished, but I neither said howdy nor turned my head. I knew he would follow along after.
 
“When I got to Brother Lion’s house everything was very quiet, but I knew Brother Lion was awake, for I heard him groan⁷ every time he tried to turn over. So I rapped⁸ at the door and then walked in. Brother Lion watched me from under his tousled mane for some time before he said anything. Then he says, says he:—
 
“‘What’s this I hear?’
 
“Says I, ‘Not having your ears, I can’t say.’
 
“‘My ears are as good as anybody’s ears,’ says he.
 
“‘But I can’t hear through them,’ says I.
 
“He grunted⁹ and grumbled¹⁰ a little over this, because he didn’t know what reply to make.
 
“‘You haven’t been to see me until now,’ says he.
 <............