Mother West Wind When Stories by Thornton W. Burgess

  V. WHEN OLD MR. RAT BECAME AN OUTCAST

  |Robber the brown rat is an outcast among the little people of the GreenMeadows and the Green Forest. You know an outcast is one with whom noone else will have anything to do. No one speaks to Robber. Whoevermeets him pretends not to even see him, unless it happens to be one ofthe Hawk family or one of the Owl family or Shadow the Weasel. If oneof these sees him, it is well for Robber to find a safe hiding-placewithout any loss of time.

  But the rest of the little meadow and forest people turn their backs onRobber and get out of his way, partly because many of them are afraid ofhim, and partly because they despise him and consider him quite beneaththem. He hasn't a single friend among them, not even among his ownrelatives. The latter are ashamed of him. If they could help it, theywouldn't even admit that they are related to him. Just mention him tothem, and right away they will begin to talk about something else. Wagthe Wood Rat and Bounder the Kangeroo Rat are very different fellows andare well liked, but Robber the Brown Rat is hated. Yes, Sir, he is hatedeven by his own relatives, which, you will agree, is a dreadful state ofaffairs.

  Peter Rabbit had heard of Robber but never had seen him until onemoonlight night he happened to go up to Farmer Brown's barn just out ofcuriosity. He saw a hole under the barn and was trying to decide whetheror not to go in and find out what was inside when who should come outbut Robber himself. His coat was so rough and untidy, he was so dirty,he smelled so unclean, and he looked so savage that Peter at oncedecided that he wasn't interested in that barn and took himself off tothe Green Forest, lip-perty-lipperty-lip, as fast as he could go. Allthe rest of the night he thought about Robber the Brown Rat, and thevery next day he hurried over to the Smiling Pool to ask GrandfatherFrog how it was that Robber had become such a disreputable fellow withnot a single friend.

  Grandfather Frog had had a good breakfast of foolish green flies and wasfeeling in the very best of humor.

  "Chug-a-rum!" said he, "Robber the Brown Rat is an outcast because he isall bad. His father was all bad, and his father's father, and so on wayback to the beginning of things when the world was young. There was nogood in any of them, and there is no good in Robber. He is a disgrace tothe whole race of meadow and forest people, and so he lives only whereman lives, and I have heard that he is as much hated by man as by therest of us.

  "Way back when the world was young, hisgreat-great-ever-so-great-grandfather, who was the first of his race,lived with the rest of the little people in the Green Forest, and OldMother Nature gave him the same chance to make an honest living that shegave to the rest. For a while Mr. Rat was honest. He was honest justas long as it was easier to be honest than dishonest. But when the hardtimes came of which you know, and food became scarce, Mr. Rat was toolazy to even try to earn his own living. He discovered that it waseasier to steal from his neighbors. He wasn't at all particular whom hestole from, but he took from big and little alike. He was so sly aboutit that for a long time no one found him out.

  "By and by his neighbors began to wonder how it was that Mr. Rat alwaysseemed fat and well fed and yet never was seen to work. But Mr. Rat wastoo crafty to be caught stealing. He said he didn't need much to liveon, which was an untruth, for he was a very greedy fellow. Now lazinessis a habit that grows. First Mr. Rat was too lazy to work for hisliving. Then, little by little, he grew too lazy to be crafty.He grew bolder and bolder in his stealing, until at last he just tookwhat he pleased from those who were smaller than he. Being well fed,he was strong. All the little people of his own size and smaller fearedhim. The bigger people said it was no business of theirs, so long as hedidn't steal from them. All the time he _was_ stealing from them, buthadn't been caught.

  "Finally he grew too lazy to keep himself looking neat. His coat wasalways unbrushed and untidy-looking. He was always dirty. You see, itwas too much work to even wash his face and hands. There was always foodsticking to his whiskers. The little people kept away from him becausethey were afraid of him. The bigger people would have nothing to do withhim because they were ashamed of him, ashamed to be seen in his company.

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  "So lazy Mr. Rat grew dirtier in his habits, bolder in his stealing,and impudent to everybody. He became quarrelsome. It was about this timethat the bigger people found him out.

  "Mr. Lynx had secured the first meal he had had in a week. Part of it heput away for the next day. Before going to bed he went to have a look atit. Some of it was gone.

  "'That's queer,' muttered Mr. Lynx. 'I wonder who there is who dares tosteal from me.'

  "Mr. Lynx hid where he could watch what was left of that meal. By and byhe grew sleepy. He was just dozing off when he heard a noise. There wasMr. Rat carrying off part of what was left of that meal. With a snarl ofanger Mr. Lynx leaped out. But Mr. Rat was too quick for him. He slippedinto a hole. Mr. Lynx grabbed at him and caught him by the tail. Mr.Rat pulled and Mr. Lynx pulled. But Mr. Rat's tail was slippery, and Mr.Lynx couldn't hold on. He did, however, pull all the hair from it.

  "Of course, Mr. Lynx told what had happened, and after that Mr. Rat didnot dare show himself at all when the bigger people were about. So helived in holes and continued to steal. Finally old King Bear called ameeting, and it was decided to drive Mr. Rat out of the Green Forest andoff the Green Meadows. Little Mr. Weasel said that he was not afraid ofMr. Rat, and he would go into all the holes and drive Mr. Rat out. SoMr. Weasel went into hole after hole until at last he found Mr. Rat. Mr.Rat tried to fight, but he found that little Mr. Weasel was so slim andcould move so quickly that he couldn't get hold of him. So at last Mr.Rat was forced to run to save his life.

  "The minute he appeared all the others, big and little, started for him.Mr. Rat gave one look, and then, with a squeal of fright, he ran withall his might, dodging into one hiding-place after another, only to bechased out of each. And so at last he turned away from the Green Forestand the Green Meadows and ran to the homes of men, where he hid in darkplaces and stole from men as he formerly had stolen from his neighborsof the Green Forest. And because men are wasteful and allow much foodto spoil, Mr. Rat found plenty to fill his stomach, such as it was, butoften it was such as no one else would have touched.

  "Once or twice he tried to get back to the Green Forest, but as soon ashe was discovered he was driven back, and at last he gave up trying. Hegrew more dirty than ever, and finding everybody, even man, against him,he became savage of temper, living wholly by stealing, evil to look atand evil to come near, for in the dirt of his coat be carried sicknessfrom place to place. In no place in all the Great World could he find awelcome.

  "His children followed in his footsteps, and his children's children.Old Mother Nature became so disgusted with them that she said that theyshould always remain outcasts until they should mend their ways. Butthis they never did, and so Robber the Brown Rat is an outcast to-day,looked down on and hated by every living thing. There is none to saya good word for him. And to this day the tails of Robber's family havebeen almost bare of hair as a reminder of how old Mr. Rat of long agocame to be driven out of the Green Forest. Now are you satisfied, PeterRabbit?" concluded Grandfather Frog.

  "Yes, indeed, and I thank you ever so much," declared Peter. "Ugh! Itmust be dreadful to be despised and hated by all the Great World. Iwouldn't be in Robber's place for anything."

  "Chug-a-rum! I should hope not!" said Grandfather Frog.