The Tale of Mr. Tod Page #4

"The Tale of Mr. Tod" by Beatrix Potter is a children's book telling the story of two of her most notorious characters, Mr. Tod the fox and Tommy Brock the badger. The book revolves around their rivalries, their cunning strategies, and their endless efforts to outwit each other. It's a delightful narrative involving adventure, humor, suspense and clever maneuvers, presenting important life lessons for kids.

• Children

								

found that the weight and strain
had dragged the knot so tight that
it was past untying. He was obliged
to gnaw it with his teeth. He
chewed and gnawed for more than
twenty minutes. At last the rope
gave way with such a sudden jerk
that it nearly pulled his teeth out,
and quite knocked him over backwards.

Inside the house there was a
great crash and splash, and the
noise of a pail rolling over and over.

But no screams. Mr. Tod was
mystified; he sat quite still, and
listened attentively. Then he peeped
in at the window. The water was
dripping from the bed, the pail had
rolled into a corner.

In the middle of the bed, under
the blanket, was a wet SOMETHING
--much flattened in the middle,
where the pail had caught it (as it
were across the tummy). Its head
was covered by the wet blanket,
and it was NOT SNORING ANY LONGER.

There was nothing stirring, and
no sound except the drip, drop,
drop, drip, of water trickling from
the mattress.

Mr. Tod watched it for half an
hour; his eyes glistened.

Then he cut a caper, and became
so bold that he even tapped at the
window; but the bundle never
moved.

Yes--there was no doubt about
it--it had turned out even better
than he had planned; the pail had
hit poor old Tommy Brock, and
killed him dead!

"I will bury that nasty person in
the hole which he has dug. I will
bring my bedding out, and dry it in
the sun," said Mr. Tod.

"I will wash the tablecloth and
spread it on the grass in the sun to
bleach. And the blanket must be
hung up in the wind; and the bed
must be thoroughly disinfected,
and aired with a warming-pan;
and warmed with a hot water bottle."

"I will get soft soap, and monkey
soap, and all sorts of soap; and
soda and scrubbing brushes; and
persian powder; and carbolic to
remove the smell. I must have a
disinfecting. Perhaps I may have to
burn sulphur."

He hurried round the house to
get a shovel from the kitchen--
"First I will arrange the hole--then
I will drag out that person in the
blanket. . . ."

He opened the door. . . .

Tommy Brock was sitting at Mr.
Tod's kitchen table, pouring out tea
from Mr. Tod's teapot into Mr.
Tod's teacup. He was quite dry
himself and grinning; and he threw
the cup of scalding tea all over Mr.
Tod.

Then Mr. Tod rushed upon
Tommy Brock, and Tommy Brock
grappled with Mr. Tod amongst
the broken crockery, and there
was a terrific battle all over the
kitchen. To the rabbits underneath
it sounded as if the floor would give
way at each crash of falling furniture.

They crept out of their tunnel,
and hung about amongst the rocks
and bushes, listening anxiously.

Inside the house the racket was
fearful. The rabbit babies in the
oven woke up trembling; perhaps it
was fortunate they were shut up inside.

Everything was upset except the
kitchen table.

And everything was broken,
except the mantelpiece and the
kitchen fender. The crockery was
smashed to atoms.

The chairs were broken, and the
window, and the clock fell with a
crash, and there were handfuls of
Mr. Tod's sandy whiskers.

The vases fell off the mantelpiece,
the cannisters fell off the
shelf; the kettle fell off the hob.
Tommy Brock put his foot in a jar
of raspberry jam.

And the boiling water out of the
kettle fell upon the tail of Mr. Tod.

When the kettle fell, Tommy
Brock, who was still grinning,
happened to be uppermost; and he
rolled Mr. Tod over and over like a
log, out at the door.

Then the snarling and worrying
went on outside; and they rolled
over the bank, and down hill,
bumping over the rocks. There will
never be any love lost between
Tommy Brock and Mr. Tod.

As soon as the coast was clear,
Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny
came out of the bushes.

"Now for it! Run in, Cousin
Benjamin! Run in and get them! while
I watch the door."

But Benjamin was frightened--

"Oh; oh! they are coming back!"

"No they are not."

"Yes they are!"

"What dreadful bad language! I
think they have fallen down the
stone quarry."

Still Benjamin hesitated, and
Peter kept pushing him--

"Be quick, it's all right. Shut the
oven door, Cousin Benjamin, so
that he won't miss them."

Decidedly there were lively
doings in Mr. Tod's kitchen!

At home in the rabbit hole,
things had not been quite comfortable.

After quarreling at supper,
Flopsy and old Mr. Bouncer had
passed a sleepless night, and
quarrelled again at breakfast. Old Mr.
Bouncer could no longer deny that
he had invited company into the
rabbit hole; but he refused to reply
to the questions and reproaches of
Flopsy. The day passed heavily.

Old Mr. Bouncer, very sulky, was
huddled up in a corner, barricaded
with a chair. Flopsy had taken
away his pipe and hidden the tobacco.
She had been having a complete
turn out and spring cleaning,
to relieve her feelings. She had just
finished. Old Mr. Bouncer, behind
his chair, was wondering anxiously
what she would do next.

In Mr. Tod's kitchen, amidst the
wreckage, Benjamin Bunny picked
his way to the oven nervously,
through a thick cloud of dust. He
opened the oven door, felt inside,
and found something warm and
wriggling. He lifted it out carefully,
and rejoined Peter Rabbit.

"I've got them! Can we get away?
Shall we hide, Cousin Peter?"

Peter pricked his ears; distant
sounds of fighting still echoed in
the wood.

Five minutes afterwards two
breathless rabbits came scuttering
away down Bull Banks, half carrying,
half dragging a sack between
them, bumpetty bump over the
grass. They reached home safely,
and burst into the rabbit hole.

Great was old Mr. Bouncer's relief
and Flopsy's joy when Peter and
Benjamin arrived in triumph with
the young family. The rabbit babies
were rather tumbled and very hungry;
they were fed and put to bed.
They soon recovered.

A new long pipe and a fresh supply
of rabbit tobacco was presented
to Mr. Bouncer. He was rather
upon his dignity; but he accepted.

Old Mr. Bouncer was forgiven,
and they all had dinner. Then Peter
and Benjamin told their story--but
they had not waited long enough to
be able to tell the end of the battle
between Tommy Brock and Mr.
Tod.
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