WHY
Mr.
SNAKE
CANNOT
WINK
by Thornton W. Burgess
Peter
Rabbit
and
Johnny
Chuck
were
playing
tag
on
the
Green
Meadows.
Of
course
Peter
can
run
so
much
faster
than
Johnny
Chuck
that
he
would
never
have
been
"it"
if
he
had
tried
his
best
to
keep
out
of
the
way.
But
he
didn't.
No,
Sir,
Peter
Rabbit
didn't
do
anything
of
the
kind.
He
pretended
that
one
of
his
long
hind
legs
was
lame
so
that
he
had
to
run
on
three
legs,
while
Johnny
Chuck
could
use
all
four.
It
was
great
fun.
They
raced
and
dodged
and
twisted
and
turned.
Sometimes
Peter
was
so
excited
that
he
would
forget
and
use
all
four
legs.
Then
Johnny
Chuck
would
shout
"No
fair!"
Peter
would
say
that
he
didn't
mean
to,
and
to
make
up
for
it
would
be
"it"
and
try
to
catch
Johnny.
Now
it
happened
that
curled
up
on
a
little
grassy
tussock,
taking
an
early
morning
sun
bath,
lay
little
Mr.
Greensnake.
Of
course
Peter
Rabbit
and
Johnny
Chuck
were
not
afraid
of
him.
If
it
had
been
Mr.
Rattlesnake
or
Mr.
Gophersnake,
it
would
have
been
different.
But
from
little
Mr.
Greensnake
there
was
nothing
to
fear,
and
sometimes,
just
for
fun,
Peter
would
jump
right
over
him.
When
he
did
that,
Peter
always
winked
good
naturedly.
But
Mr.
Greensnake
never
winked
back.
Instead
he
would
raise
his
head,
run
his
tongue
out
at
Peter,
and
hiss
in
what
he
tried
to
make
a
very
fierce
and
angry
manner.
Then
Peter
would
laugh
and
wink
at
him
again.
But
never
once
did
Mr.
Greensnake
wink
back.
Peter
was
thinking
of
this
as
he
and
Johnny
Chuck
stretched
out
in
a
sunny
spot
to
get
their
breath
and
rest.
He
had
never
thought
of
it
before,
but
now
that
he
had
noticed
it,
he
couldn't
remember
that
he
ever
had
seen
little
Mr.
Greensnake
wink,
nor
any
of
Mr.
Greensnake's
relatives.
He
mentioned
the
matter
to
Johnny
Chuck.
"That's
so,"
replied
Johnny
thoughtfully.
"I
never
have
seen
any
of
them
wink,
either.
Do
you
suppose
they
can
wink?"
"Let's
go
ask
Mr.
Greensnake,"
said
Peter.
Up
they
hopped
and
raced
over
to
the
grassy
tussock
where
Mr.
Greensnake
lay,
but
to
all
their
questions
he
would
make
no
reply
save
to
run
out
his
tongue
at
them.
Finally
they
gave
up
asking
him.
"I
tell
you
what,
let's
go
over
to
the
Smiling
Pool
and
ask
Grandfather
Frog.
He'll
be
sure
to
know,
and
perhaps,
if
he
is
feeling
good,
he'll
tell
us
a
story,"
said
Peter.
So
off
they
scampered
to
the
Smiling
Pool.
There
they
found
Grandfather
Frog
sitting
on
his
big
green
lily
pad
just
as
usual,
and
Peter
knew
by
the
look
in
his
great,
goggly
eyes
that
Grandfather
Frog
had
a
good
breakfast
of
foolish
green
flies
tucked
away
inside
his
white
and
yellow
waistcoat.
His
eyes
twinkled
as
Peter
and
Johnny
very
politely
wished
him
good
morning.
"Good
morning,"
said
he
gruffly.
But
Peter
had
seen
that
twinkle
in
his
eyes
and
knew
that
Grandfather
Frog
was
feeling
good
natured
in
spite
of
his
gruff
greeting.
"If
you
please,
Grandfather
Frog,
why
doesn't
Mr.
Greensnake
wink
at
us
when
we
wink
at
him?"
he
asked.
"Chug
a
rum!
Because
he
can't,"
replied
Grandfather
Frog.
"Can't!"
cried
Peter
Rabbit
and
Johnny
Chuck
together.
"That's
what
I
said
can't,"
replied
Grandfather
Frog.
"And
no
more
can
Mr.
Blacksnake,
or
Mr.
Rattlesnake,
or
Mr.
Gophersnake,
or
any
other
member
of
the
Snake
family."
"Why
not?"
cried
Peter
and
Johnny,
all
in
the
same
breath.
"Chug
a
rum!"
said
Grandfather
Frog,
folding
his
hands
across
his
white
and
yellow
waistcoat,
"if
you
will
sit
still
until
I
finish,
I'll
tell
you;
but
if
you
move
or
ask
any
foolish
questions,
I'll
stop
right
where
I
am,
and
you'll
never
hear
the
end
of
the
story,
for
no
one
else
knows
it."
Of
course
Peter
and
Johnny
promised
to
sit
perfectly
still
and
not
say
a
word.
After
they
had
made
themselves
comfortable,
Grandfather
Frog
cleared
his
throat
as
if
to
begin,
but
for
a
long
time
he
didn't
say
a
word.
Once
Peter
opened
his
mouth
to
ask
why,
but
remembered
in
time
and
closed
it
again
without
making
a
sound.
At
last
Grandfather
Frog
cleared
his
throat
once
more,
and
with
a
far
away
look
in
his
great,
goggly
eyes
began:
"Once
upon
a
time,
long,
long
ago,
when
the
world
was
young,
lived
old
Mr.
Snake,
the
grandfather
a
thousand
times
removed
of
little
Mr.
Greensnake
and
all
the
other
Snakes
whom
you
know.
Of
course
he
wasn't
old
then.
He
was
young
and
spry
and
smart,
was
Mr.
Snake.
Now
there
is
such
a
thing
as
being
too
smart.
That
was
the
trouble
with
Mr.
Snake.
Yes,
Sir,
that
was
the
trouble
with
Mr.
Snake.
He
was
so
smart
that
he
soon
found
out
that
he
was
the
smartest
of
all
the
meadow
and
forest
people,
and
that
was
a
bad
thing.
It
certainly
was
a
very
bad
thing."
Grandfather
Frog
shook
his
head
gravely.
"You
see,"
he
continued,
"as
soon
as
he
found
that
out,
he
began
to
take
advantage
of
his
neighbors
and
cheat
them,
but
he
would
do
it
so
smoothly
that
they
never
once
suspected
that
they
were
being
cheated.
Mr.
Snake
would
go
about
all
day
cheating
everybody
he
met.
At
night
he
would
go
home
and
chuckle
over
his
smartness.
It
wasn't
long
before
he
began
to
look
down
on
his
neighbors
for
being
so
honest
that
they
didn't
suspect
other
people
of
being
dishonest,
and
for
being
so
easily
cheated.
"Now
one
bad
habit
almost
always
leads
to
another.
From
cheating,
Mr.
Snake
just
naturally
slipped
to
stealing.
Yes,
Sir,
he
became
a
thief.
Of
course
that
made
trouble
right
away,
but
still
no
one
suspected
Mr.
Snake.
He
was
always
very
polite
to
every
one
and
always
offering
to
do
favors
for
his
neighbors.
In
fact,
Mr.
Snake
was
very
well
liked
and
much
respected.
When
any
one
had
been
robbed,
he
was
always
the
first
to
offer
sympathy
and
join
in
the
hunt
for
the
thief.
He
was
so
spry
and
slim,
and
could
slip
through
the
tall
grass
so
fast,
that
he
could
go
almost
where
he
pleased
without
being
seen,
and
this
made
him
very
bold.
If
he
did
happen
to
be
found
near
the
scene
of
trouble,
he
always
had
a
story
ready
to
account
for
his
presence,
and
it
sounded
so
true,
and
he
told
it
in
such
an
honest
manner,
that
no
one
thought
of
doubting
it.
"So
Mr.
Snake
found
that
lying
helped
him
to
cheat
and
steal,
and
all
the
time
he
kept
thinking
how
smart
he
was.
But
even
Mr.
Snake
had
a
little
bit
of
conscience,
and
once
in
a
while
it
would
trouble
him.
So
what
do
you
think
he
did?
Why,
cheating
had
become
such
a
habit
with
him
that
he
actually
tried
to
cheat
himself
to
cheat
his
conscience!
When
he
was
telling
a
lie,
he
would
wink
one
eye.
'That,'
said
he
to
himself,
'means
that
it
isn't
true,
and
if
these
folks
are
not
smart
enough
to
see
me
wink
and
know
what
it
means,
it
is
their
own
fault
if
they
believe
what
I
am
telling
them.'
But
always
he
took
care
to
wink
the
eye
that
was
turned
away
from
the
one
he
was
talking
to.
"Dear
me,
dear
me,
such
terrible
times
as
there
were
on
the
Green
Meadows
and
in
the
Green
Forest!
They
grew
worse
and
worse,
and
when
at
last
Old
Mother
Nature
came
to
see
how
all
the
little
people
were
getting
along,
she
heard
so
many
complaints
that
she
hardly
knew
where
to
begin
to
straighten
matters
out.
She
had
all
the
little
people
come
before
her
in
turn
and
tell
their
troubles.
When
it
came
Mr.
Snake's
turn,
he
had
no
complaint
to
make.
He
seemed
to
be
the
only
one
who
had
no
troubles.
She
asked
him
a
great
many
questions,
and
for
each
one
he
had
a
ready
reply.
Of
course
a
great
many
of
these
replies
were
lies,
and
every
time
he
told
one
of
these,
he
winked
without
knowing
it.
You
see,
it
had
become
a
habit.
"Now,
with
all
his
smartness,
Mr.
Snake
had
forgotten
one
thing,
one
very
important
thing.
It
was
this:
You
can't
fool
Old
Mother
Nature,
and
it
is
of
no
use
to
try.
He
hadn't
been
talking
three
minutes
before
she
knew
who
was
at
the
bottom
of
all
the
trouble.
She
let
him
finish,
then
called
all
the
others
about
her
and
told
them
who
had
made
all
the
trouble.
Mr.
Snake
was
very
bold.
He
held
his
head
very
high
in
the
air
and
pretended
not
to
care.
When
Old
Mother
Nature
turned
her
head,
he
even
ran
out
his
tongue
at
her,
just
as
all
the
Snake
family
do
at
you
and
me
to
day.
When
she
had
finished
telling
them
how
cheating
and
stealing
and
lying
isn't
smart
at
all,
but
very,
very
dreadful,
she
turned
to
Mr.
Snake
and
said:
"'From
this
time
on,
no
one
will
believe
anything
you
say,
and
you
shall
have
no
friends.
You
will
never
wink
again,
for
you
and
your
children
and
your
children's
children
forever
will
have
no
eyelids,
that
all
the
world
may
know
that
those
who
make
a
wrong
use
of
the
things
given
them
shall
have
them
taken
away.'
"And
now
you
know
why
little
Mr.
Greensnake
cannot
wink
at
you;
he
hasn't
any
eyelids
to
wink
with"
finished
Grandfather
Frog.
Peter
Rabbit
drew
a
long
breath.
"Thank
you,
oh,
thank
you
ever
so
much,
Grandfather
Frog,"
he
said.
"Will
you
tell
us
next
time
why
Bobby
Coon
wears
rings
on
his
tail?"
"Perhaps,"
replied
Grandfather
Frog.
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