Among the Forest People Read online

  MR. RED SQUIRREL COMES TO LIVE IN THE FOREST

  Life in the forest is very different from life in the meadow, and theforest people have many ways of doing which are not known in the worldoutside. They are a quiet people and do not often talk or sing whenthere are strangers near. You could never get acquainted with them untilyou had learned to be quiet also, and to walk through the underbrushwithout snapping twigs at every step. Then, if you were to live amongthem and speak their language, you would find that there are many thingsabout which it is not polite to talk. And there is a reason for allthis.

  In the meadow, although they have their quarrels and their own troubles,they always make it up again and are friendly, but in the forest thereare some people who can never get along well together, and who do not goto the same parties or call upon each other. It is not because they arecross, or selfish, or bad. It is just because of the way in which theyhave to live and hunt, and they cannot help it any more than you couldhelp having eyes of a certain color.

  These are things which are all understood in the forest, and the peoplethere are careful what they say and do, so they get on very well indeed,and have many happy times in that quiet, dusky place. When people areborn there, they learn these things without thinking about it, but whenthey come there from some other place it is very hard, for everybodythinks it stupid in strangers to ask about such simple matters.

  When Mr. Red Squirrel first came to the forest, he knew nothing of theway in which they do, and he afterward said that learning forest mannerswas even harder than running away from his old home. You see, Mr. RedSquirrel was born in the forest, but was carried away from there when hewas only a baby. From that time until he was grown, he had never setclaw upon a tree, and all he could see of the world he had seen bypeeping through the bars of a cage. His cousins in the forest learned tofrisk along the fence-tops and to jump from one swaying branch toanother, but when this poor little fellow longed for a scamper he couldonly run around and around in a wire wheel that hummed as it turned, andthis made him very dizzy.

  He used to wonder if there were nothing better in life, for he had beentaken from his woodland home when he was too young to remember about it.One day he saw another Squirrel outside, a dainty little one who lookedas though she had never a sad thought. That made him care more than everto be free, and when he curled down in his cotton nest that night hedreamed about her, and that they were eating acorns together in a talloak tree.

  The next day Mr. Red Squirrel pretended to be sick. He would not run inthe wheel or taste the food in his cage. When his master came to look athim, he moaned pitifully and would not move one leg. His master thoughtthat the leg was broken, and took limp little Mr. Red Squirrel in hishand to the window to see what was the matter. The window was up, andwhen he saw his chance, Mr. Red Squirrel leaped into the open air andwas away to the forest. His poor legs were weak from living in such asmall cage, but how he ran! His heart thumped wildly under the soft furof his chest, and his breath came in quick gasps, and still he ran,leaping, scrambling, and sometimes falling, but always nearer the greatgreen trees of his birthplace.

  At last he was safe and sat trembling on the lowest branch of abeech-tree. The forest was a new world to him and he asked manyquestions of a fat, old Gray Squirrel. The Gray Squirrel was one ofthose people who know a great deal and think that they know a great,great deal, and want others to think so too. He was so very knowing andimportant that, although he answered all of Mr. Red Squirrel'squestions, he really did not tell him any of the things which he mostwanted to know, and this is the way in which they talked:

  "What is the name of this place?" asked Mr. Red Squirrel.

  "This? Why this is the forest, of course," answered the Gray Squirrel."We have no other name for it. It is possible that there are otherforests in the world, but they cannot be so fine as this, so we callours 'the forest.'"

  "Are there pleasant neighbors here?" asked Mr. Red Squirrel.

  "Very good, very good. My wife and I do not call on many of them, butstill they are good enough people, I think."

  "Then why don't you call?"

  "Why? Why? Because they are not in our set. It would never do." And theGray Squirrel sat up very straight indeed.

  "Who is that gliding fellow on the ground below?" asked the newcomer."Is he one of your friends?"

  "That? That is the Rattlesnake. We never speak to each other. There hasalways been trouble between our families."

  "Who lives in that hollow tree yonder?"

  "Sh, sh! That is where the Great Horned Owl has his home. He is asleepnow and must not be awakened, for Squirrels and Owls cannot befriendly."

  "Why not?"

  "Because. It has always been so."

  "And who is that bird just laying an egg in her nest above us?"

  "Speak softly, please. That is the Cowbird, and it is not her nest. Youwill get into trouble if you talk such things aloud. She can't help it.She has to lay her eggs in other birds' nests, but they don't like it."

  Mr. Red Squirrel tried very hard to find out the reason for this, butthere are always some things for which no reason can be given; and thereare many questions which can never be answered, even if one were toask, "Why? why? why?" all day long. So Mr. Red Squirrel, being a wiselittle fellow, stopped asking, and thought by using his eyes and ears hewould in time learn all that he needed to know. He had good eyes andkeen ears, and he learned very fast without making many mistakes. He hada very happy life among the forest people, and perhaps that was onereason. He learned not to say things which made his friends feel badly,and he did not ask needless questions. And after all, you know, it wouldhave been very foolish to ask questions which nobody could answer, andworse than foolish to ask about matters which he could find out forhimself.

  It is in the forest as in the world outside. We can know that manythings are, but we never know why they are.