y ancestors out of trouble. When we didn't have an old one to fit the
trouble we made a new one, and by-and-by it got old too, and useful in
different ways, because by that time it didn't seem to mean anything
special, and could be used almost anywhere."

Then the Deep Woods People all said there was never anybody who knew so
much and could do so many things as Mr. Jack Rabbit, and how proud they
all were to have him in their midst, and Mr. Rabbit showed them how to
do all the tricks he knew, and they all practised them and tried them on
each other until Mr. Crow said he must look after the supper, and Mr.
'Possum ran right off after an armful of stove-wood, and everybody
helped with everything there was to do, for they were having such a good
time and were so hungry.

And after supper they all sat around the fire again and smoked a little
before anybody said anything, until by-and-by Mr. Rabbit said that they
would go on now with the literary club, and that Mr. Robin might read
the story he had mentioned the night before.

So Mr. Robin got up, and stood on a chair, and made a nice bow. He said
it was not really his own story he had written, but one that his
grandmother used to tell him sometimes, though he didn't think it had
ever been put into a book.

Then Mr. Rabbit spoke up and said that that didn't matter, that of
course everybody couldn't be original, and that the story itself was the
main thing and the way you told it. He said if Mr. Robin would go right
on with the story now it would save time. So then they all knocked the
ashes out of their pipes--all except Mr. Robin, who began right off to
read his story:

THE DISCONTENTED FOX

THE DISCONTENTED FOX

MR. ROBIN TELLS HOW A FOX LEARNED A GOOD LESSON BY TAKING A LONG JOURNEY

Once upon a time there was a Fox who lived at the foot of a hill and had
a _nice garden_. One morning when he began to hoe in it he got tired,
and the sun was _very hot_. Then the Fox didn't like to hoe any more,
and made up his mind that it wasn't very pleasant to have a garden,
anyway.

So then he started out to travel and find _pleasant things_. He put on
his best clothes, and the first house he came to belonged to a Rabbit
who kept bees. And the Rabbit showed the Fox his bees and how to take
out the honey. And the Fox said, "What _pleasant work_!" and wanted to
take out honey too. But when he did there was a bee on the honey, and it
stung the Fox on the nose. An