and animal of the world as he was, he had not been able to
divest himself of two grand vices,--gluttony and avarice. The former
belonged to his tribe, the latter to himself; and though at first sight
they would seem in contradiction with each other, he managed somehow to
permit, in his own proper person, that both should have equal sway; and
the older he grew, the larger and firmer-rooted did these two passions
become. He was getting also so unwieldy, that indolence was, to a
certain extent, forced upon him; and this was another powerful
consideration which induced him to look on the accession of Bruin as a
real benefit.

Unhappy, however, the lot of that animal who should repose any degree of
confidence in good to be derived from such a temper and disposition! As
day by day developed some new feature which helped to betray a character
singularly unamiable and unattractive, so day by day did Herr Schwein's
habitation resound with growls and grunts of anger, where formerly
reigned the completest calm. Bruin's performances also lacking novelty,
began to pall upon the public taste; and though Tom trudged about with
his placards more vigorously than ever, and wore the soles of his poor
paws thin with the exercise, the novelty was dying out, and the
fashionable puppies began to be witty in their whispered remarks upon
the person of the bearer. The bear had got a great deal too lazy to
learn any fresh exploits; and the pig, indeed, was almost too much out
of spirits to teach them. Besides this, Bruin had acquired habits of
rather an expensive kind, to indulge which required a good deal of
money; and, as Herr Schwein suspected that his due half of the now
diminished receipts was withheld from him, quarrels not unnaturally
ensued.

These various annoyances produced a great change in poor Piggy, who,
perhaps, felt more deeply the overthrow of his pet projects, than the
actual loss his bargain had entailed on him; though the loss itself was
not trifling, for Bruin's enormous appetite, which he indulged to a
frightful extent, went considerably beyond the income that his
diminished exertions produced, and there was a chance, as matters stood,
that this resource would soon fail altogether. It is not surprising,
then, if the Herr should contemplate breaking off his engagement, and
terminating at once the difficulties which seemed to threaten him, by
turning the great bear adrift upon the world. But a stronger power than
a pig's was