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.

XI

WHY BOBBY COON HAS RINGS ON HIS TAIL

Peter Rabbit would give Grandfather Frog no peace. Every day Peter
visited the Smiling Pool to tease Grandfather Frog for a story--for
one particular story. He wanted to know why it is that Bobby Coon
wears rings on his tail. You see, Peter had admired Bobby Coon's tail
for a long time. Peter has such a funny little tail himself, just a
little white bunch of cotton, that such a handsome tail as Bobby
Coon's sometimes stirs just a wee bit of envy in Peter's heart.

But it wasn't envy so much as curiosity that prompted Peter to tease
for that story. Bobby Coon's tail is very handsome, you know. It has
beautiful rings of black and gray, and Peter didn't know of any other
tail at all like it. Somehow, he felt right down deep in his heart
that there must be a reason for those rings, just as there is a reason
for his own long ears and long legs. The more he thought about it, the
more he felt that he simply must know, and the only way he could find
out was from Grandfather Frog, who is very old and very wise. So he
teased and he teased until finally Grandfather Frog promised him that
on the next afternoon he would tell Peter why Bobby Coon has rings on
his tail. Peter hurried away to tell all the little meadow and forest
people, and the next afternoon they were all on hand on the bank of
the Smiling Pool to hear the story about Bobby Coon's tail.

"Chug-a-rum!" began Grandfather Frog, smoothing down his white and
yellow waistcoat. "Chug-a-rum! Some folks seem