to think that what they
do doesn't matter to anybody but themselves. That was the way with old
Mr. Rabbit, who lived a long time ago when the world was young. He
thought he could make all the trouble he pleased by his dreadful
curiosity, and if he was found out, no one would suffer but himself.
But it wasn't so. Here is Peter Rabbit, his grandchild a thousand
times removed, with long legs and long ears, and the bad habit of
curiosity, all because old Mr. Rabbit had a bad habit and didn't try
to overcome it.

"It was the same way with old Mr. Coon. He was dishonest and stole
from Old King Bear. Old Mother Nature punished him by putting mustard
in his food, and Mr. Coon thought he was so smart that he could get
ahead of Old Mother Nature by washing all his food before he ate it.
Old Mother Nature didn't say anything, but watched him and smiled to
herself. You see, she knew that Mr. Coon was beginning a good habit, a
very good habit indeed--the habit of neatness. So, though she knew
perfectly well that he was doing it just to get ahead of her, she was
glad, for she was fond of Mr. Coon in spite of the bad ways he had
grown into, and she knew that good habits are like bad habits--once
started they grow and grow, and are very likely to lead to more good
habits.

"It was so with Mr. Coon. He found that his food tasted better for
being so clean, and he grew very fussy about what he ate. No matter
where he found it or how tempting it looked, he wouldn't eat it until
he had carried it to the nearest water and washed it. He still
remembered the mustard and tried to fool himself into thinking that
he was simply spiting Old Mother Nature, but right down in his heart
he knew that even if he should be told that never again would there be
mustard in his food, he would wash it just the same.

"One day, as he sat beside the Laughing Brook eating his supper, he
noticed that while his food had been washed clean, his hands were
dirty. They spoiled his supper. Yes, Sir, they spoiled his supper.

"'What good does it do to wash my food, if I eat it out of dirty
hands?' said Mr. Coon to himself, and he hurried to a quiet little
pool to give them a good scrubbing. Then he washed his face and
brushed his coat. 'Now I feel better, and I know my supper will taste
better,' said he.

"From that time he began to be particular, very particular, about
keeping himself clean, until finally there was no one on the Green
Meadows or in the Green For