Peter Rabbit fidgeted uneasily. It seemed to him that Grandfather Frog
had looked at him very hard when he said this. But Grandfather Frog just
cleared his throat and went on with his story.

"Yes, Sir, old Mr. Mink kept his eyes wide open and his ears wide open
and the wits in his little brown head always working. He noticed that
those who were fussy about what they ate and insisted on having a
special kind of food often went hungry or had to hunt long and hard to
find what they liked, so he made up his mind to learn to eat many kinds
of food. This is how it happens that he learned to like fish. His big
cousin, Mr. Otter, often caught a bigger fish than he could eat all
himself and would leave some of it on the bank. Mr. Mink would find it
and help himself.

"But having to depend on Mr. Otter to get the fish for him didn't suit
Mr. Mink at all. In the first place, he didn't have as much as he
wanted. And then again he didn't have it when he wanted it. 'If I could
learn to catch fish for myself, I would be much better off,' thought Mr.
Mink. After this he spent a great deal of time on the banks of the
Smiling Pool watching Mr. Otter swim to see just how he did it. 'If he
can swim, I can swim,' said Mr. Mink to himself, and went off up the
Laughing Brook to a quiet little pool where the water was not deep.

"At first he didn't like it at all. The water got in his ears and up his
nose and choked him. And then it was so dreadfully wet! But he would
grit his teeth and keep at it. After a while he got so that he could
paddle around a little. Gradually he lost his fear of the water. Then he
found that because he naturally moved so quickly he could sometimes
catch foolish minnows who swam in where the water was very shallow. This
was great sport, and he quite often had fish for dinner now.

"But he wasn't satisfied. No, Sir, he wasn't satisfied. Whatever Mr.
Mink did, he wanted to do well. He could run well and climb well, and
there was no better hunter in all the Green Forest. He was bound that he
would swim well. So he kept trying and trying. He learned to fill his
lungs with air and hold his breath for a long time, while he swam as
fast as ever he could with his head under water as he had seen his
cousin, Mr. Otter, swim. The more he did this, the longer he could hold
his breath. After a while he found that because he was slim and trim and
moved so fast, he could out-swim Mr. Muskrat, and this made him feel
very good i