Green Meadow Stories by Thornton W. Burgess (good short books .txt) π
Description
Thornton W. Burgess was an American naturalist and the author of dozens of books for children, the most enduring of which are Old Mother West Wind and The Burgess Bird Book for Children. Burgess was a passionate twentieth-century conservationist who dedicated his life to teaching children and their families about the importance of the natural life of the northern North American forest.
The Green Meadow Stories compilation is made up of four distinct but entwined tales: those of Happy Jack Squirrel, Mrs. Peter Rabbit, Bowser the Hound, and Old Granny Fox. Through the adventures of these focal characters readers are introduced to the wider territory of the Green Meadows, the Green Forest, and the Smiling Pond as well as to the animalsβ Great World.
The animals of Burgessβs stories are anthropomorphized, undoubtedly, but not caricatured: these are not the twee creatures of Disney cartoons. Their behaviour is explained in ways that would be understandable to a human childβthis is fiction, after allβbut Burgessβs βlittle people of the forestβ are not simply humans dressed in fur and feathers. The original illustrations in Burgessβs books (by Harrison Cady, not reproduced in this edition) show the animals wearing clothes, but Burgessβs own descriptions of animals are more natural and metaphorical, and less fantastic. For example, he describes Chatterer the Red Squirrel, βwho always wears a red coat with vest of white,β a compact way of communicating the look of a squirrel that many of todayβs children will never have seen with their own eyes. Less pleasantly, it is Peter Rabbitβs fur and flesh that is rent when Hooty the Owl tears Peterβs βcoatβ one night on the Old Pasture.
Burgess has tremendous respect for the creatures he depicts, as well as for their natural home. While the presentation of the Green Meadow is hardly βNature, red in tooth and claw,β it is surprisingly unsentimental. Peter Rabbit, for example, lives a highly anxious life under threat from the many predators who would enjoy having him for dinner; similarly, Happy Jack Squirrel experiences days and nights of terror when Shadow the Weasel discovers Happy Jackβs home and hunts him relentlessly. During a long, hard winter, Granny Fox and Reddy Fox come close to starving, and Old Man Coyote leads Bowser the Hound on a dangerous chase that may result in one or the other dying. Despite other fanciful, sentimental elements of storytelling, Burgess does not sugarcoat prey/predator relationships or the precarity of wild animalsβ lives.
Burgess is a clear conservationist in his representations of hunting. The animals are highly aware of hunters and their βdreadful guns.β It is a notable moment in this collection when Farmer Brownβs Boy decides he will no longer use his gun to harm the little people of the Green Meadow and the Green Forest. The stories are also notable in their detailed representation of a largely intact forest, something few children in the twenty-first century will experience.
On the other hand, these are books for children, and they contain plenty of sweetness and light. Animal pairingsβsuch as when Peter Rabbit meets the dainty Little Miss Fuzzytail, the future Mrs. Rabbitβare vague but sentimental and soon lead to proud new families of Rabbits, Ducks, Deer, and Owls. The βlittle peopleβ celebrate the arrival of each springβs babies, mark each otherβs new relationships and homes, play together, and even help each other survive. They laugh, tease, and trick each otherβa fanciful interpretation of animal behaviour that could lead to a readerβs life-long fascination with, and respect for, forest creaturesβand for generations of readers, they did just that.
The stories are also more didactic than most twenty-first-century authors would dare to be. There are morals associated with most stories, often attributed to the animal about whom the story is being told. Through this practical teaching, Burgess suggests a correspondence between how animals and humans live; but he consistently clarifies that animal intelligence is different from, but certainly no less than, human intelligence.
Unlike the bouncy rhyming verses of many of todayβs childrenβs books, Burgessβs sentences have a somewhat old-fashioned cadence, creating the distinct and appealing music of traditional storytelling. Burgessβs episodic chapters are eminently readable and particularly come to life when they are voiced by animated reading-aloud. For older readers looking for something different to share with children, or for new readers beginning to tackle βchapter books,β the tales of the Green Meadow Stories collection are a delightful place to discover Burgess and his animal friends.
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- Author: Thornton W. Burgess
Read book online Β«Green Meadow Stories by Thornton W. Burgess (good short books .txt) πΒ». Author - Thornton W. Burgess
This was why Granny and Reddy Fox just had to rest. Hungry as they were, they had to give up for awhile. Reddy flung himself down, and if ever there was a discouraged young Fox he was that one. βI wish I were dead,β he moaned.
βTut, tut, tut!β said Granny Fox sharply. βThatβs no way for a young Fox to talk! Iβm ashamed of you. I am indeed.β Then she added more kindly: βI know just how you feel. Just try to forget your empty stomach and rest awhile. We have had a tiresome, disappointing, discouraging night, but when you are rested things will not look quite so bad. You know the old saying:
βNever a road so long is there
But it reaches a turn at last;
Never a cloud that gathers swift
But disappears as fast.β
You think you couldnβt possibly feel any worse than you do right now, but you could. Many a time I have had to go hungry longer than this. After we have rested awhile we will go over to the Old Pasture. Perhaps we will have better luck there.β
So Reddy tried to forget the emptiness of his stomach and actually had a nap, for he was very, very tired. When he awoke he felt better.
βWell, Granny,β said he, βletβs start for the Old Pasture. The snow has crusted over, and we wonβt find it such hard going as it was last night.β
Granny arose and followed Reddy out to the doorstep. She walked stiffly. The truth is, she ached in every one of her old bones. At least, that is the way it seemed to her. She looked towards the Old Pasture. It seemed very far away. She sighed wearily. βI donβt believe Iβll go, Reddy,β said she. βYou run along and luck go with you.β
Reddy turned and stared at Granny suspiciously. You know his is a very suspicious nature. Could it be that Granny had some secret plan of her own to get a meal and wanted to get rid of him?
βWhatβs the matter with you?β he demanded roughly. βIt was you who proposed going over to the Old Pasture.β
Granny smiled. It was a sad sort of smile. She is wonderfully sharp and smart, is Granny Fox, and she knew what was in Reddyβs mind as well as if he had told her.
βOld bones donβt rest and recover as quickly as young bones, and I just donβt feel equal to going over there now,β said she. βThe truth is, Reddy, I am growing old. I am going to stay right here and rest. Perhaps then Iβll feel able to go hunting tonight. You trot along now, and if you get more than a stomachful, just remember old Granny and bring her a bite.β
There was something in the way Granny spoke that told Reddy she was speaking the truth. It was the very first time she ever had admitted that she was growing old and was no longer the equal of any Fox. Never before had he noticed how gray she had grown. Reddy felt a feeling of shame creep over himβ βshame that he had suspected Granny of playing a sharp trick. And this little feeling of shame was followed instantly by a splendid thought. He would go out and find food of some kind, and he would bring it straight back to Granny. He had been taken care of by Granny when he was little, and now he would repay Granny for all she had done for him by taking care of her in her old age.
βGo back in the house and lie down, Granny,β said he kindly. βI am going to get something, and whatever it may be you shall have your share.β With this he trotted off towards the Old Pasture and somehow he didnβt mind the ache in his stomach as he had before.
XIV Three Vain and Foolish WishesThereβs nothing so foolishly silly and vain
As to wish for a thing you can never attain.
We all know that, yet most of us are just foolish enough to make such a wish now and then. I guess you have done it. I know I have. Peter Rabbit has done it often and then laughed at himself afterwards. I suspect that even shrewd, clever old Granny Fox has been guilty of it more than once. So it is not surprising that Reddy Fox, terribly hungry as he was, should do a little foolish wishing.
When he left home to go to the Old Pasture, in the hope that he would be able to find something to eat there, he started off bravely. It was cold, very cold indeed, but his fur coat kept him warm as long as he was moving. The Green Meadows were glistening white with snow. All the world, at least all that part of it with which Reddy was acquainted, was white. It was beautiful, very beautiful, as millions of sparkles flashed in the sun. But Reddy had no thought for beauty; the only thought he had room for was to get something to put in the empty stomachs of himself and Granny Fox.
Jack Frost had hardened the snow so that Reddy no longer had to wade through it. He could run on the crust now without breaking through. This made it much easier, so he trotted along swiftly. He had intended to go straight to the Old Pasture, but there suddenly popped into his head a memory of the shelter down in a far corner of the Old Orchard which Farmer Brownβs boy had built
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