THE TALE OF

SQUIRREL NUTKIN

BY
BEATRIX POTTER

A PRESENTATION

OF THE

OHIO
UNIVERSITY
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
CENTER

ATHENS, OHIO

This is a Tale about a tail - a tail that belonged to a little red squirrel, and his name was Nutkin.
He had a brother called Twinkleberry, and a great many cousins; they lived in a wood at the edge of a lake.



In the middle of the lake there is an island covered with trees and nut bushes; and amongst those trees stands a hollow oak-tree, which is the house of an owl who is called Old Brown.




One autumn when the nuts were ripe, and the leaves on the hazel bushes were golden and green - Nutkin and Twinkleberry and all the other little squirrels came out of the wood, and down to the edge of the lake.



They made little rafts out of twigs, and they paddled away over the water to Owl Island to gather nuts.
Each squirrel had a little sack and a large oar, and spread out his tail for a sail.



They also took with them an offering of three fat mice as a present for Old Brown, and put them down upon his door-step.

Then Twinkleberry and the other little squirrels each made a low bow, and said politely--

"Old Mr. Brown, will you favour us with permission to gather nuts upon your island?"




But Nutkin was excessively impertinent in his manners. He bobbed up and down like a little red cherry, singing -

"Riddle me, riddle me, rot-tot-tote!
A little wee man in a red, red coat!
A staff in his hand, and a stone in his throat;
If you'll tell me this riddle, I'll give you a groat."
Now this riddle is as old as the hills; Mr. Brown paid no attention whatever to Nutkin.
He shut his eyes obstinately and went to sleep.



The squirrels fill their little sacks with nuts, and sailed away home in the evening.



But next morning they all came back again to Owl Island; and Twinkleberry and the others brought a fine fat mole, and laid it on the stone in front of Old Brown's doorway, and said-
"Mr. Brown, will you favor us with your gracious permission to gather some more nuts?"



But Nutkin, who had no respect, began to dance up and down, tickling old Mr. Brown with a nettle and singing -

"Old Mr. B! Riddle-me-ree!
Hitty Pitty within the wall,
Hitty Pitty without the wall;
If you touch Hitty Pitty,
Hitty Pitty will bite you!"
Mr. Brown woke up suddenly and carried the mole into his house.




He shut the door in Nutkin's face. Presently a little thread of blue smoke from a wood fire came up from the top of the tree, and Nutkin peeped through the key-hole and sang-

"A house full, a hole full!
And you cannot gather a bowl-full!"



The squirrels searched for nuts over the island and filled their little sacks.
But Nutkin gathered oak-apples - yellow and scarlet - and sat upon a beech-stump playing marbles, and watching the door of Old Mr. Brown.




On the third day the squirrels got up very early and went fishing; they caught seven fat minnows as a present for Old Brown.
They paddled over the lake and landed under a crooked chestnut-tree on Owl Island.




Twinkleberry and six other little squirrels each carried a fat minnow; but Nutkin, who had no nice manners, brought no present at all. He ran in front singing -

"The man in the wilderness said to me,
'How many strawberries grow in the sea?'
I answered him as I thought good -
'As many red herrings as grow in the wood.' "
But Old Mr. Brown took no interest in riddles - not even when the answer was provided for him.




On the fourth day the squirrels brought a present of six fat beetles, which were as good as plums in plum-pudding for Old Brown. Each beetle was wrapped up carefully in a dockleaf, fastened with a pine-needle pin.
But Nutkin sang as rudely as ever -

"Old Mr. B.! riddle-me-ree!
Flour of England, fruit of Spain,
Met together in a shower of rain;
Put in a bag tied round with a string,
If you'll tell me this riddle I'll give you a ring!"
Which was ridiculous of Nutkin, because he had not got any ring to give to Old Brown.



The other squirrels hunted up and down the nut bushes; but Nutkin gathered robin's pin-cushions off a briar bush, and stuck them full of pine-needle pins.



On the fifth day the squirrels brought a present of wild honey; it was so sweet and sticky that they licked their fingers as they put it down upon the stone. They had stolen it out of a bumble bees' nest on the tippitty top of the hill.
But Nutkin skipped up and down, singing -

"Hum-a-bum! buzz! buzz! Hum-a-bum buzz!
As I went over Tipple-tine
I met a flock of of bonny swine;
Some yellow-nacked, some yellow backed!
They were the very bonniest swine
That e'er went over Tipple-tine."



Old Mr. Brown turned up his eyes in disgust at the impertinence of Nutkin.
But he ate up the honey!




The squirrels filled their little sacks with nuts.
But Nutkin sat upon a big flat rock, and played ninepins with a crab apple and green fir-cones.




On the sixth day, which was Saturday, the squirrels came again for the last time; they brought a new laid egg in a little rush basket as a last parting present for Old Brown.
But Nutkin ran in front laughing, and shouting -

"Humpty Dumpty lies in the beck,
With a white counterpane round his neck,
Forty doctors and forty wrights
Cannot put Humpty Dumpty to rights!"

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Now Old Mr. Brown took an interest in eggs; he opened one eye and shut it again. But still he did not speak.




Nutkin became more and more impertinent -

Old Mr. B! Old Mr. B!
Hickamore, Hackamore, on the King's kitchen door;
All the King's horses, and all the King's men,
Couldn't drive Hickamore, Hackamore,
Off the King's kitchen door."
Nutkin danced up and down like a sunbeam, but still Old Brown said nothing at all.



Nutkin began again -

"Arthur O'Bower has broken his band,
He comes roaring up the land!
The King of Scots with all his power,
Cannot turn Arthur of the Bower!"
Nutkin made a whirring noise to sound like the wind, and he took a running jump right onto the head of Old Brown!....
Then all at once there was a flutterment and a scufflement and a loud "Squeak!"
The other squirrels scuttered away into the bushes.



When they came back very cautiously peeping round the tree - there was Old Brown sitting on his door-step, quite still, with his eyes closed, as if nothing had happened.
* * * * * *
But Nutkin was in his wasitcoat pocket!




This looks like the end of the story; but it isn't.




Old Brown carried Nutkin into his house, and held him up by the tail, intending to skin him; but Nutkin pulled so very hard that his tail broke in two, and he dashed up the staircase and escaped out of the attic window.




And to this day if you meet Nutkin up a tree and ask him a riddle, he will throw sticks at you and stamp his feet and scold, and shout -
"C u c k - cuck-cuck-cur-r-r cuck-k-k!"




THE END

THE TALE OF

Timmy Tiptoes

BY

BEATRIX POTTER

A PRESENTATION

OF THE

OHIO
UNIVERSITY
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
CENTER

ATHENS, OHIO

Once upon a time there was a little fat comfortable grey squirrel, called Timmy Tiptoes. He had a nest thatched with leaves in the top of a tall tree; and he had a little squirrel wife called Goody.




Timmy Tiptoes sat out, enjoying the breeze; he whisked his tail and chuckled--"Little wife Goody,the nuts are ripe; we must lay up a store for winter and spring." Goody Tiptoes was busy pushing moss under the thatch--"The nest is so snug, we shall be sound asleep all winter. Then we shall wake up all the thinner, when there is nothing to eat in spring-time," replied prudent Timothy.



When Timmy and Goody Tiptoes came to the nut thicket, they found other squirrels were there already.
Timmy took off his jacket and hung it on a twig; they worked away quietly by themselves.




Every day they made several journeys and picked quantities of nuts. They carried them away in bags, and stored them in several hollow stumps near the tree where they had built their nest.



When these stumps were full, they began to empty the bags into a hole high up a tree, that had belonged to a woodpecker; the nuts rattled down--down--down inside.
"How shall you ever get them out again? It is like a money box!" said Goody.
"I shall be much thinner before springtime, my love," said Timmy Tiptoes, peeping into the hole.




They did collect quantities--because they did not lose them! Squirrels who bury their nuts in the ground lose more than half, because they cannot remember the place.
The most forgetful squirrel in the wood was called Silvertail. He began to dig, and he could not remember. And then he dug again and found some nuts that did not belong to him; and there was a fight. And other squirrels began to dig,--the whole wood was in commotion!




Unfortunately, just at this time a flock of little birds flew by, from bush to bush, searching for green caterpillars and spiders. There were several sorts of little birds, twittering different songs.
The first one sang--"Who's bin digging-up my nuts? Who's-been-digging-up my nuts?"
And another sang--"Little bita bread and-no-cheese! Little bit-a-bread an'-no-cheese!"




The squirrels followed and listened. The first little bird flew into the bush where Timmy and Goody Tiptoes were quietly tying up their bags, and it sang--"Who's-bin digging-up my nuts? Who's been digging-up my-nuts?"
Timmy Tiptoes went on with his work without replying; indeed, the little bird did not expect an answer. It was only singing its natural song, and it meant nothing at all.



But when the other squirrels heard that song, they rushed upon Timmy Tiptoes and cuffed and scratched him, and upset his bag of nuts. The innocent little bird which had caused all the mischief, flew away in a fright!
Timmy rolled over and over, and then turned tail and fled towards his nest, followed by a crowd of squirrels shouting--"Who's-been digging-up my-nuts?"



They caught him and dragged him up the very same tree, where there was the little round hole, and they pushed him in. The hole was much too small for Timmy Tiptoes' figure. They squeezed him dreadfully, it was a wonder they did not break his ribs. "We will leave him here till he confesses," said Silvertail Squirrel and he shouted into the hole--
"Who's-been-digging-up my-nuts?"




Timmy Tiptoes made no reply; he had tumbled down inside the tree, upon half a peck of nuts belonging to himself. He lay quite stunned and still.



Goody Tiptoes picked up the nut bags and went home. She made a cup of tea for Timmy; but he didn't come and didn't come.
Goody Tiptoes passed a lonely and unhappy night. Next morning she ventured back to the nut bushes to look for him; but the other unkind squirrels drove her away.
She wandered all over the wood, calling--
"Timmy Tiptoes! Timmy Tip-toes! Oh, where is Timmy Tiptoes?"




In the meantime Timmy Tiptoes came to his senses. He found himself tucked up in a little moss bed, very much in the dark, feeling sore; it seemed to be under ground. Timmy coughed and groaned, because his ribs hurted him. There was a chirpy noise, and a small striped Chipmunk appeared with a night light, and hoped he felt better?
It was most kind to Timmy Tiptoes; it lent him its nightcap; and the house was full of provisions.




The Chipmunk explained that it had rained nuts through the top of the tree--"Besides, I found a few buried!" It laughed and chuckled when it heard Timmy's story. While Timmy was confined to bed, it 'ticed him to eat quantities--"But how shall I ever get out through that hole unless I thin myself? My wife will be anxious!" "Just another nut--or two nuts; let me crack them for you," said the Chipmunk. Timmy Tiptoes grew fatter and fatter!



Now Goody Tiptoes had set to work again by herself. She did not put any more nuts into the woodpecker's hole, because she had always doubted how they could be got out again. She hid them under a tree root; they rattled down, down, down. Once when Goody emptied an extra big bagful, there was a decided squeak; and next time Goody brought another bagful, a little striped Chipmunk scrambled out in a hurry.



"It is getting perfectly full-up downstairs; the sitting room is full, and they are rolling along the passage; and my husband, Chippy Hackee, has run away and left me. What is the explanation of these showers of nuts?"
"I am sure I beg your pardon; I did not know that anybody lived here," said Mrs. Goody Tiptoes; "but where is Chippy Hackee? My husband, Timmy Tiptoes, has run away too." "I know where Chippy is; a little bird told me," said Mrs. Chippy Hackee.



She led the way to the woodpecker's tree, and they listened at the hole.
Down below there was a noise of nutcrackers, and a fat squirrel voice and a thin squirrel voice were singing together--
"My little old man and I fell out,
How shall we bring this matter about?
Bring it about as well as you can,
And get you gone, you little old man!"




"You could squeeze in, through that little round hole," said Goody Tiptoes. "Yes, I could," said the Chipmunk, "but my husband, Chippy Hackee, bites!"
Down below there was a noise of cracking nuts and nibbling; and then the fat squirrel voice and the thin squirrel voice sang--
"For the diddlum day
Day diddle durn di!
Day diddle diddle dum day!"

Then Goody peeped in at the hole, and called down--"Timmy Tiptoes! Oh fie, Timmy Tiptoes!" And Timmy replied, "Is that you, Goody Tiptoes? Why, certainly!"
He came up and kissed Goody through the hole; but he was so fat that he could not get out.
Chippy Hackee was not too fat, but he did not want to come; he stayed down below and chuckled.




And so it went on for a fortnight; till a big wind blew off the top of the tree, and opened up the hole and let in the rain.
Then Timmy Tiptoes came out, and went home with an umbrella.




But Chippy Hackee continued to camp out for another week, although it was uncomfortable.



At last a large bear came walking through the wood. Perhaps he also was looking for nuts; he seemed to be sniffing around.



Chippy Hackee went home in a hurry!



And when Chippy Hackee got home, he found he had caught a cold in his head; and he was more uncomfortable still.




And now Timmy and Goody Tiptoes keep their nut store fastened up with a little padlock.





And whenever that little bird sees the Chipmunks, he sings--"Who's-been-digging-up my-nuts? Who's been dig-ging-up my-nuts?" But nobody ever answers!




THE END