Then Mr. Crow felt the gray spot on his head getting a good deal grayer, and he dropped his knife and fork, and swallowed two or three times, and tried to smile, though it was a sickly smile. He said that Mr. Rabbit was very kind, but that Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon had done a good deal of the work, too.
But Jack Rabbit said "No," that nobody but an industrious person like Mr. Crow could have raised those vegetables—a person who got up early, he said, and was used to taking a little trouble to get the best things.
Then Mr. Crow went after the dessert, and was glad enough that there were no more vegetables to come, especially of that kind.
And Mr. Rabbit seemed to forget about looking at the garden until they were all through, and then he said that before they went outside he would read a little poem he had composed that morning lying in bed and looking at the sunrise across his own garden. He said he called it:
ME AND MY GARDEN
Oh, it's nice to have a garden
On which to put my labors.
It's nice to have a garden
Especially for my neighbors.
I like to see it growing
When skies are blue above me;
I like to see it gathered
By those who really love me.
I like to think in winter
Of pleasant summer labors;
Oh, it's nice to have a garden
Especially for my neighbors.
Everybody said that was a nice poem and sounded just like Mr. Rabbit, who was always so free-hearted—all except Mr. Crow, who tried to say it was nice, and couldn't. Then Mr. Rabbit said they'd better go out now to see the Hollow Tree garden, but Mr. Crow said really he couldn't stand it yet, and they could see by his looks that he was feeling pretty sick, and Mr. Turtle said it was too bad to think of taking Mr. Crow out in the sun when he had worked so hard.
So then they all sat around and smoked and told stories, and whenever they stopped Mr. Crow thought of something else to do and seemed to get better toward night, and got a great deal better when it got dark, and Mr. Jack Rabbit said all at once that now it was too late to see the Hollow Tree garden, and that he was so sorry, for he knew he could have learned something if he could just have one look at it, for nobody could see those vegetables and that garden without learning a great deal.