"Very good," said the teacher. "I think you may. You and your brother were so kind as to scare off the bear, so you may come to our class. But, first, let me ask you—have you been vaccinated?"
"Vaccinated?" repeated Curly. "Is that like a lollypop?"
"No, that is having the doctor scratch your leg with a toothpick so you won't get sick and have the epizootic," said the teacher. "Let me see your paw."
So she looked at Curly's paw, which he held out, and she saw that he had never been vaccinated, so she said he would have to have that done to him before he could come to school every day.
"You go home," said the teacher to the little piggie boy, "and get vaccinated. Then come back in about a week."
So, as Curly wanted to go to school very much, on his way home he went past Dr. Possum's office. And going in, he said:
"I want to be vaccinated, doctor, so I can go to school."
"Very well," answered Dr. Possum. "We'll do it."
So Curly rolled up his sleeve, and the doctor scratched his paw with a toothpick, and put some funny kind of yellow salve on it, and wrapped it up in a little celluloid cap to keep the snowflakes from it, and also that no mosquitos could bite it.
"Now, in about a week your arm will begin to itch," said the doctor, "and it will tickle you, and then, after a bit, you will be vaccinated, and you can go to school."