“Look here, Bunny,” Watch explained patiently. “They don’t either of them do that now. They take care of the cows—because now the cows belong to Man and have his smell about them. Just the way I won’t touch you because you’re my Man’s rabbit and have the smell of my Man. I don’t like to kill things—except Ouphe the Rat, and that’s because he doesn’t belong to my Man and my Man told me to. Mother Nature wouldn’t trust the dog, so he won’t obey her. Man did trust him, so he just everlastingly does obey his Man.”
“I’d believe that better if the cows told it to me,” said Nibble defiantly.
“All right! I’ll bring them up and let you talk to them as soon as they are milked and let out of the barn.” Watch was perfectly good-natured about it. “I’m going my rounds now, but you just tell me if Ouphe troubles you again.” And off he trotted, waving his plumy tail.
Nibble was terribly shocked. So any dog would do anything his Man told him to do, no matter what Mother Nature thought about it! Now just what did the cows think of that? Nibble wanted dreadfully to know, because he hadn’t the least chance in the world of asking Mother Nature or any of the wise Wild Things. How he did want good old Doctor Muskrat!
It was getting lighter and lighter, less and less scary every minute. Everything would be much more cheerful when the Sun peeked out over his shoulder from down South where he was busy with the other half of the Earth. Suddenly a voice shouted from somewhere right behind him,
“All Evil Spirits hark and hear
The warning call of Chanticleer.
Er-er-er-er-errh.”
It was just the Rooster calling himself by a high-toned name—the way he always does. But Nibble had never seen one. He was so s’prised he jumped and snubbed his nose against the cage. So he huddled up in the middle of it again.
Then all the voices of the farm-yard began calling, “Good morning! Good morning!” and he thought of course they were calling to the Sun. But pretty soon the pigs began their scary grunts and then one squealed, “Good morning. We want our breakfast.” Right off all the rest of them took it up. The horses whinnied and the cows mooed, and the sheep bleated, and the ducks and chickens and guinea-fowls and turkeys all shouted, “we want our breakfasts!”