And the day was warm enough so that he didn’t mind his cotton clothes. But his feet did hurt him. He wondered about wooden shoes and thought he would try to make some.
He was a little worried too about his bed. He hunted around in the house until he found two cotton comforters. One he put under his sheet in place of his mattress and one on top in place of his blankets. So, on the whole, he thought, he could manage to get along.
Poor little Silly Will! He had never before thought how much the animals did for him. Once in a while he would think of the little girl and the old woman and the man he had met that afternoon. But not for long. And he never remembered that some time winter would come. But long before that time came, Silly Will had got himself into still more trouble. For even now he didn’t understand!
Part 2
From this time on nothing went well with Silly Will. When he had eaten the vegetables he had in the house he walked over to a gardener who lived nearby. He wanted to get potatoes and other supplies for the winter. To his horror he found everything drooping and wilted and withered. “What’s the matter with the vegetables, gardener?” asked Silly Will.
“A frost,” sighed the gardener. “It’s killed all the potatoes. I hope you weren’t depending on them?”
“Oh, of course not,” said Silly Will, gulping hard. “I certainly wouldn’t depend on a vegetable. That would be too ridiculous. If the frost should kill all the vegetables, it would make no difference to me!” Nevertheless in his heart he felt unhappy and a little frightened at the thought of the coming winter. But still he didn’t understand. Silly people never do understand.
He walked on down the road saying to himself, “I’ll go order my winter wood anyway. I’m almost out of it at home.” Just then he looked up. He expected to see the green forest stretching up the hillside. He stared. The hillside was black smoking stumps, fallen blackened trees, white ashes! Beside the dead trees stood the old forester wringing his hands. Silly Will didn’t even speak to him. He could see what had happened without asking. He turned around. Slowly he walked home. He went right to bed. He still pretended that he wasn’t unhappy or frightened. He kept saying to himself, “I don’t really depend on the wood at all. Of course that would be silly! I’ve got coal. It wouldn’t matter to me if all the plants left me.” And with that thought he fell asleep. You see even now he didn’t understand. Silly people never do understand.
Now that night another strange thing happened to Silly Will. I can’t explain how or why it happened. But in the middle of the night all the plants did leave Silly Will,—not only the potatoes and the trees but the whole vegetable kingdom.
He was asleep all curled up to keep warm in his cotton clothes. Suddenly he felt the comforter and sheet under him jerk away and he was left lying on the wire spring. At the same time the comforter and sheet over him disappeared. So did his nightshirt. Then bang! His wooden bed was gone. The house began to creak and rock. He jumped up and tore down stairs. He just got outside the front door when the whole house collapsed.