At last it was June again and she was a year old. Her horns had begun to grow. The old cow, her mother, had another baby. This new baby calf was just like other calves and not wonderful at all. The old cow was glad for Wonderful-cow-that-never-was worried her very much. For everything about her was queer. One day the calf who had lost the ear,—she was a young cow now,—took hold of the tail of Wonderful-young-cow-that-never-was and pulled it. And what do you suppose happened? The tail broke right off! All the cows were frightened. Whoever heard of a broken tail? But Wonderful-young-cow-that-never-was only mooed and when she mooed she always smiled. Then she said:
“I’m a wonderful cow
And I don’t know how
Such wonderful things I do!
If I break my tail,
I never fail
To glue with a grasshopper’s goo,
I do,
I glue with a grasshopper’s goo!”
And so she did. She got a grasshopper to give her some sticky stuff and she smeared it on the two ends of her broken tail and stuck them together. “And now it’s as good as new,” she said, “and now it’s as good as new!”
Her horns grew and grew. She was very proud of them and was always trying to hook some one or gore another cow with them. But one day she went to the edge of the lake when it was very still. It wasn’t wavy at all. And as she leaned over to drink, she saw herself in the water. My mercy! but she was shocked!
“My horns are straight!” she screamed, “and I want them curly!” She ran to the old mother cow and had what her mother called the “Krink-kranks.” She jumped up and down and bellowed: “My horns are straight and I want them curly!”
The old mother cow was giving her new baby some milk. It made her cross to hear Wonderful-cow-that-never-was having krink-kranks over her horns. “Horns grow the way they grow!” she remarked crossly. “So what are you going to do about it?”
“Something!” answered the young cow. “I’m not Wonderful-cow-that-never-was for nothing!” And she stopped having krink-kranks and went off. She stayed away all day and when she did come back, her horns were curled up tight! And she was chewing and smiling and chewing and smiling.
“What have you done now?” gasped the old mother cow. “I never saw horns curled so crumply!”
The young cow smiled and said:
“I’m a wonderful cow
And I don’t know how
Such wonderful things I do!
I curl my horn
On the cob of a corn
And smile whenever I chew,
I do,
I smile whenever I chew!”