When Bagheera was asked his opinion, he only growled that it was all in the day's work. But wise old Baloo answered:—
"It all depends on grammar."
This made every one look very solemn, for they realized now that it was a serious matter.
"First Person, Singular, I hunt. Second Person, Thou huntest. Third Person, He or She hunts. So long as you confine it to the First Person, it's proper and right. When you go beyond that, it's carrying it too far. When you get to the Second Person, that's where the danger comes in."
This was such sound sense that they all agreed to it, though Mr. Wolf declared that the First Person, Plural, seemed to him to be more sociable.
"Does it make any difference about the moods and tenses?" asked Miss Muffet.
"Passive—First Person, Singular, I am hunted."
There was a general cry of horror. "What a dreadful point of view!" said the Dodo; "it makes me shiver to think about it."
Even the wildest animals agreed that it was atrocious. What was most remarkable was that the Boy Hunters, who had been on the Orinoco and the Congo and all the most dangerous places, admitted that they had the same feelings.
"There's a limit beyond which hunting is not true sport. It should not be allowed to go as far as the First Person, Singular, in the Passive."