THE DISCONTENTED SQUIRREL 67 



until he found himself in a place where it was all 

 stony, without trees and bushes or even grass; 

 and there was no food to be found, and no shelter 

 from the cold, violent wind. 



He could go no farther, and the summit was 

 still far, far above him. Hunching himself up on 

 the stony ground, with his nose down between his 

 paws and his bushy tail spread along his back, he 

 began to reflect on his condition. 



Why had he not taken into account that he 

 could not travel like a bird with wings to bear him 

 through the air, and over hills and rivers and long 

 stretches of rough country? And when he asked 

 the birds how long it would take them to reach 

 that happy land of everlasting sunshine beyond the 

 blue ridge, had they not answered in a careless way, 

 as if they thought little of it, " Oh, not long; two 

 or three weeks, according to one's powers " ? And 

 it never occurred to him that a bird can fly farther 

 in half an hour than a squirrel can travel in a whole 

 day! Now, when it was too late, when he could 

 not go forward, and his home was too far, far 

 behind him, he remembered and considered these 

 things. Oh poor squirrel! Oh miserable end of 

 all your happy dreams! 



And while he was sitting hunched up, shivering 

 with cold and thinking these bitter, desponding 

 thoughts, a passing kite spied him, and swooping 

 down, snatched him up in his talons and carried 

 him off. Little strength had he now to struggle, 

 and at his least movement the sharp, crooked claws 



