^^HAMMOCK STORIES/ 



MRS. FIG tree's FAMILY HISTORY. 



It was a nice, bright, sunshiny day, 

 and the trees were freshly washed from a 

 warm rain the night before, but it seemed 

 to me when I first lay down in my ham- 

 mock that they were not in as good hu- 

 mor as usual. Mrs. Pepper Tree had 

 lost her sprightly manner, and her voice 

 was quite peevish when, seeing some 

 children pass on their way from school, 

 she exclaimed : 



'It beats me what those children do 

 day after day, and year after year! 

 They can't be very smart or they would 

 have learned all their lessons long ago." 



Grandma Liveoak reminded her that 

 according to what she had heard tell, 

 children had a lot more to learn than 

 trees; that they were obhged to study 

 about people and everything they ever 

 did, and about stones and birds and the 

 sky and the flowers, and bugs and flies 

 and the rest, and she expected it took 

 them some time. 



'T presume they spend a great deal of 

 their time studying my family history," 

 said Mrs. Fig Tree. 'Tt is a very old and 

 important one, and even grown people 

 go to big buildings when the bells ring, 

 and read and learn about my family." 



Her voice was as satisfied, oh, just as 

 satisfied as could be, and she seemed to be 

 quite pleased over something while she 

 was talking. Mrs. Pepper gave her 

 branches a toss, as she crossly exclaimed : 



'T don't see what there is in Fig 

 Trees to study over much! All they 

 have anyhow is queer awkward looking 

 leaves in the spring, then green figs 

 growing right out of the branches, no 

 flowers or anything, then by and by all 

 the leaves dropping off again ! I wouldn't 

 think that would take much time or was 

 worth much time either, and for my part 

 I wouldn't have leaves I couldn't keep all 

 the year round." 



Mrs. Fig answered her in ^ very polite 

 tone, just as if she was talking to com'- 



pany : "Excuse me, Mrs. Pepper, but 

 probably you never heard that it was my 

 family that gave the first man and woman 

 who ever lived in the world their 

 clothes !" 



Mrs. Pepper said she never heard it, 

 and she guessed no one else ever did 

 either. But you could see she was get- 

 ting curious, and so were the other trees, 

 and they finally asked Mrs. Fig to tell 

 them, and so she began. 



"Long, long ago there was the most 

 beautiful garden that ever was heard or 

 thought of and every lovely flower that 

 grows, and every tree that amounts to 

 anything, was there. But the rose bushes 

 had no thorns, and there were no spiders 

 or bugs or worms to bother the trees and 

 shrubs, but only great butterflies as bright 

 as the rainbow. And there were no 

 brambles or thistles or burrs, but only 

 violets and clover blossoms and other 

 flowers, and all the birds sang more 

 sweetly than the nightingale, and the 

 fountains were clear and sparkling, and 

 the fruit was always ripe, and every- 

 thing was just as beautiful as could be, 

 and the first man and woman were the 

 most beautiful of all, only they didn't 

 have any clothes." 



Mr. Pine rustled his needles in an em- 

 barrassed sort of way, and Grandma 

 Liveoak said that didn't seem just the 

 right thing, somehow ; but Mrs. Fig 

 calmly remarked : "That was what they 

 thought too and so they made themselves 

 lovely clothes out of fig leaves." 



Mrs. Pepper guessed that that wouldn't 

 help them much ; that clothes made out of 

 fig leaves would amount to no clothes at 

 all. But here Mr. Pine spoke, saying: 



"If I might with propriety venture a 

 suggestion on so delicate a subject, I 

 think possibly it was bathing suits the 

 first man and woman made of the fig 

 leaves. My friend, the East Wind, as- 

 sures me that" — 



150 



