'MY INFANCY^ 



41 



blunt noses ; and so brave and careful, too, when our 

 fur had come and our noses were growing nicely 

 pointed, and we wanted to poke them out into the 

 world, which smelt so sweet, and was really so 

 dangerous. Sometimes I wish that I could not 

 smell so well, and again sometimes I am very glad 

 that my nose is so reliable. In one way smelling 

 is the root of all evil, for it takes you into traps and 

 all kinds of danger. Y"ou have no idea how hard 

 it is to resist a really nice smell, even though you 

 know as well as possible that it means danger. I 

 have grown to be so careful now that I always run 

 away when I meet a really nice smell, or when a 

 really nice smell meets me : I don't mind which way 

 you put it, but perhaps the latter is the better, 

 because a smell not only meets you, but very often 

 runs after you, when you run away, so fast that it 

 must have hundreds of legs, like those crawly 

 things in the garden. Draw me a picture, if you 

 can, of a rat running away, and a very nice smell 

 running after it. Y^'ou must draw them both 

 running as fast as possible, and mind you make 

 the smell very nice indeed, or the picture won't 

 be true. That is the danger of smells, but some- 

 times they are very useful. I told you, for 

 instance, how 1 could smell the fox, and a man 



