32 



THE RAT 



you about my birthday, 1 lived for a long time 

 under the floor of the place where the hounds slept. 

 And they fed the hounds on the flesh of very old 

 horses, which had to be killed because they were so 

 very old and tired that they did not want to live 

 any longer. And I used to go out at night and 

 gnaw the bones that were lying about, and eat the 

 meat. It was beautiful meat, with lots of smell 

 in it, and it made my teeth very deadly and 

 poisonous ; and one day a terrier dog nearly got me, 

 before I could get into my hole, but I turned and 

 bit him just as he was going to catch hold, and then 

 squiggled down my hole, while he was thinking 

 how brave a rat I was. And two days afterwards 

 they brought him and buried him, with his head 

 and neck all puffed up, and not a bit like a smart 

 little terrier, and I heard them say something about 

 'those nasty rats being as poisonous as vipers.' 



I killed a viper once who thought that he was 

 going to kill me, by jumping on his back as quick 

 as lightning when he struck at me. I jumped far 

 quicker than you can jump, though perhaps you 

 would like to try. You can be the rat, and Johnny 

 or Sally can be the viper. I bit him right through 

 the back of the neck, and he was just going to die 

 when I ate most of him. 



