Back Aa

Flop Ear, the Funny Rabbit

<h2 id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI FLOP EAR LEARNS TRICKS</h2> Flop Ear, at first, was so frightened at finding himself in the boy’s arms, that he did not know what to do. He trembled and tried to get away, but the boy said: “Keep still, little rabbit. I won’t hurt you. I will be kind to you.” Flop Ear understood a little of this talk, but, best of all, he understood the kind, stroking hand of the boy, who rubbed his fur softly. Animals can tell just by the way you touch them whether or not you are going to be nice to them. But still Flop Ear was frightened. To a little rabbit, a boy is as big as a giant would be to you or me, and this was the first time, in all his life, Flop Ear had ever been near a human being. If there were giants in the world, I think we would all be very much frightened if we saw one for the first time, and did not know whether he would be cross or kind. But after we had seen the giant two or three times, and learned that he would not harm us, we would not be so worried. It was this way with Flop Ear. It was[55] the first time he had ever seen a boy close by, and he was afraid. “Now don’t try to get away, little bunny,” said the boy kindly. “I won’t hurt you. See him, Mother! Isn’t he cute?” “Where did you get him, Jimmie?” “Why he was in the wood basket, right under the wood, and when I lifted out the last sticks I saw him.” “In the wood basket! How in the world did he get there?” “He must have come in from the fields or woods and hopped in to hide,” said Jimmie, the boy. “I am going to keep him for a pet if he will stay with me. I’ll teach him some tricks.” “Put him down on the floor and see if he will stay,” suggested the woman. “I’m afraid he’ll run. Wait until I shut the door,” the boy said. “And I’ll get him a carrot to eat,” returned his mother. “Maybe he won’t run when he sees that.” She put a carrot down on the kitchen floor, and the boy placed Flop Ear in front of it. The carrot smelled very good to Flop Ear, for he was hungry, so he did not run away, though his heart was still beating fast. Then the boy saw the little rabbit’s funny, drooping ear. [56] “Oh, Mother! See!” cried Jimmie. “What a funny rabbit! Isn’t he comical? He’s as comical as Squinty, the pig!” “Yes, he does look odd,” said the woman. “I think Flop Ear would be a good name for him.” And so, you see, without any trouble at all, Flop Ear got his own right name. It was natural to call him that. “I like him better than I do Squinty,” said the boy. “I was over on Mr. Jones’ farm the other day, and I saw Squinty in the pen. Mr. Jones said some children were going to take him for a pet, but I would rather have Flop Ear, the funny rabbit.” “Well, this isn’t so bad,” thought Flop Ear, as he nibbled the carrot. “If this boy knows my friend Squinty I guess he will be kind to me. So some children are going to take Squinty away for a pet; are they? I hope they will be good to him, and give him what he likes to eat.” All this while Flop Ear himself was eating the carrot, one of his ears standing up, and the other drooping down, and he looked so funny that the boy and his mother had to laugh. “I did not know rabbits would come in our woodshed,” the boy said. “I wonder what made this one do so?” “Perhaps he was hungry,” said Jimmie’s mother. And that was the reason, as you know,[57] why Flop Ear had come to the farmhouse and had gone into the shed. Flop Ear was not so frightened now. He looked all about him, and he thought he was in a very queer place—a farmhouse kitchen. There was a big black thing there, and in it was a fire. Flop Ear knew what fire was, for once the woods near his burrow were blazing, and the rabbits had to run underground and stay there to keep away from the hot flames. “I wonder why people want fires in their houses!” thought Flop Ear. “We never have any in our burrow.” Then he saw Jimmie’s mother put a pan on the big black thing with fire in it, and soon white smoke, so it seemed to Flop Ear, rose from the pan. Jimmie’s mother was cooking dinner over the fire, made with some of the wood taken from the basket in which the rabbit had hidden. “Flop Ear,” said the boy, speaking to the rabbit just as if it could understand—“Flop Ear, you are a nice bunny, and I like you. I am going to keep you for myself, and I will teach you some tricks in a few days when you are not so frightened. And I must make a little house for you to stay in. A box will do, though I suppose you can gnaw your way out with your teeth if you don’t like it. But I will get a strong box,[58] and give you plenty to eat, and maybe you will not try to get away.” “I think you are a very nice boy,” thought Flop Ear to himself. “You seem to be kind to me, but still I can not promise to stay always with you. I want to go back to my own home and folks. But I will stay here a while and eat carrots.” Of course the boy could not know Flop Ear was thinking this. But the boy could see that the rabbit was not so frightened as he had been at first. “I think he likes me,” said the boy to his mother. “I will teach him to do some tricks, and maybe I can sell him to a circus.” “Oh, I wouldn’t sell him,” Jimmie’s mother said. “Keep him for yourself.” “All right. Maybe I’ll do that.” “Let me see—circus. Where have I heard that word before?” thought Flop Ear. “Oh, I remember. Blackie, the lost cat, told me she met Dido, the dancing bear, in a circus. Well, if Dido is there I wouldn’t mind going to a circus. But still I shall like it here for a while.” The boy found a strong, heavy box to make into a little house for Flop Ear. He put it out in the yard, under a tree where the rabbit would be in the shade. Flop Ear was given some lettuce leaves to eat, and he liked them even better[59] than he did carrots. There was also a pan of nice water for the rabbit to drink. “Well, this is nicer than running through the woods with a dog after you,” thought Flop Ear. “Still I would like to find my own home again, and have a good game of tag with Pink Nose and Snuggle.” Just as the boy thought, Flop Ear did try to gnaw his way out of the box. For the boy knew something about rabbits. They are good gnawers, almost as good as rats and mice. They have four front teeth just made for cutting through wood, and they use them in taking bark off trees to eat. So Flop Ear, with his strong front teeth, tried to gnaw out of the box. If it had not been a heavy thick one he might have done it, and gotten away. But the boy saw what his new rabbit pet was doing, and put some tin inside the box. Rabbits, rats or mice can not gnaw through even thin tin. It is too strong for their sharp teeth. That afternoon, when Flop Ear had taken a little sleep in his box, on some soft straw which the boy put in for him, Jimmie said: “Now I will try to teach Flop Ear some tricks. Come on out, bunny boy, and let me see what you can do.” Of course, Flop Ear did not in the least know what was going to happen to him. But he knew,[60] by this time, that the boy was good and kind, and would not hurt him. “We will try an easy trick,” Jimmie said. “I will see if you know how to jump through a barrel hoop.” The boy set Flop Ear down on the ground, outside the box. Of course the rabbit might have run away, but he thought he would not. “There is time enough for that later on,” Flop Ear said to himself. “I will see what he means by tricks, and jumping through a hoop.” The boy had with him a round hoop from a barrel. He held this up in front of the rabbit, but Flop Ear did not know what to do. “Jump, Floppy! Jump!” cried the boy. “Jump through the hoop!” But Flop Ear did not. “I know how to make him,” said Jimmie. Then he took a carrot and put it on the ground. In front of it he held up the round hoop. Flop Ear saw the carrot and wanted to get it to eat. He started around one side of the hoop, but the boy gently pushed him back. “You must jump through the hoop if you want the carrot,” said Jimmie. Flop Ear tried to go around the other way, but the boy would not let him. Then the rabbit saw that the easiest way to get the sweet carrot was to jump through the hoop, which he did, as nicely as you please. It was easy for him to jump, you know. To go through the hoop was the only new thing about it. [61] <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i_p061.jpg" width-obs="385" height-obs="600" alt="" title="" /> <div class="caption">The rabbit saw that the easiest way to get the sweet carrot was to jump through the hoop.</div> </div> [62] “Fine! That’s the way to do it!” cried Jimmie, much pleased. “You have learned a trick, Flop Ear.” “I don’t call that much of a trick,” thought the rabbit. “But still it may be.” Three or four times Jimmie made the rabbit jump through the hoop and each time Flop Ear was given a bit of carrot. Then he learned to do it without anything to eat, and after a bit Flop Ear grew to like to do the trick, for it seemed to please the boy, who patted the bunny’s soft fur. “Now we have one trick, we’ll try another,” said Jimmie, a few days later. “I wonder if you can stand up on your hind legs, and hold a bit of carrot on your nose?” Well, it was easy enough, of course, for Flop Ear to stand up on his hind legs. He had done that in the woods often enough. And it was not hard for him to hold a bit of carrot on his nose. But as soon as Jimmie put it there Flop Ear let the carrot fall to the ground and ate it. He thought that was what it was for. “No, no! You must not do it that way,” said Jimmie. “I want you to stand up on your hind legs, and hold the carrot on your nose until I tell[63] you to eat it, and clap my hands. Then you may take it. Now we’ll try again.” Once more Flop Ear stood up on his hind legs. Again the carrot was put on his nose, but he dropped it off and—no, he did not eat it this time, for the boy grabbed it away as soon as it fell to the ground. “You must not eat it until I tell you to, Flop Ear,” said Jimmie. It took quite a while for the rabbit to learn this trick, but finally he came to understand what Jimmie wanted. And then, after a bit, Flop Ear would stand up when the boy told him to, and when the carrot was put on the rabbit’s nose he would not let it drop off and eat it until Jimmie clapped his hands. “Now you are quite tame, and you know two tricks,” said the boy. “You are getting to be quite a circus rabbit. I must teach you another trick.” <hr class="chap" /> [64] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

1 of 2

2 of 2

Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.