How The Little Redbird Became Red
: Daddy's Bedtime Bird StoriesJack and Evelyn had been playing circus all day. Jack had been the big
man who stands in the middle of the ring and cracks his whip, while
Evelyn had turned somersaults and made pretty bows. They told daddy all
about it when he came home that evening, so he said:
"As you're so fond of circus performing I will certainly have to tell
you about the circus the animals gave.
"Cub Bear got it all
agree to do something. And it really was a most marvelous circus. They
all marched around in a parade, while the little bears beat the drums.
The rabbits rode on the backs of the possums, and the monkeys rode on
the backs of the elephants. The chipmunks drove chariots which were
drawn by the gray squirrels, and the clowns were the frogs. The rest of
the animals caught hands and followed in the march. They laughed and
shouted and enjoyed themselves immensely.
"Then all took their seats and one by one did some sort of an act. The
monkeys won a great deal of applause by their trapeze acting. Cub Bear
walked a rope and danced around on his hind legs. The bunnies rode
bicycles, but that ended sadly, as one of them--a son of old Peter
Rabbit, who was renowned for his bicycle riding--in trying to show off,
fell and skinned his nose. All the other animals gathered around to see
what they could do, while the bunny moaned and moaned.
"A gray bird flying over the tent heard the sound of moans and cries and
flew in to see what the trouble was, for he was a very kind-hearted
bird. He saw that the bunny was really more frightened than hurt, and
with his wings he wiped off the blood from the rabbit's face. The
blood-stain never got off the wings of the bird, so ever after he and
his family became known as the redbirds.
"The bunny fully recovered and once more felt like himself; but, of
course, after the accident, the animals didn't care to go on performing,
so they all sat around the center of the tent and had a most glorious
picnic. Refreshments of all kinds were passed around.
"They had pink lemonade, peanuts, popcorn, ice-cream cones, and water
taffy. After they'd finished eating they sang all the old-time songs and
frisked about, playing and dancing. Bunny Rabbit, who felt quite spry
again, frisked about too, and the redbird flew overhead, flapping his
wings with joy, for he was so glad everything had turned out so merrily.
"The circus proved such a success and the animals were in such high
spirits that they then and there decided to have a circus every year."
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