Piglet

“ The wind had dropped, and the snow, tired of rushing round in circles trying to catch itself up, now fluttered gently down until it found a place on which to rest, and sometimes the place was Pooh's nose and sometimes it wasn't, and in a little while Piglet was wearing a white muffler round his neck and feeling more snowy behind the ears than he had ever felt before. ”

“ Piglet looked up, and looked away again. And he felt so Foolish and Uncomfortable that he had almost decided to run away to Sea and be a Sailor, when suddenly he saw something. ”

“ The Piglet was sitting on the ground at the door of his house blowing happily at a dandelion, and wondering whether it would be this year, next year, sometime or never. ”

“ So long as the pigling remains quiet there is peace, but as soon as the youngster endeavours to get to the teat and especially if in the endeavour it utters a cry or a squeak, the young sow will jump up from her nest and endeavour to seize the youngster in her mouth, when unless prevented the sow quickly squeezes all life out of the pig; and in some cases when the pressure has been so severe as to break the skin of the piglet, and the sow tastes blood, she will proceed to eat the dead pig. ”

“ said Piglet, with a jump. And then, to show that he hadn't been frightened, he jumped up and down once or twice more in an exercising sort of way. ”

“ One day in June Mother Grunty thought she must go on a journey, and she worried about leaving Blacky-ears and Little-wee Pig alone, for she had not forgotten that the Wandering Wolves were not all dead and that one of them might get after her babies.
"Come here, piglets," she called from her kitchen window.
"All right, Mother, I'm coming," answered Little-wee Pig as he jumped from his swing and ran to the house.
But not so Blacky-ears! And I'll tell you why. Bad Boy Mischief, you remember, is always after everyone; little children, little bears, and little pigs. ”

“ Calling the piglets to him he picked them all up, one by one, and put them away in his pocket; for although he could not see them he could feel them, and when he had buttoned his coat he knew they were safe for the present. ”

“ Piglet took Pooh's arm, in case Pooh was frightened. ”

“ All of a sudden, as the older piggie boy was walking along, digging up nice sweet roots with his nose—for you know that is the way piggies dig—all of a sudden, I say, there was a growling noise in the bushes, and before the little pig boy could jump out of the way, or even call for his mamma or papa, a big black bear sprang out from inside a hollow stump, and grabbed him. Right in his paws he grabbed that little pig boy. ”

“ Every morning I hear the blast of a horn, when, proceeding from almost every door in the street, behold a pig! The pigs generally proceed of their own accord; but shortly after they have passed, there comes a little bare-headed, bare-footed, stunted child about eleven years old. This little attendant of the old pig-driver facetiously called at Langen-Schwalbach the 'Schwein-General, knows every house from which a pig ought to have proceeded: she can tell by the door being open or shut, or even by footmarks, whether the creature has joined the herd, or is still snoring in its sty. ”

“ They are the city scavengers, these pigs, ugly brutes they are; having for the most part scanty brown backs, like the lids of old horse-hair trunks, spotted with unwholesome black blotches; they have long, gaunt legs too, and such peaked snouts that if one of them could be persuaded, to sit for his profile, nobody would recognize it for a pig's likeness; they are never attended upon, or fed, or driven, or caught, but are thrown upon their own resources in early life, and become preternaturally knowing in consequence; every pig knows where he lives much better than any body could tell him. ”

“ Pigling helped himself to meal without scruple. "What for?" "Bacon, hams," replied Pig- wig cheerfully. "Why on earth don't you run away?" exclaimed the horrified Pigling. "I shall after supper," said Pig- wig decidedly. Pigling Bland made more porridge and watched her shyly. She finished a second plate, got up, and looked about her, as though she were going to start. "You can't go in the dark," said Pigling Bland. Pig-wig looked anxious. "Do you know your way by day- light?" "I know we can see this little white house from the hills across the river. Which way are you going, Mr. Pig?" ”

“ Of course this pig got into the garden, and was whipped by the farmer, and bitten by the dog, and had all sorts of unpleasant things happen to him, till he was glad to get back again to the sty.
"Now I'll tell you a pig story," said Birdie, with a very wise look.
"Once there was a big mother-pig, and she had lots of children-pigs. One was spotted, and his name was Spotty; one's tail curled, and he was Curly; another was white, and he was Whitey; another was Browny; and another was Greeny." ”

“ Nobody knows how a goat will behave. We get our word “caprice,” and “capricious,” from his Latin name.
Back of the columns, is the big sow, with her litter of little pigs, all of them. They are glad enough to go, and they look on the whole thing [115] as a picnic. For now, instead of living on dry winter feed, they will get the juicy grass and herbage of the summer pasture. Mrs. Hog is certainly proud of her young porkers, but her music is hardly up to the carillon standard, for it consists chiefly of grunts, and this is the only language, in which the education of the piggies is carried on. ”

“ It is Piggy the Peccary, known as the Collared Peccary, also called Wild Pig, Muskhog, Texas Peccary and Javelina.
“He is a true Pig and in shape resembles that lazy, fat fellow in Farmer Brown's barnyard when he was little. You would know him for a Pig right away if you should see him. But in every other way excepting his habit of rooting up the ground with his nose, he is a wholly different fellow. For one thing his legs, though short, are more slender and he is a fast runner. There isn't a lazy bone in him, and he is too active to grow fat. ”

“ The head, too, hung near,—but without its fine wig,
And was now to be seen as the head of a pig.
Many times has the butcher thought of his good luck,
But he'll never again capture such a gay buck.
If pigs will walk upright, and strut with fine canes,
Stalking in towns, 'stead of roaming in lanes,
Misfortunes they'll meet with, no doubt, such as Jack's,
Getting shots through their ears, and kicks on their backs.
Piggy left a good sty,
And went out, like a guy ”

“ What had you intended doing with that pig, Rufe?’
“‘I’m going to crate him up,’ says Rufe, ‘and express him to ma in Mount Nebo. He’ll be company for her while I am away.’
“‘He’s a mighty fine pig,’ says I, scratching him on the back.
“‘You called him a lot of names last night,’ says Rufe.
“‘Oh, well,’ says I, ‘he looks better to me this morning. I was raised on a farm, and I’m very fond of pigs. I used to go to bed at sundown, so I never saw one by lamplight before. Tell you what I’ll do, Rufe,’ I says. ”

“ An infant pigtail is just like the first tender sprout of a tulip bulb, and would be lovable were not the Chinese baby so very horrible of hue and shape. He isn't as pretty as the pig that Alice nursed in Wonderland, and he lies quite still and never cries. This is because he is afraid of being boiled and eaten. I saw cold boiled babies on a plate being carried through the heart of the town. They said it was only sucking-pig, but I knew better. Dead sucking-pigs don't grin with their eyes open. ”

“ So he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed and he huffed, and at last he blew the house down and then ate up the little pig.
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The third little pig met a man with a load of bricks, and said, "Please, man, give me those bricks to build a house with;" so the man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them.
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Then the wolf came, as he did to the other little pigs, and said, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in!"
"No, no, by the hair on my chinny-chin-chin!"
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"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in." ”

“ She had eight of a family; four little girl pigs, called Cross-patch, Suck-suck, Yock-yock and Spot;
and four little boy pigs, called Alexander, Pigling Bland, Chin-Chin and Stumpy. Stumpy had had an accident to his tail.
The eight little pigs had very fine appetites—"Yus, yus, yus! they eat and indeed they do eat!" said Aunt Pettitoes, looking at her family with pride. Suddenly there were fearful squeals; Alexander had squeezed inside the hoops of the pig trough and stuck. ”

“ Every plum clung selfishly to its twig, and piggy could have cried with vexation. Surely plums were made for pigs! Why could he not have his share? Angrily he flung himself at the base of the tree, but he was not as heavy as before he became a circus pig, and nothing was hurt but his back. This was too much. Was he to be lamed and bruised by a scrubby old tree just because he admired its fruit? In a rage he took a running start, and struck the tree head first a fearful blow. ”

“ When any thing goes wrong in the piggery, the farmer too often, instead of exercising that shrewd sense which he turns to so good an account in almost every other instance, either sends for the butcher, or consigns the sick tenants of the sty to the care of an ignorant "pig-doctor," whose whole pretensions to leech-craft rest on the possession of some antiquated recipe, which he uses indiscriminately as a grand panacea for "all the ills swine's flesh is heir to," or on the traditionary lore he inherits from some ancestor famous in his day for certain real or supposed wondrous cures. ”

“ The family pig, upon which was centered many hopes, would be feeding in a little pasture near the house, when a great hulking bear would come rolling over the fence and little piggy, with a frantic squeal issuing from one end of him, and his curly tail twisting frantically from the other, would disappear in the dark woods, never to be heard of more. ”

“ Hoom Slimmer slid out, wiped his hands on the oil rags, put a smear of axle grease on Peter's chin, kissed her on the nose, patted her ears two pats—and then they went into the house and had a late breakfast which was her second breakfast and his first.
"I flew till I came to Pig's Eye Valley in the Pickax Mountains," Hoom Slimmer told her. "The pickax pigs there run digging with their pickax feet and their pickax snouts. ”

“ But I am happy to say that he wasn’t really hurt, for I went to see him some days afterwards, and found him as hearty as pig could be.
Master George and I agreed, as we walked back to the Castle, that it is a shame to have a pig-race.
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“No,” said he, “let men run any risk they like of broken heads or limbs for themselves; they may play or not as they like. But Piggy has no choice, and to let him run the risk of having the legs pulled out of his body before he is wanted for pork, isn’t fair.” ”

“ This little pig was a very good and careful fellow. He gave his mother scarcely any trouble, and always took a pleasure in doing all she bade him. Here you see him sitting down with clean hands and face, to some nice roast beef, while his brother, the idle pig, who is standing on a stool in the corner, with the dunce's cap on, has none. He sat down and quietly learned his lesson, and asked his mother to hear him repeat it. And this he did so well that Mrs. Pig stroked him on the ears and forehead, and called him a good little pig. After this he asked her to allow him to help her make tea. ”

“ I suspect the pig, after all, was meant for me; but at the unlucky juncture of time being absent, the present somehow went round to Highgate. To confess an honest truth, a pig is one of those things I could never think of sending away. Teals, wigeons, snipes, barn-door fowl, ducks, geese—your tame villatic things—Welsh mutton, collars of brawn, sturgeon, fresh or pickled, your potted char, Swiss cheeses, French pies, early grapes, muscadines, I impart as freely unto my friends as to myself. They are but self-extended ”

“ But a pig is only the Unclean animal—forbidden by the Prophet.
I was destined to make rather a queer discovery when I went over to the cattle-slaughter. All the buildings here were on a much larger scale, and there was no sound of trouble, but I could smell the salt reek of blood before I set foot in the place. The cattle did not come directly through the viaduct as the pigs had done. They debouched into a yard by the hundred, and they were big red brutes carrying much flesh. In the centre of that yard stood a red Texan steer with a headstall on his wicked head. No man controlled him. ”

“ Bees worked and sang over the thyme and marjoram, blooming early in a sunny nook; and in a homely sty lived a solemn black pig, a pig with a history.
It was no common utilitarian pig, but the honoured guest of the old couple, and it knew it. A year before, their youngest and only surviving child, then a man of five-and-twenty, had brought his mother the result of his savings in the shape of a fine young pig: a week later he lay dead of the typhoid that scourged Maidstone. Hence the pig was sacred, cared for and loved by this Darby and Joan. ”

“ Utter poverty and black misery are depicted upon the rags and visages of the expectant throng—even the babies wear oldish, knowing expressions on their little faces. A strange feature is the curious little pigtail worn by the boys,—a pigtail growing all awry, sprouting, not from the crown, but from one side of the head. ”

“ I believe I’ll go, too. I am so fond of milk.” And the calf leaped over his master’s fence, and away he went scampering after Piggie.
By and by, who should come along but Piggie’s friend Billie Goat. “Mercy on us!” baa-ed Billie. “Where are you going in such a hurry, Bossie?”
“Going with Piggie,” said the calf.
“Where are you going, Piggie?”
“Going to market to bring my mother a pail of milk for Father’s supper to-night,” squealed Piggie, in a great hurry.
“Are you? I believe I’ll go, too. I am so fond of milk.” So Billie Goat ran out of the barn-yard and hurried after the calf. ”