hedgehog was always scribbling. he sat at his desk in his house in the woods and wrote so much that he hardly stopped to eat his meals. he had quills stuck behind his ears, and whenever he thought of anything which would make any of the beasts angry, especially yellow lion, he wrote it down on a piece of birch bark. for ink he used pokeberry juice.
yellow lion awoke one morning and found a sign tacked to the door of his house with one of hedgehog’s quills. on the sign was written:
“lion, you are a big, yellow animal.”
“who wrote that?” roared yellow lion. “i am no more of an animal than he is.”
everybody knows that yellow lion is very proud, for he is the king of beasts. so yellow lion went out and sharpened his claws on the trunk of a tree and started to get revenge for the name that he had been called. he had not gone very far before he saw another piece of bark tacked up to a tree with one of hedgehog’s quills. on it was written:
“lions, take notice. the quill is mightier than the claw.”
yellow lion picked off the sign and shook it between his paws.
“the idea,” he said. “this is an insult. just let me find out who wrote that and there will be an awful time in this jungle.”
he had only gone half a mile before he met big elephant.
“elephant,” he roared; “whose writing is this?”
big elephant put on his glasses and picked up the piece of bark and looked at it very carefully.
“sometimes,” he said, “i write in my sleep. you know, i used to write visiting cards with my feet, and since i stand up when i am asleep maybe i write a little without knowing it. i don’t remember this.”
“you are a foolish, old elephant,” roared yellow lion, and he bounded away so angrily that he could hardly see. he almost ran into striped tiger.
“pardon me,” said yellow lion, for he had a great respect for striped tiger.
“don’t mention it,” answered striped tiger, showing his white teeth. “what is this i hear about your mane?”
“name,” replied yellow lion.
“o, well, it’s much the same,” purred striped tiger. “the same letters. you come with me and i’ll show you something that will make you feel very glad.”
striped tiger winked at big elephant, who had just come up, and all three walked through the jungle. striped tiger led yellow lion to a large rock, on which was written:
“he has a mane which is rusty. he needs a haircut.”
“this is too much,” roared yellow lion.
“ha! ha!” laughed somebody way up in the trees.
yellow lion looked up and saw little monkey swinging along the tree tops by his tail. little monkey had a cap on his head and a piece of birch bark and a quill under his arm.
“come down!” roared yellow lion.
he talked so loud that little monkey was scared, and let go his tail and fell to the ground. yellow lion picked him up and shook him. on the piece of bark which little monkey had was written, “a poor, innocent goat was killed. ask yellow lion.”
“now i have you!” snarled yellow lion. “i’ll teach you to write such things and put them up on trees.”
“please, i’m only a messenger boy,” whimpered little monkey. “hedgehog wrote it.”
“i’ll not eat you up!” roared yellow lion, “if you will take me to your master.”
so little monkey led yellow lion to hedgehog’s house. yellow lion went right into the room where hedgehog was writing at his desk.
“hedgehog,” said yellow lion, “you have been calling me names. you wrote that i had a mane—”
i thought that you had,” answered hedgehog, in a meek, little voice.
he was sitting on a barrel before his desk, and kept on writing as hard as he could. he had sheets of bark all around him, and his hands and face were all over pokeberry ink.
“that was all rusty. it is false,” continued yellow lion.
“your mane looks as though it were real,” replied hedgehog.
“you said i ought to have a haircut,” added yellow lion.
“which one of your hairs,” sighed hedgehog.
“hedgehog,” roared yellow lion, “your time has come. you miserable, little—”
“what did you say?” asked hedgehog. “i am hard of hearing.”
“quill driver,” thundered yellow lion.
with that hedgehog moved the back of his neck in such a way that all the quills which were sticking behind his ears came out like arrows shot from the bow. they stuck in the face of yellow lion and made him jump and squeal and beg for mercy. yellow lion ran out of the place with his paws all over his face and the tears running down his cheeks.
“i may be a quill driver,” said hedgehog, as he dipped a quill in pokeberry juice, “but when i am writing i cannot afford to be annoyed by big, yellow animals.”
