by pain and fright is wisdom bought,

and thus respect for elders taught.

                little joe otter.

little joe otter’s foolish young son, who had found a dead fish at the back of a little pen of sticks on the edge of the water, remembered the warning to leave dead fish alone. but he was hungry, and it wouldn’t take but a second to get that fish.

“father and mother were just trying to scare us,” he repeated to himself. “i guess they don’t realize that i am big enough to take care of myself. it won’t be long before i will be leaving them and going out into the great world for myself, anyway. then i’ll have to depend on my own judgment. this fish is just waiting for me. i don’t know how it happened to get here, but that doesn’t make any difference. i would be a silly fellow to waste my time hunting for a live fish when a dead one is waiting for me right under my nose.”

so with a look all around to make sure that no one was watching him, the foolish young otter entered the little pen of sticks through a narrow opening, his eyes shining as he reached for the dead fish at the back of the pen.

and then something happened! yes, indeed, something happened! something grabbed the foolish young otter by one of his toes! yes, sir, it grabbed him and it grabbed him tight! what it was he hadn’t the least idea. but whatever it was, it hurt dreadfully.

and the young otter suffered more from fright than he did from pain. he twisted around and plunged for the deep water, but he was brought up short. the thing that had grabbed him by the toe was holding on. he struggled, but he was held fast. the dreadful thing was pulling him down under water. if it should succeed in holding him down there he would drown. my, how he did thrash about and struggle! even yet he didn’t know what it was that was holding him.

by and by he had to stop struggling in order to get his breath. his foot ached dreadfully. without really thinking of what he was doing, he swam towards the shore. then he found that this thing that had him by the toe didn’t pull him under water. he twisted around to see what it was that was holding him. it was a cruel, steel trap. he knew what it was as soon as he saw it, for his father, little joe otter, had shown him one that very morning.

right within reach was that fish which had been the cause of all this trouble. the young otter didn’t even look at it. he, who had been so hungry a few minutes before, had lost his appetite. yes, sir, he had lost his appetite completely. just then he felt as if he didn’t care ever to eat again.

all he wanted was to get away from that dreadful trap. he bit at it, but this only hurt his teeth. it held him as tightly as ever. he remembered what little joe otter had told him, about how if he should be caught in a trap that dreadful two-legged creature would come and kill him. once more he began to struggle. he pulled with all his might. it hurt, but he kept on pulling. but for all his pulling he was held fast.

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