unc' billy possum spent the very coldest days of winter curled up in his warm, snug home in the big hollow tree in the green forest. unc' billy didn't like the cold weather. sometimes he would stick his head out of his doorway and then, as he heard rough brother north wind whooping through the green forest, he would turn right around and go back to his bed for another nap. and all the time he would be saying:
"way down souf de sun am shinin'—
yas, sah, dat am so!
fo' dat lan' mah heart am pinin'—
yas, sah, dat am so!
"de mocking-bird he sings all day,
de alligators am at play,
de flowers dey am bloomin' fair,
and mah heart aches to be down there—
yas, sah, dat am so!"
now unc' billy had prepared for the winter by getting just as fat as he knew how. he was so fat that he could hardly waddle when jack frost first came to the green forest. you see he knew that if he was very, very fat he wouldn't have to worry about getting anything to eat, not for a long time, anyway. so when the ice and snow came, and unc' billy decided that it was more comfortable indoors than outdoors, he was almost as fat as johnny chuck was when he went to sleep for the long winter.
now johnny chuck just slept and slept and slept, without waking once the whole winter long. but unc' billy possum couldn't sleep like that. he had to stick his head out every little while to see how the world was getting along without him. when the sun was bright and the air was not too cold, unc' billy would sometimes climb down from his hollow tree and walk about a little on the snow. but he didn't enjoy it much. it made his feet cold, and then he didn't like the tracks he made. he scowled at them, for he knew well enough that if farmer brown's boy should happen along, he would know right away who had made those tracks, and then he would hunt for unc' billy's home in the hollow tree. so unc' billy didn't go out very much, and very seldom indeed when the snow was soft.
it seemed to unc' billy possum as if the winter never, never would go. he was beginning to grow thin now, and of course he was getting hungry. he began to think about it, and the more he thought about it, the hungrier he grew. one morning he stuck his head out of his doorway, and whom should he see trotting along below but jimmy skunk. jimmy looked fat and comfortable and as if he did not mind the cold weather at all.
"good mo'ning, jimmy skunk," said unc' billy.
jimmy skunk looked up. "hello, unc' billy!" he exclaimed. "i haven't seen you for a long time!"
"whar yo' been, jimmy skunk?" asked unc' billy.
jimmy winked one eye. "getting my breakfast of nice fresh eggs," he replied.
unc' billy possum's mouth began to water. "did yo' leave any?" he anxiously inquired.
jimmy skunk allowed that he did, and unc' billy gave a long sigh, as he watched jimmy skunk amble off up the lone little path. unc' billy couldn't sleep any more now. no, sir, he couldn't sleep a wink. all he could do was to think how hungry he was. he would shut his eyes, and then it seemed as if he could see right into farmer brown's hen-house, and there were eggs, eggs, eggs, everywhere. finally unc' billy made up his mind.
"ah'm going up there the very first dark night!" said he.
