Peter is a nice little boy. But he can be very naughty. Mother and
father know this. Grandmother Howe and Polly know it, too.
You see, Peter always wishes his own way. And you know this is not good
for little boys and little girls.
Peter cannot have cake between his meals. He may always have milk to
drink. Sometimes he may have bread and jelly, or bread and sugar.
He likes this very much. But he does not like the crusts of the bread.
So he used to eat only the soft part. The crusts he threw away.
But at the table he could not throw them away.
Then he put them under the edge of his plate. You know how.
When mother took the plate, there would be a crust on the table. It did
not look very well.
One day father said, "Peter, you are a big boy now. You are nearly five
years old. You are old enough to eat your crusts.
"I will give you a week in which to learn how. After that, I shall not
expect to see any more crusts on the table."
Peter knew that, when his father spoke so, he meant what he said. But
the little boy thought he would not eat his crusts until he had to do
so.
He said to himself, "In a week I will begin to eat them all up. But now
I will still put them under my plate."
So, every day when his plate was taken away, there were the crusts.
Peter did not see his father look at them. And his father said nothing
more about them.
By and by Peter began to think that his father had forgotten.
So, when the week was over, he said to himself, "I am sure that my
father has forgotten. I am going to keep on leaving my crusts."
But his father had not forgotten. He was just waiting to see if Peter
would obey.
That noon he saw that Peter had left a crust.
He said, "My son, you have not learned to eat your crusts. And you have
not learned to obey. I must teach you."
Then Peter was more naughty still. He said, "I do not like old crust. I
will throw old crust away. Then I cannot eat it."
He picked up the crust and jumped down from his chair.