BOXER IS SULKY
The world can do quite well without
The sulky folks and those who pout.
_Mother Bear._
Sulky folks are not pleasant to have around. They should be put away
by themselves and kept there until they are through being sulky. Now
ordinarily little Bears are not sulky. It isn’t their nature to be
sulky. But Boxer, the disobedient little cub, was sulky. He was very
sulky indeed. And it was all because of his twin sister, Woof-Woof.
It had been bad enough to be spanked for his disobedience, but Boxer
had felt that he deserved this. He had bawled lustily and then he had
whimpered softly all the way back to that tree in which Woof-Woof had
obediently remained. Until he reached the foot of that tree and looked
up at Woof-Woof, there had been no sulkiness in Boxer.
But when he saw Woof-Woof grinning down at him as if she were glad of
all his trouble, Boxer suddenly felt that he was the most abused little
Bear in all the Great World.
“Don’t you wish you hadn’t tried to be so smart?” whispered Woof-Woof,
when at Mother Bear’s command she had joined Boxer on the ground. “I
heard you bawling. I guess next time you’ll be good like me.”
This was too much for Boxer, and he struck at Woof-Woof.
Instantly he felt the sting of Mother Bear’s big paw. It made him
squeal. Woof-Woof grinned at him again, but she took care that Mother
Bear shouldn’t see that grin. Woof-Woof actually seemed to enjoy seeing
Boxer in trouble. Little folks and some big ones often are that way.
So, because with Mother Bear there he had no chance to show his spite
to Woof-Woof, Boxer sulked. He wanted to be by himself just to pity
himself. Instead of walking close at the heels of Mother Bear as
usual, he allowed Woof-Woof to take that place, and he tagged on
behind just as far back as he dared to. Once in a while Woof-Woof would
turn her head and make a face at him. Boxer pretended not to see this.
When they stopped to rest, Boxer curled up by himself and pretended to
have a nap, while all the time he was just sulking. When after a while
Woof-Woof tried to make friends with him, he would have nothing to do
with her. Boxer was actually having a good time being miserable. People
can get that way sometimes.
Finally Mother Bear lost patience and sent him in under the great
windfall to the bedroom where he was born. “Stay in there until you get
over being sulky,” said she. “Don’t put foot outside until you can be
pleasant.”
So Boxer crept under the great windfall to the bedroom where he had
spent his babyhood. There he curled up and was more sulky then ever.
He said to himself that he hated Mother Bear and he hated his sister,
Woof-Woof. He didn’t do anything of the kind. He loved both dearly.
But he tried to make himself believe that he hated them. People in the
sulks are very fond of doing things like that.
So while Woof-Woof went over to the Laughing Brook with Mother Bear,
under the great windfall Boxer lay and sulked and tried to think of
some way of getting even with Mother Bear and Woof-Woof.