When the Animals Go to Bed
Introduction
Anonymous. “When the Animals Go to Bed.” Infant's Magazine 54.1 (1920): 26-27.
“When the Animals Go to Bed” was printed in the 1920 volume of Infant’s Magazine, a didactic periodical for very young children. Like many stories in the magazine, “When the Animals Go to Bed” is focused on nature and the beauties there. Also true to the format of the magazine, the story is educational in that it teaches children about animals and their lifestyle.
Transcription
When the Animals Go to Bed
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“Dear me!” said Mr. Hedgehog, “I think the summer must be nearly over, for the wind seems very cold this evening. Perhaps it is time I got my blankets; looked for a nice cosy bed, and put myself to sleep till the winter is gone.”
With that he trotted away to a little wood that he knew, and finding a number of dry leaves under a tree, he rolled himself over and over among them. Of course this made a lot of them stick to the prickles that grow all over his body.
“That will do,” said Mr. Hedgehog. “With such a nice blanket round me, I will creep under this bank of dead leaves, and sleep till the warm spring comes again.”
And so he did. About the same time Mrs. Squirrel began filling her larder [1] in an old tree with fine, ripe nuts, and when she had enough to stop her from getting hungry all through the winter she, too, curled herself up in a cosy nook, and was snug to sleep by the cold and story wind. Near by there was another little bed made of pine needles. It was shaped like a ball, the needles being cleverly woven together, and right in the middle, as snug as any little boy or girl under the downy counterpanes, [2] lay Master Dormouse. He is always rather a sleepy fellow, and for some time past had been getting his bed ready; for he likes to spend quite half the year asleep. So Mr. Hedgehog and Mrs. Squirrel were attending to business in the garden long after he had crawled lazily to bed, and they will be up again before he has left off dreaming.
Notes
- ↑ A room or closet in which meat and other provisions are stored. (OED)
- ↑ The outer covering of a bed, generally more or less ornamental, being woven in a raised pattern, quilted, made of patch-work, etc.; a coverlet, a quilt. (OED)
Edited by: Roberts, Jordan Lee: section 1, Winter 2013
