Chapter 12 Mother Magpie's Mischief.
Old Mother Magpie was just about the busiest creature in the forest.
But there is a difference between being busy and working hard.
You can be very busy but not hardworking at all.
This was the case with Mother Magpie.
She was into everybody's business but her own.
She was here, there, and everywhere, but never in her own nest.
She knew what everyone else was doing and she had words of advice for every bird and beast in the forest.
One day, Mother Magpie flew up to the top of the oak tree where old Parson Two-Wit lived.
She told him exactly how awful everyone in the forest was.
Sunday sermon, she said.
Then she left the old gentleman in a dazed and confused state and peeped into Mrs. Oriel's nest.
Mother Magpie chattered so much to Mrs Oriel that she was more bewildered than if a terrible wind had shook her.
Believe me, my dear, Mother Magpie cheeped, this is no way to build a nest.
It swings in the air like an empty stocking.
I never built a nest like this one, and I never had a single problem with my nests.
You complain of a headache whenever I visit.
It's on account of the way your nest swings in the air.
I do declare Mother Magpie told her as she puffed out her chest.
Orioles always build their nests this way, Mrs. Oriole softly said.
Mother Magpie made her feel shy.
Oh, fiddlesticks, said Mother Magpie.
You'll never learn if you never try.
Just ask Dr. Kite.
He agrees with me.
Have you ever been to any of Dr. Kite's lectures?
No, I can't leave my eggs, Mrs. Oriole explained.
Nonsense!
Let your husband sit on the eggs, Mother Magpie advised.
He should sit on them half the time to give you a chance to move around and exercise.
My husband does this for me.
I shall have to speak to yours, Mother Magpie said.
No, please, do not, said Mrs. Oriel.
We'll see about that, Mother Magpie said, and flew off in a huff.
Later that day, when Tommy Oriol returned to the nest, he was very upset.
Have you been gossiping about me, your husband, to Mother Magpie? he asked Mrs. Oriol.
She simply will not leave me be, Mrs. Oriol declared.
I don't say a word, and she insists on giving me advice.
She thinks you should mind the eggs half the time so I can move around and exercise.
Not really a bad idea, if you think about it, Mrs. Oriel dared to say.
Tell her to mind her own business, Tommy Oriel said.
I am a society bird, and you must learn to live with that, dear wife.
Be glad that you have a brilliant and handsome husband, able to sing like an angel.
I must attend concerts and spend time around the forest.
I cannot simply stay in the nest and warm the eggs.
I have very important business, Tommy explained.
Now, Tommy Oriol was very much annoyed with Mother Magpie for butting into his nest life.
After all, Mrs Oriol had never complained about him before Mother Magpie brought him to her attention.
Meanwhile, Mother Magpie was off minding someone else's business.
She went down to Waterdock Lane to visit the old music teacher, Dr. Bullfrog.
The poor old doctor was a simple creature, good and kind.
He had led the forest choir for as long as anyone could remember.
Lately, however, the forest was no longer a simple place to live.
How had the forest changed?
Forest animals had always been polite and respectful, but just recently a number of young and rowdy creatures had tried to interrupt Dr Bullfrog's forest choir concerts.
That wasn't all.
Some of the young rascals had begun gossiping about the good doctor.
They made fun of the way he sang in his deep, double bass voice.
They refused to be a part of the choir or even go to the concerts.
They wanted a new choir leader who would play different and new sorts of music.
Dr. Bullfrog knew nothing about this.
He simply went about his business and prepared for the next Forest Choir concert.
That is, until Mother Magpie came to visit.
Well, Dr. Bullfrog, I hope you know that I think your music is simply wonderful.
They have no respect for our age group and the way we do things.
I think your teaching and singing have never been better.
Honestly, these young folks never listen to reasonable folks.
Mother Magpie chattered on.
Dr. Bullfrog cleared his throat and said, I'm afraid I don't understand you, ma'am.
Do you mean to say you don't know that a group of young rascals is going to ask you to resign from the forest choir?
They are already in your choir, plotting and planning, Mother Magpie shrieked.
You must be mistaken, Dr. Bullfrog croaked.
Mother Bagpie huffed and puffed.
I am never mistaken, good doctor, she told him.
I know everything, weeks and weeks and events.
Surely you know that.
Mother Bagpie said, turning to Mrs. Bullfrog.
Oh, my poor husband, Mrs. Bullfrog groaned.
We shall be ruined.
Now.
Just a minute, Mother Magpie said.
If you take my advice, you may be fine after all.
You must change your music style a little, make it more modern, include some higher notes like Tommy Oriel's singing Mother Magpie suggested.
Ma'am, I'm a bullfrog.
Consider my voice, I cannot.
Possibly hit the high notes?
Dr. Bullfrog protested.
Nonsense, Mother Magpie replied.
It's just a matter of practice.
Of course, your voice is croaky and hoarse.
You sit all day long in the cold water.
Get out of the water and into the tree branches like we birds do.
Then you'll be able to sing those high notes with no problem, trust me.
Against his own wishes, Dr. Bullfrog left his cottage under the riverbank.
He went to the garden and sat alone on a tree limb to practice his musical scales.
He tried to hit the high notes.
The result was disastrous.
Instead of gaining more respect as a musical gentleman, he found that every bird and beast in the forest made fun of him.
They all laughed at him for trying to be something he was not.
Even Parson, to wit, scolded Dr. Bullfrog for not acting right.
And Mother Magpie?
She pretended she had not advised Dr. Bullfrog at all.
She told everyone how sorry she felt that poor old Dr. Bullfrog was acting like such a fool.
He should have taken my advice and kept on being his old, respectable self.
Mother Magpie told anyone who had listened
After that, things went from bad to worse for Dr. Bullfrog.
One day, as he sat under a berry, bush quietly practicing his usual deep notes, there was a terrible thump.
A great garden hoe struck Dr. Bullfrog and nearly broke his back.
What ugly beast do we have here? asked Tom Noakes, the gardener's son.
Come here, wasp.
Get him.
Tom called to his dog.
Poor old Dr. Bullfrog was frightened when he saw the dog running toward him.
Wasp was barking and yelping.
Then, with a strength he didn't know, he had Dr Bullfrog leaped over a patch of bushes into the river.
He swam away as fast as he could, back to his little home beneath the riverbank.
From that day on, Dr Bullfrog never listened to any more gossip or advice from anyone, especially from Mother Magpie, and he called her Old Mother Mischief, whatever he thought of her, which he tried never to do at all.
