CHAPTER I.A LETTER FROM AUNT ETIQUETTE

This is the tale of Pretty Bunny,And though her story is very funny,To read it you will not regretWhen you meet old Aunt Etiquette!

This is the tale of Pretty Bunny,

And though her story is very funny,

To read it you will not regret

When you meet old Aunt Etiquette!

Pretty Bunny Manners lived with Old Father and Mother Bun, in a little wee house in the woods.

As soon as she woke one morning she called to her brother, Healthy Bunny,

“Pretty Bunny gives fair warning,She will always call, ‘Good morning’.”

“Pretty Bunny gives fair warning,

She will always call, ‘Good morning’.”

Healthy Bunny often forgot to say “Good morning,” and be polite, so Pretty Bunny continued, “I will make up a ‘Good Morning Song’,” so she wrote on a card some words for Healthy Bunny to learn, and soon they sang to the tune of “Twinkle Little Star,”

“Say ‘Good Morning’ when you wake,Be polite, make no mistake,And when friends you chance to meet,Say ‘Good Morning’ on the street.”

“Say ‘Good Morning’ when you wake,

Be polite, make no mistake,

And when friends you chance to meet,

Say ‘Good Morning’ on the street.”

They took so long learning the song that Old Father Bun cried,

“Hurry your dressing, I don’t like to scold,But your coffee will all be cold.”

“Hurry your dressing, I don’t like to scold,

But your coffee will all be cold.”

Old Mother Bun said,

“Hurry up, Bunnies, as like as not,Your oat-meal will get too hot.”

“Hurry up, Bunnies, as like as not,

Your oat-meal will get too hot.”

The Bunnies laughed and,

Hippety-hop with never a care,They came dancing down the stairs.

Hippety-hop with never a care,

They came dancing down the stairs.

They said ‘Good Morning’ to Old Father and Mother Bun and began to eat breakfast.

At this very minute the Postman came “pitter, patter, rap-a-tap,” and leftsome letters in the mail-box; among them was a certain pink envelope addressed to Old Father Bun.

Pretty Bunny went to get the letters and came dancing in, handing them to Old Father Bun.

As luck would have it, Old Father Bun took up the pink envelope first and looked at it closely through his horn-rimmed spectacles.

He said,

“This handwriting I’ve seen before,Two or four times, six or more.”

“This handwriting I’ve seen before,

Two or four times, six or more.”

Old Mother Bun remarked, as he passed her the letter,

“Whom can it be from, how can we tell?I think I know that handwriting well.”

“Whom can it be from, how can we tell?

I think I know that handwriting well.”

Healthy Bunny got up and peeped over her shoulder, saying,

“This letter’s addressed to Father Bun;It was not meant for every one.”

“This letter’s addressed to Father Bun;

It was not meant for every one.”

Pretty Bunny asked politely,

“Let’s open the letter, then we’ll seeWhat it contains of mystery.”

“Let’s open the letter, then we’ll see

What it contains of mystery.”

Old Mother Bun said,

“Surely, this little Bunny is wise;The letter may have in it a surprise.”

“Surely, this little Bunny is wise;

The letter may have in it a surprise.”

Old Father Bun took a knife, slit open the envelope and looked at once at the end of the sheet to see whom it was from. It was signed, “Bunny Etiquette.” The letter read,

“Bunnyville, March 9th, 1921.

Dear Brother Bun:

It is chilly this spring and the wind blows round my cottage, and I need some one to bring in wood and water and cheer me up.

I am writing to ask if you could spare Pretty Bunny to come and make me avisit. I am lonesome and I often think I can hear the “pitter-patter” of little feet on the stairs.

young bunny reading to parents

I am sending by express a warm cap and pair of mittens for each of the Bunnies.

Write me soon. With kind regards to Old Mother Bun,

Your affectionate sister,

Edna Etiquette.”

Pretty Bunny said, “May I go, Mother? May I go, Father? May I start at once?”

Healthy Bunny said, “May I go, too? May I go, too?”

Pretty Bunny turned to him and said,

“Healthy Bunny, it is not politeYour own self ever to invite.”

“Healthy Bunny, it is not polite

Your own self ever to invite.”

Healthy Bunny hung his head, for sure enough, Aunt Etiquette had only asked Pretty Bunny to come for a visit.

Pretty Bunny then said again, “Oh Father and Mother, may I please go?”

To this Old Father Bun replied,

“You very seldom need to tease,When you use that small word ‘PLEASE.’”

“You very seldom need to tease,

When you use that small word ‘PLEASE.’”

So it was decided that Pretty Bunny should go and visit Aunt Etiquette next week, and such a hurrying and scurrying as there was to get ready!

Up in the garret they went and brought down Old Father Bun’s suit case and began to pack it full of clothes for Pretty Bunny. They never once imagined that at that very minute, up in another garret, another Bunny was packing a suit case that looked exactly like this one.

Healthy Bunny looked sad for he wanted to go too.

Suddenly, without any warning, Old Father Bun clapped his paws and shouted,

“I think of little things like these,We should reply, if you please.”

“I think of little things like these,

We should reply, if you please.”

Sure enough, at the end of Aunt Etiquette’s letter they found the letters, “R. S. V. P.”

two bunnies

While these letters were usually put only on a formal invitation to a party, Aunt Etiquette had used them just for fun to see if Pretty Bunny would know that they stood for French words meaning, “Reply, if you please.”

Now, who was going to write the letter in reply?

Said Old Father Bun, “Don’t you think we’d betterSit right down to answer this kind letter?”

Said Old Father Bun, “Don’t you think we’d better

Sit right down to answer this kind letter?”

Then he went off in his cozy corner to smoke.

Said Old Mother Bun, “It makes me sigh,Every letter really needs a reply.”

Said Old Mother Bun, “It makes me sigh,

Every letter really needs a reply.”

Then she went off to make apple dumplings!

Healthy Bunny said,

“I hope some one will not forgetTo write to Old Aunt Etiquette.”

“I hope some one will not forget

To write to Old Aunt Etiquette.”

Then he went out to take exercise and Pretty Bunny was left to answer the letter, of course.

She drew up a stool beside Old Father Bun and said,

“I will write the answer now, to-day,But, Old Father Bun, what shall I say?”

“I will write the answer now, to-day,

But, Old Father Bun, what shall I say?”

Old Father Bun smoked a while in silence collecting his thoughts and then replied,

“Pretty Bunny, now, let us hopeYou know how to address an envelope.”

“Pretty Bunny, now, let us hope

You know how to address an envelope.”

Pretty Bunny did not know, for she had never addressed an envelope in all her life.

Said Old Father Bun kindly,

“Pretty Bunny, notice, as you’re bright,Address each line farther to the right.”

“Pretty Bunny, notice, as you’re bright,

Address each line farther to the right.”

When the envelope was addressed it looked like this:

Miss Edna Etiquette,106 Wood Avenue,Bunnyville,Wisconsin.

Miss Edna Etiquette,

106 Wood Avenue,

Bunnyville,

Wisconsin.

Old Father Bun said,

“Put a comma after each line but one;Place a period then when you are done.”

“Put a comma after each line but one;

Place a period then when you are done.”

Pretty Bunny said,

“Father Bun, had I not betterBuy a stamp to carry the letter?”

“Father Bun, had I not better

Buy a stamp to carry the letter?”

Old Father Bun looked in his coat pocket and after quite a search found a postage stamp. He remarked,

“Right side up you will agree,On the right hand corner a stamp you see.”

“Right side up you will agree,

On the right hand corner a stamp you see.”

Now, do you know Pretty Bunny put the stamp on the right hand corner of the envelope, but she put it on the lower right hand corner, instead of on the upper right hand corner, by mistake, and so she had to soak off the stamp and paste it later in its proper place.

She was now ready to write her letter.

Old Father Bun said, “Now, I guess,At the top, to the right, put your address.”

Old Father Bun said, “Now, I guess,

At the top, to the right, put your address.”

So Pretty Bunny wrote,

“Woodville, Wisconsin,March 10th, 1921.

My dear Aunt Etiquette,

We received your letter with its kind invitation and Mother and Father say I may go to visit you soon.

I can hardly wait for the time to come, and Healthy Bunny and I are anxious to receive the pretty things you are sending us.

Father Bunny says he will bring me to your home on Friday.

I hope you are real well, and I will be very happy to come and keep you company and do any errands I can for you.

Your loving niece,Pretty Bunny.

P. S. I wonder if you really did hear ‘pitter, patter’ of little feet on the stairs, or could it have been what we call ‘imagination’?”

Old Father Bun said this was a very good letter for it answered Aunt Etiquette’squestions and told her what she wanted to know.

Old Father Bun had just finished his pipe when Old Mother Bun called,

“Dinner is ready for every one;My dumplings, too, are exactly done.”

“Dinner is ready for every one;

My dumplings, too, are exactly done.”

Pretty Bunny went out to call Healthy Bunny and just then the expressman came with the caps and mittens.

Of course, the Bunnies had to try them on at once.

Mother Bun said, “I don’t mean to scold,But my dinner will all get cold.”

Mother Bun said, “I don’t mean to scold,

But my dinner will all get cold.”

She might have added that it shows very bad manners to be late to meals if we can possibly help it.

The Bunnies took off their new things and came to dinner. Said Pretty Bunny,

“Excuse us, Mother, we just had to wait;To dinner we do not mean to be late.”

“Excuse us, Mother, we just had to wait;

To dinner we do not mean to be late.”

That night after they had all gone to bed, Pretty Bunny began to wonderabout the “pitter, patter” of foot-steps on Aunt Etiquette’s stair-case.

two bunnies in bed

She wondered if there really was another Bunny in the house.

Said the Old Family Clock in reply,

“I knew once, but I forget,I lived long ago with Aunt Etiquette.”

“I knew once, but I forget,

I lived long ago with Aunt Etiquette.”

Pretty Bunny crept out of bed and pressed her face close to the Old Family Clock and whispered,

“I’m afraid I’ll be lonesome, don’t you see,Without a young Bunny for company;You see, I really truly careIf a Bunnie travels on the stairs.”

“I’m afraid I’ll be lonesome, don’t you see,

Without a young Bunny for company;

You see, I really truly care

If a Bunnie travels on the stairs.”

The Old Family Clock ticked in the usual way for some time and then sang,

“I knew once, but I’ve forgot,As like as not, as like as not.”

“I knew once, but I’ve forgot,

As like as not, as like as not.”

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