Jimmy Rabbit was always changing his mind about what he was going to be when he grew up. First he thought he would be a gardener, so he would always have plenty of vegetables to eat. Next he decided he would be a preacher, because, so far as he could see, they never did anything except talk—and he was sure that couldn't be very hard work. And one day he told his mother that he expected to become a tramp, so he wouldn't have to wash his face. But she soon put that idea out of his head. So Jimmy had to think of something else.
Jimmy Rabbit hurts Frisky Squirrel Now, he had heard that there were places where one could go to have a tooth pulled. And it seemed to him that it must be very pleasant to pull teeth. And he saw no reason why he need wait till he grew up, either. He saw no reason why he should not begin at once.
Jimmy knew of a hollow stump not far away which would make as fine an office as anyone could want. So he hopped into the woods. And outside the hollow stump he nailed a sign that said:
JAMES RABBIT
TOOTH PULLER
He didn't have to wait any time at all before some one came along.
It was Frisky Squirrel. And the moment he read the sign he decided that one of his teeth was in need of pulling.
"Come right in!" Jimmy Rabbit said. He had on a white apron, which he had borrowed from his mother when she was not looking. And in his hand he held a big pair of pincers, which he had borrowed from his father while Mr. Rabbit was away from home.
"Do you really know how to pull a tooth?" Frisky asked.
"I've never yet had a complaint from anyone who let me pull a tooth for him," Jimmy Rabbit said. And that was perfectly true—for he had never pulled a tooth in his whole life.
It would have been a shame if Frisky Squirrel had lost one of his sharp, white teeth. But Frisky didn't know that. He thought it would be fun. And he sat down and told Jimmy Rabbit he was ready.
So Jimmy Rabbit stepped up to him. But he hadn't any more than closed his pincers when Frisky Squirrel began to scream.
Jimmy Rabbit was so surprised that he let the pincers drop and jumped back.
"My goodness!" he said. "How you startled me! I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"Yes, you did!" Frisky answered. And Jimmy could see that he was angry. "You hurt my lip terribly."
"Well, you must have moved," said Jimmy. "Having a tooth pulled is a good deal like having your picture taken. You have to sit very still."
Now, sitting still was something that Frisky Squirrel never was able to do.
"I'm sorry," he said, "but I shall have to get along with my teeth just as they are."
"Better try once more!" Jimmy urged him. "Most everybody has at least one tooth out. It's quite the fashion."
But Frisky would not let him try again.
"I haven't heard that it was the fashion to have your lip pulled off," he said. "But I'll stay here a while," he added. He wanted to see a tooth pulled, even if it wasn't his own.
"Do!" said Jimmy Rabbit. "And after you've seen how easily the thing's done, I've no doubt you will want me to 'tend to your case." He was very cheerful.
But Frisky Squirrel did not appear very happy. His lip pained him terribly.
