Mrs. Rabbit always tried to teach her children good manners. It was no easy matter, either, with four girls and three boys. But she was glad that she hadn't four boys and three girls, because her boys always stuffed their mouths when they ate.
One day at dinner Mrs. Rabbit said:
"Jimmy! Don't fill your mouth so full! If you could see how you look, with your cheeks sticking out, you'd be more careful."
The first thing Mrs. Rabbit knew, Jimmy burst into tears.
"I haven't eaten a thing!" he said. "There's nothing in my mouth at all. I'm not a bit hungry."
When Mrs. Rabbit looked at his plate she knew at once that there must be something the matter with him, for she saw that Jimmy hadn't touched his dinner. And usually he was the first to ask for more.
"That boy is not well!" she told her husband. "I wish you would go and ask Aunt Polly Woodchuck to step over here." Aunt Polly, you know, was a famous doctor.
Well, Mr. Rabbit hurried away as soon as he had finished his meal. And it wasn't long before old Aunt Polly hobbled up to Mrs. Rabbit's door.
"Come right in!" Mrs. Rabbit said. "It's Jimmy! I want you to look at him. He wouldn't eat any dinner, and his cheeks stick out very queerly."
Old Aunt Polly gave Jimmy a sharp pinch on one of his puffed-out cheeks.
"Ouch!" he said.
"Did that hurt?" Aunt Polly asked him.
"Yessum!" he answered.
"Hm—I thought so!" she said. You see, Aunt Polly was a good doctor. She generally knew what was what.
Then she reached into her basket and drew out a green apple, and gave it to Jimmy Rabbit.
"Here!" she said. "Take a big bite!"
Jimmy did just as she told him to. And then he cried "Ouch!" again.
"Did it hurt?" she asked him.
"Yessum!" he said.
"I thought so!" Aunt Polly replied. And turning to Mrs. Rabbit, she said, "This boy has mumps."
"You don't say so!" Mrs. Rabbit exclaimed.
"I do, indeed!" Aunt Polly declared. "Give him a cup of catnip tea and put him to bed. And let him have a hot-water bottle at his feet. And if everything isn't all right, just send for me again." So she went away. And Jimmy went to bed.
He kept his mother busy for a few days, for he was always asking her to fill his hot-water bottle with hotter water. But she was glad to do that for him. And she was pleased to see that he was improving.
Then one day Mrs. Rabbit discovered that the hot-water bottle was full of small holes. The water ran out of it almost as fast as she poured it in.
Mrs. Rabbit was surprised. She was worried, too, for it was no easy matter to get a new hot-water bottle where she lived.
"Aunt Polly said to send for her again if everything wasn't all right," she said to Mr. Rabbit. "So you'd better go and tell her to come over at once."