Among all his friends, Frisky Squirrel liked to play with Jimmy Rabbit
best. You see, Jimmy never wanted to eat him. He was so fond of tender
young sprouts, and of Farmer Green's vegetables, that he wouldn't have
taken even the smallest bite out of Frisky. He would have laughed at
the very idea.

There was something else, too, about Jimmy Rabbit, that Frisky
Squirrel liked; he was always thinking of new things to do--new places
to visit, new games, new tricks to play on other forest-people.

To be sure, Jimmy and Frisky did not always agree--but that is not
surprising, because their tastes were so different. For instance,
there was nothing that Frisky Squirrel liked better than a hickory
nut, while Jimmy Rabbit never would so much as touch one. But if
anybody said "cabbage" to Jimmy Rabbit he would have to stop playing
and hurry to Farmer Green's garden. You see how fond of cabbage Jimmy
was.

There were other things, too, on which Frisky and Jimmy held different
views. They were forever disputing about ears and tails. Frisky
Squirrel, as you know, had a beautiful, long, bushy tail, and short
little ears; while Jimmy Rabbit had ears half as long as he was, and
almost no tail at all!

"Really, Frisky, you ought to have that tail of yours cut off," Jimmy
said one day. "It's terribly out of fashion to wear a tail so long as
yours. As a special favor, I'll be willing to cut it off for you, with
a big pair of shears that my mother has."