Hardly had jolly, round, red Mr. Sun thrown off his rosy blankets
and begun his daily climb up in the blue, blue sky when Peter
Rabbit and his cousin, Jumper the Hare, arrived at the place in
the Green Forest where Peter had found Old Mother Nature the day
before. She was waiting for them, ready to begin the first lesson.

"I am glad you are so prompt," said she. "Promptness is one of
the most important things in life. Now I am very, very busy these
days, as you know, so we will begin school at once. Before either
of you ask any questions, I am going to ask some myself. Peter,
what do you look like? Where do you live? What do you eat? I
want to find out just how much you really know about yourself."

Peter scratched one ear with a long hind foot and hesitated as
if he didn't know just how to begin. Old Mother Nature waited
patiently. Finally Peter began rather timidly.

"Of course," said he, "the only way I know how I look is by the
way the other members of my family look, for I've never seen
myself. I suppose in a way I look like all the rest of the Rabbit
family. I have long hind legs and short front ones. I suppose
this is so I can make long jumps when I am in a hurry."

Old Mother Nature nodded, and Peter, taking courage, continued. "My
hind legs are stout and strong, but my front ones are rather weak.
I guess this is because I do not have a great deal of use for them,
except for running. My coat is a sort of mixture of brown and gray,
more brown in summer and more gray in winter. My ears are longer for
my size than are those of most animals, but really not very long after
all, not nearly as long for my size as my cousin Jumper's are for his