Fatty loved to eat. Yes--he loved eating better than anything else in
the world. That was what made him so fat. And that, too, was what led
him into many adventures.

Close by a swamp, which lay down in the valley, between Blue Mountain
and Swift River, Fatty Coon lived with his mother and his brother and
his two sisters. Among them all there was what grown people call "a
strong family resemblance," which is the same thing as saying that they
all looked very much alike. The tail of each one of them--mother and
children too--had six black rings around it. Each of them had a dark
brown patch of fur across the face, like a mask. And--what do you
think?--each of them, even Fatty and his brother and his sisters, had a
stiff, white moustache!

Of course, though they all looked so much alike, you would have known
which was Mrs. Coon, for she was so much bigger than her children. And
you would have known which was Fatty--he was so much rounder than his
brother and his sisters.

Mrs. Coon's home was in the hollow branch of an old tree. It was a giant
of a tree--a poplar close by a brook which ran into the swamp--and the
branch which was Mrs. Coon's home was as big as most tree-trunks are.

Blackie was Fatty's brother--for the mask on his face was just a little
darker than the others'. Fluffy was one of Fatty's sisters, because her
fur was just a little fluffier than the other children's. And Cutey was
the other sister's name, because she was so quaint.

Now, Fatty Coon was forever looking around for something to eat. He was
never satisfied with what his mother brought home for him. No matter how