Peter Rabbit sat in a snug hiding-place in the Old Pasture and thought
over what he had found out about the strange Rabbit whose tracks he had
followed. They had led him to a rubbing or measuring-tree, where the
strange Rabbit had placed his mark, and that mark was so high up on the
tree that Peter knew the strange Rabbit must be a great deal bigger than
himself.
"If he's bigger, of course he is stronger," thought Peter, "and if he is
both bigger and stronger, of course it won't be the least bit of use for
me to fight him. Then, anyway, I'm too stiff and sore to fight. And
then, he has no business to think he owns the Old Pasture, because he
doesn't. I have just as much right here as he has. Yes, Sir, I have just
as much right in this Old Pasture as he has, and if he thinks he can
drive me out he is going to find that he was never more mistaken in his
life! I'll show him! Yes, Sir-e-e, I'll show him! I guess my wits are
as sharp as his, and I wouldn't wonder if they are a little bit
sharper."
Foolish Peter Rabbit! There he was boasting and bragging to himself of
what he would do to some one whom he hadn't even seen, all because he
had found a sign that told him the Old Pasture, in which he had made up
his mind to make his new home, was already the home of some one else.
Peter was like a lot of other people; he wasn't fair. No, Sir, he wasn't
fair. He let his own desires destroy his sense of fair play. It was all
right for him to put up signs in the dear Old Briar-patch and the Green
Forest, warning other Rabbits that they must keep away, but it was all
wrong for another Rabbit to do the same thing in the Old Pasture.
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