whom he ruled began to bring him tribute, so that he no longer had to
hunt for enough to eat. Indeed, he had so much brought to him, that he
couldn't begin to eat all of it, and he grew very dainty and fussy
about what he did eat. Having nothing to do but eat and sleep, he grew
very fat and lazy, as is the case with most people who have nothing to
do. He grew so fat that when he walked, he puffed and wheezed. He grew
so lazy that he wanted to be waited on all the time.

"It happened about this time that he overheard Mr. Fox talking to Mr.
Wolf when they both thought him asleep. 'A pretty kind of a king, he
is!' sneered Mr. Fox. 'The idea of a king without a tail!'

"'That's so,' assented Mr. Wolf. 'Why, even that little upstart, Mr.
Rabbit, has got a make-believe tail.'"

Grandfather Frog's eyes twinkled as he said this, and Peter looked
very much embarrassed. But he didn't say anything, so Grandfather Frog
went on.

"Old King Bear pretended to wake up just then, and right away Mr. Fox
and Mr. Wolf were as polite and smiling as you please and began to
flatter him. They told him how proud they were of their king, and how
handsome he was, and a lot of other nice things, all of which he had
heard often before and had believed. He pretended to believe them now,
but after they were through paying their respects and had gone away,
he kept turning over and over in his mind what he had overheard them
say when they thought he was asleep.

"After that he couldn't think of anything but the fact that he hadn't
any tail. He took particular notice of all who came to pay him