“I hope you enjoyed it?” asked the hospitable Royal Chef Rabbit of his new guest.
“I guess it wasn’t bad…” said Gosling slowly and not very thoughtfully as he furrowed his beak. “But it’s not French cooking, of course, and it was a little heavy for lunch. Not to mention the long wait between courses. And, of course, it’s a little tight in here and stuffy…. All told, it’s not Paris!”
Royal Chef Rabbit looked scornfully at Goose’s nephew. He said nothing and then hopped off to give orders in the kitchen. Gosling was not invited to Chez Royal Chef Rabbit again.
One morning Gosling went out for a walk. He saw Snoutie, Loppy the Believing Bunny, and Burly Boary playing ball in the field.
“Come play with us, Julienne!” invited Snoutie.
During the game, Loppy slipped as he was throwing the ball and fell down heavily on the grass.
“Look at how clumsy he is!” honked Gosling loudly.
“You know, Julienne, we don’t say things like that here,” answered Snoutie, helping Loppy get up. “And really, that’s not very sportsmanlike.”
“But it is funny!” he answered, continuing to cackle.
“I don’t see anything funny about someone falling and hurting himself,” objected Snoutie. “Friends don’t behave that way.”
Julienne was getting ready to say something to Snoutie, when he noticed that Burly Boary was staring closely at him. He suddenly started to feel uncomfortable. Grunting threateningly, Boary showed Gosling the forest path with his snout. Neck drooping and feathers pressed up against his sides, the guest from abroad hurried homeward.
Soon almost no creature could be found in the forest who wanted to talk to Gosling Julienne. The only companion he had was Young Ostrich, who, like Julienne, lived in Postman Goose’s house.
Young Ostrich had recently taken up painting. On that morning, he had taken his easel out into the garden, set up his paints, and gotten down to his favorite hobby. His paintings were getting better and better, and that day it was going especially well. Gosling, who had been walking tiredly around the garden with a bored expression on his face, came up close to the easel and started studying Young Ostrich’s work, scornfully furrowing his beak as usual.
“This isn’t the hobby for you,” he finally honked meanly. “You’re just wasting your time; nothing will ever come of it.”
“Don’t bother me, please,” answered Young Ostrich. He turned away, because he didn’t want to start a fight with Goose’s nephew.
Unable to understand why no one wanted to see him, Gosling Julienne went to complain to his Uncle Goose.
“Why doesn’t anyone talk to me anymore?” the offended nephew began in confusion “I’m just stating my opinion about what I see around me. It’s my point of view, my position! And I don’t live off somewhere in some forest! No, I live in France, in Paris itself! Why is it that no one likes what I have to say? They should listen carefully to me, learn from me, and thank me!”
“I knew this would happen,” said Goose in response, shaking his head sadly. “I knew it would end like this. I’ll ask Wise Old Owl to set aside some time for you.”
So the unbearable nephew set off to see Wise Old Owl.
“You must understand, Julienne, that here in the Big Forest, many things are different than they may be in other places, like, for example, the place where you grew up,” began Owl, looking sternly at the Lover of Giving Lessons. “We are one big, happy family here. We are thoughtful and respectful of one another. We always help and take care of one another. You have been mean and disagreeable since you got here. You need to correct your mistakes and, for starters, ask forgiveness of everyone whose feelings you have hurt. Think about it.”
Without waiting for a response, Owl flapped his wings and disappeared into the depths of the forest. A sad and thoughtful Gosling stood without moving for a long time.
“I’ll try to change everything starting today!” he said to himself out loud.
And Gosling followed Wise Old Owl’s advice.
Soon Snoutie and his friends met again at Chez Royal Chef Rabbit. This time Gosling Julienne was also invited. The French guest, who was trying very hard to change his life, asked permission to stay in the Big Forest, which he liked very much.
CONCLUDING CHAPTER,
IN WHICH ALL THE CREATURES GATHER AT CHEZ ROYAL CHEF RABBIT
A hot summer flew quickly by, followed by a rainy fall, and then winter set in again. The friends gathered in the snowy field to play hide-and-seek. It was Burly Boary’s turn to seek, and he let out a happy grunt whenever he found someone. Soon he had found everyone except for Goose.
At first Goose, who had hidden under the snow-laden branches of a pine tree, was quite pleased that Boary was having trouble finding him. But then he started to feel that maybe it was taking a little too long and that perhaps Boary wasn’t trying as hard as he should.
“Maybe they’ve stopped looking for me because they’ve forgotten all about me,” thought Sensitive Goose, falling into his usual sad mood. “Well, I guess if they’re not looking for me, I’ll take advantage of this Poetic Alone Time and work on my Ode.”
Goose slipped out from under the pine without anyone noticing and flew over to the next field. From there he headed over to the river, where ice was already starting to form. He flew up onto the only small, dry tree on the shore and enjoyed the winter sunset as he waited for the arrival of Goosey Inspiration and tried to get into a poetic mood.
“Ga-ga…goose quill…and everything is whiter than white,” he began.
But Goose did not have the chance to continue working on his Ode this time either.
“So that’s where you’ve been hiding!” rang out a happy snort. “I knew I would find you here!” A satisfied Boary ran out onto the shore of the river. “Let’s go! Everyone’s waiting for you. We need to get ready for the big event!”
You see, Snoutie and his friends had decided to have a Christmas costume party and then gather at Chez Royal Chef Rabbit.
While Hedgie the Valiant and Housey Mousey made the costumes, Snoutie wrote another song:
A costume party we’ll hold
With all our friends young and old.
We’ll cut down a bushy Christmas tree
And decorate it for all to see.
Housey Mousey will be the Princess
Robin will be King of All
Burly Boary will be our Master,
And Loppy, well, he’ll be a kind troll.
Froggy will be a pirate,
The nobleman, well, that’s me,
Honorable Goose will be our Hussar,
And Mole will serve the King tea.
Little Penguin will be our clown,
Royal Chef will be Santa Claus,
And our friend Valiant Hedgie
Will sew all the pretty clothes.
That evening there was a special holiday fireworks display over Chez Royal Chef Rabbit.
About the Author
Author and illustrator Diana Malivani lives in Paris and has a young daughter named Michelle, for whom the book Snoutie and his Friends was originally written. Diana is a Doctor of Medicine (M.D., Ph.D.), and a specialist in Sports Medicine and Dietology, with extensive experience in the fitness industry. Diana enjoys oil painting and cooking tasty and healthy dishes following her own recipes.
Other books by the Author
English Edition
Snoutie and his Friends