“They are probably nothing like us,” he thought, trying to imagine exactly how they might look. “I wonder what they eat for breakfast. Does sorrel grow there, too? And what about the corn? Is it juicy?” he asked himself.
But here his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar smell that caused his mouth to water. His snunk trembled happily in anticipation of a delicious lunch. Snoutie jumped off the swings and bounced happily into the living room, expecting to find food spread out on the table. But, strangely enough, there was no food to be found. (Snoutie remembered that his parents weren’t even at home.) The pleasant smell had disappeared when Snoutie’s eyes landed on the calendar.
“Oh, of course, it’s Wednesday! Cabbage Day!” remembered Snoutie. “How could I have forgotten?” He sensed that the tasty smell was coming from the direction of the tall hill near the edge of the Forest, which was not very far away. “Royal Chef Rabbit is expecting everyone at his restaurant!” Snoutie looked excitedly at his watch, which was showing Almost Lunch Time, and happily started getting ready to go to the restaurant.
Here it should be mentioned that Royal Chef Rabbit was given this name because he was considered the Best Chef and the Best Pastry Chef not just in the Big Forest, but even in the whole world beyond it. Royal Chef Rabbit was the whitest rabbit in the Big Forest, and he was also the biggest, most important, and fluffiest rabbit, which is another reason why he was called Royal Chef Rabbit. He was also known for his wise approach to all kinds of situations in life. So the creatures of the Big Forest often came to his restaurant not just for a serving of food, but also for a serving of good advice. Rabbit was a cheery creature, and he preferred to wear bright red and orange blazers. They reminded him of the color of a juicy, ripe carrot.
Royal Chef Rabbit’s favorite things to do in life were cook and garden, so he decided to combine these two pleasant hobbies into one by opening the restaurant Chez Royal Chef Rabbit and planting a beautiful garden with large, bright flowers on its roof. And since this restaurant was on the highest hill in the Forest and was always exposed to sunlight, the flowers on his roof bloomed all year long. Rabbit also dug several flower beds around the restaurant and planted them with pastel-colored flowering bushes. Whenever Rabbit had a free minute, which was not very often, he loved to walk around his restaurant, study the flower beds, and gnaw on a freshly-picked carrot.
Wednesday was always Cabbage Day at the restaurant. On that particular Wednesday, the tables were set for lunch, all the dishes were ready, and a satisfied Royal Chef Rabbit sat awaiting his guests. That day’s Cabbage Menu included borscht with fresh cabbage, cauliflower turnovers, sauerkraut with allspice, Chinese cabbage salad and sun-dried tomatoes, vegetarian cabbage rolls with sour cream sauce, parsley, and young garlic, grilled Brussels sprouts with melted cheese, and many others (naturally all containing cabbage).
Snoutie bounced happily along the path to the restaurant, swinging his snunk from side to side and thinking about the delicious meal awaiting him. As he bounced, he wrote this song:
Royal Chef Rabbit
Has a marvelous place to eat.
He serves tasty hors d’oeuvres
And some other nice treats:
A sweet-smelling cherry pie,
Vanilla crème brûlée,
A strawberry dessert with mint,
And raspberry blancmange.
And if one winter day,
You happen to drop in for lunch,
You can be sure that Rabbit will offer you
A mug of nice, hot punch.
Here Snoutie stopped, puzzled. Right in front of him stood a briar bush, and right behind that briar bush lay a large, round, bright-yellow form, which looked very much like an enormous egg. Snoutie walked closer to it, and he saw that it actually was an egg. He stood in place for some time, shifting from paw to paw, scratching his large ears, and glancing now at his Unusual Discovery and now at his watch, which showed Exactly Lunch Time. He didn’t have much time, but he knew that he couldn’t leave his Unusual Discovery in the forest. He started rolling the bright-yellow egg along the path, right up to Chez Royal Chef Rabbit. He was happy and excited, so he started singing a new song:
One fine summer day
I went out for a walk.
I would stop in at Rabbit’s
For some food and a talk.
I bounced along as always,
But lying in a bush,
Was a big enormous egg
That I could barely push!
Maybe I’ll take it to Rabbit,
He’ll know what to do.
He’ll give me some good advice,
As we sit at a table for two.
The creatures of the Big Forest, who had already gathered at the restaurant, discussed Snoutie’s Unusual Find with great interest.
Even though none of them had ever seen such a large, bright-yellow egg before, they all agreed that a chick would hatch from it.
Then Wise Old Owl, who had been listening to this conversation with his eyes closed as he pretended to be asleep, suddenly proposed that this egg, which was as bright as the sun, was probably from a hot country far beyond the edge of the Big Forest.
“My wise grandfather, who visited foreign lands and saw much during his life, told me that there are enormous birds in hot countries, whose chicks hatch from strange eggs like these,” he announced, sipping a cool cranberry drink. “These birds are nothing at all like us forest birds,” he added, and then he closed his eyes again.
“And now,” said Robin the Elder with some sense of importance, because after all he had raised more than one generation of children, “we need to decide how to help this chick hatch. But we forest birds are not able to build a nest of such a large size or keep such a big chick warm. For that it would need a real house.”
“I have an idea!” exclaimed Snoutie, jumping up. “I have an amazing pumpkin of just the right size in my cellar. We’ll turn it into a house for the future chick.”
Burly Boary helped Snoutie move the pumpkin to the sunniest spot in the garden. That very same day, another one of Snoutie’s friends, Hedgie the Valiant, brought over tools for building a house. They cut off the top of the pumpkin so that the sun’s rays could warm the egg all day long, scooped out the insides, and removed the seeds, which Economical Snoutie set aside for planting. They placed a large lamp next to the pumpkin, which Thoughtful Snoutie turned on at night, after the sun set.
This day marked the beginning of a Week of Great Concern.
Most of the conversations in the forest sounded something like this:
“So, what’s the news? How are things going with Snoutie? Has the chick hatched? Should we stop by for a visit? Have you already bought a gift? How is Snoutie feeling? I heard that he is very worried, concerned, and anxious.”
Meanwhile, Worried Snoutie, Concerned Snoutie, and Anxious Snoutie almost never stepped away from his Unusual Discovery, fearing that something would happen in his absence. He even moved his bed into the garden so he could sleep right next to the pumpkin.
Early one Saturday, when a very tired Snoutie was still deep asleep, he dreamed that Woodpecker flew into the garden and started loudly pecking at a tree with his beak. Snoutie woke up and looked around the garden, but he didn’t see anyone. For some strange reason, though, the knocking continued, and it sounded like it was coming from somewhere very close by. What’s more, it was joined by a strange peeping sound. Snoutie looked into the pumpkin and noticed that the egg was now covered with cracks and was shaking slightly. Snoutie also noticed that the strange peeping was coming from inside the egg.
“Good morning!” said Robin the Elder, who had flown in to visit Snoutie. “It looks like we’ll meet our new friend today.”