He was not ill; he was merely lazy. No one knew where he came from nor who his parents were, nor did he.
The Hoopoes decided the other birds were jealous and, rather flattered, gathered round the pools so that they could admire themselves in the water.
It started when Peter began to listen to the other farmers boast of the money each was making and the triumphs they were winning over one another.
Father Badger persisted that it was more blessed to give than to keep for one's self and that food belonged to all.
The young Prince continued to fall and fall for ever so long until instead of descending with a bump at the bottom, he stepped gently onto dry land, and found himself in what the Macedonians call the Nether World.
Then, as Bebeck rounded the crag, he beheld a dark opening, within which he could hear a dreadful snarling and barking going on.