[continued from previous message]   
      
   >         "Now he's choking!" Mr. Crow said.   
      
    JOEL: He is seriously in danger of his life!  What is *with* painting?   
      
   >                                            "I declare, I   
   > can't have my picture painted with such goings-on." And he   
   > started to fly away.   
      
     TOM: This is like the old fable of the fox and the grapes and the still-life   
   artist.   
      
   >   
   >         But Jimmy Rabbit begged him to stand still just a   
   > little longer.   
      
    CROW: [ As Mr Crow ] Well ... all right, but because I like standing in front   
   of you, kid.   
      
   >   
   >         "The picture is almost done," he said.   
      
    JOEL: Is it really?   
      
   >                                                "There!" he   
   > added, a bit later. "It's finished.   
      
    JOEL: It really was!   
     TOM: We shouldn't have doubted!   
      
   >                                     And I know you'll be   
   > pleased."   
      
    CROW: [ As Mr Crow ] And now I'll take my ear of corn for my picture, please!   
    JOEL: [ As Jimmy ] D'oh!   
      
   >   
   >         It was clear that Mr. Fox was pleased, for he was   
   > actually beaming.   
      
     TOM: [ As Scotty ] I canna hold the transporter, cap'n!   
      
   >                   Jimmy thought he had never seen him look so   
   > pleasant.   
      
    CROW: Pleasant.  Definitely a word not used to describe how the undertaker's   
   reconstruction was.   
      
   >           Mr. Crow had to ask him to stand aside, so _he_   
   > could have a look.   
      
    JOEL: Just the one look.  He doesn't want to overdo it.   
      
   >   
   >         "I should think I might gaze on my own picture," he   
   > grumbled.   
      
     TOM: Might you dare?   
      
   >   
   >         At first Mr. Crow was delighted. Then he seemed   
   > somewhat puzzled.   
      
    CROW: [ As Mr Crow ] Do the mice really see me as this omnipotent,   
   all-devouring menace?  I really would have thought that was Gustav Owl's thing.   
      
   >   
   >         "The face is good," he said.   
      
    JOEL: The face is good!  Everyone, gather round, the face is good!   
      
   >                                      "And no one could ask   
   > for a better picture of a hat.   
      
     TOM: My entire life together I've asked for like four pictures of hats,   
   though.   
      
   >                                But there's something that   
   > doesn't look quite right."   
      
    CROW: [ As Mr Crow ] Why am I in silhouette watching a bad movie with two   
   other not-me creatures?   
      
   >                            And all at once Mr. Crow saw what   
   > was the matter.   
      
    JOEL: Santa!  You're like six weeks early!   
      
   >                 And he flew at the picture and ran his bill   
   > through it in a dozen places.   
      
     TOM: Mister Crow's a punch-card operator?   
    CROW: Mixed media, oil and canvas and white-hot rage of a thousand offended   
   corvids.   
      
   >                               "The idea!" he said. "I've   
   > never been so insulted in all my life!" And without another   
   > word he flew out of sight.   
      
    JOEL: Hey, could we maybe get the picture up on Still-Store there, please?   
      
   >   
   >         It was no wonder that he was angry. For in the   
   > picture Jimmy Rabbit had painted him with four legs!   
      
     TOM: A crow centaur?!   
    CROW: Yes!  Finally!  Me with twice as many shoes!   
      
   >   
   >         "Well," said Jimmy, "he needn't be so cross about it.   
      
    JOEL: He agreed to it at the preliminary sketch.  If he wanted major changes   
   he could have said then.   
      
   > It was his own fault. He wanted to hold his hat. And I just   
   > _had_ to give him more than one leg to stand on."   
      
     TOM: And I couldn't paint him holding it the way he did because ... ?   
    CROW: That gives me three legs.  Why is there a fourth?   
    JOEL: The fourth is for bridge.   
      
   [ End of Chapter 13 ]   
      
      
   --   
                                                                   Joseph Nebus   
    Math Blog: https://nebusresearch.wordpress.com   
   Humor Blog: https://nebushumor.wordpress.com   
   --------------------------------------------------------+---------------------   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)