In this YouTube video, Lois Letchford introduces herself as the author of a memoir and then reads aloud story number three, “The Big Brag,” from the collection Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories. The narrative follows a boastful rabbit perched on a hill who claims to be the best animal on land, sea, and sky. A gruff bear challenges the rabbit, prompting a series of exaggerated contests: the rabbit claims his ears can hear a fly’s cough 90 miles away; the bear counters by boasting that his nose can smell a stale hummingbird egg 600 miles away. An old worm then appears, asserting that his eyesight surpasses both, claiming he can see across oceans to Japan, China, Europe, Brazil, and back to the hill, ultimately labeling the rabbit and bear the “biggest fools.” The worm retreats to his hole, and Lois closes the reading with a friendly invitation to listen, follow along, and reread the story. The video’s purpose is to entertain children, model expressive reading, and convey a moral about humility and the emptiness of bragging.
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Hello, I'm Lois Letchford, author of the book Reversed: A Memoir, reading from Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories, and this is story number 3 in the book called The Big Brag. Rabbit felt mightily important that day on top of the hill in the sun where he lay. He felt so important up there on the hill that he started in bragging, as animals will, And he boasted out loud as he threw out his chest, of all the beasts in the world, I am the best! On land and on sea, even up to the sky, no animal lives who is better than I! What's that? growled a voice that was terribly gruff. Now why do you say such ridiculous stuff? The rabbit looked down and he saw a big bear. I'm the best of the beasts, said the bear, and so there! You're not! snapped the rabbit. I'm better than you! Pooh! The bear snorted again. I say, Pooh, you talk mighty big, Mr Rabbit, that's true. But how can you prove it? Just what can you do? Hmm, thought the rabbit. Now, what can I do? He thought and he thought, and he finally said, Mr. Bear, do you see these 2 ears on my head? My ears are so keen and so sharp and so fine. No ears in the world can hear further than mine. Hmph! The bear grunted. He looked at each ear. You say they are good, said the bear with a sneer, but how do I know just how I'll prove it! said the rabbit. My ears are the best. You sit here and watch me. I'll prove it by test. Then he stiffened his ears till they both stood up high and pointed straight up at the blue of the sky, and he stretched his ears open as wide as he could. I'm listening, he said as he stood. He listened so hard that he started to sweat and the fur on his ears and forehead got wet. For 7 long minutes he stood, then he stirred and he said to the bear, Do you know what I heard? Do you see that far mountain? It's the 90 miles off! There's a fly on that mountain. I just heard him cough. Now the cough of a fly, sir, is quite hard to hear when it's 90 miles off. But I heard it quite clear. So you see, bragged the rabbit, it's perfectly true that my ears are the best and I'm better than The bear for a moment just sulked as he sat. Oh, he knew that his ears couldn't hear things like that. This rabbit, he thought, made a fool out of me. Now I've got to prove that I'm better than he. So he said to the rabbit, you hear pretty well. You can hear 90 miles. But how far can you smell? I'm the greatest of smellers, he bragged. See my nose? This nose on my face is the finest that grows. My nose can smell Anything, both far and near. With my nose, I can smell twice as far as you hear. You can't! snapped the rabbit. I can! growled the bear. And he stuck his nose way up high in the air. He wiggled that nose and he sniffed and he snuffed. He waggled that nose and he whiffed and he wafted for more than 10 minutes. He sniffed and sniffed, and then he said to the rabbit, I've smelled far enough. All right, said the rabbit. Come on now and tell exactly how far is that smell that you smell. Oh, I'm smelling a very far smell, said the bear. Away past the fly and the mountain out there. Spilling past many great mountains beyond, 600 miles more to the edge of a pond. And way, way out there by the pond you can't see is a very small farm. On that farm is a tree. On the tree is a branch, and on the branch is a nest, a very small nest where 2 tiny eggs 2 hummingbird eggs, only half an inch long. But my nose, said the bear, is so wonderfully strong, my nose is so good that I smell without fail that the egg on the left is a little bit stale, and that is a thing that no rabbit can do. So you see, the bear boasted, I'm better than you. My smell is so keen that it just can't be beat. What's that? called a voice from way down by his feet. The bear and the rabbit looked down at the sound and they saw an old worm crawling out of the ground. Now, Boys, said the worm, you've been bragging a lot. You both think you're great, but I think you're not. You're not half as good as a fella like me. You hear and you smell, but how far can you see? Now I'm here to prove to you big boasting guys that your nose and your Your ears aren't as good as my eyes. And the little old worm cocked his head to one side and he opened his eyes and he opened them wide and they looked far away with a strange sort of stare as if they were burning 2 holes in the air. The eyes of the worm almost popped from his head. He stared half an hour till his eyelids grew red. That's enough! growled the bear. Tell the rabbit and me, how far did you look, and just what did you see? Well, boys, the worm answered, that look that I What I took was a look that looked further than you'll ever look. I looked across the ocean, way out to Japan, for I can see further than anyone can. There's no one on earth who has eyesight that's finer. I looked past Japan, then I looked across to China. I looked across Egypt, and I took a quick glance across 2 countries of Holland and France. Then I looked across England and also Brazil, but I didn't stop there. I looked much further still. And I kept right on looking and looking until I'd looked around the world and right back to this hill. And I saw on this hill, since my eyesight's so keen, the 2 biggest fools that I've ever seen. And the fools that I saw were none other than you, who seem to have nothing else better to do than sit here and argue about who's better than who. Then the little old worm gave his head a small jerk and he dived in his hole and went back to work. I hope you've enjoyed it. These are books that I love. Listen, follow along, and reread it. Thank you.
