Line #8 Literature/TheTaleOfSquirrelNutkin

Context Literature / TheTaleOfSquirrelNutkin

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1	[[quoteright:270:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/squirrel_nutkin.png]]
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3	''The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin'' is a children's book by Creator/BeatrixPotter published in 1903.
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5	Every autumn, all the squirrels sail across the lake to Owl Island in order to collect the plentiful nuts that grow there, and they always remember to bring a tasty gift to appease Mr. Brown, the owl who lives there. Unfortunately, one of the squirrels is an obnoxious loud-mouth named Nutkin, who likes to dance around in Mr. Brown's face, jeering at him and spouting nonsensical riddles. As the nut-gathering days pass by, it seems only a matter of time before Mr. Brown loses his temper...
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7	!This book provides examples of:
8	* AnAesop: DoNotTauntCthulhu, especially if Cthulhu is considerately allowing you to gather food on his island.
9	* ArborealAbode: It's mentioned that Old Brown lives in a hollow tree that has a staircase and an attic window.
10	* AskAStupidQuestion: One of Nutkin's riddles is said to be too silly even by Nutkin's standards:
11	-->"The man in the wilderness said to me, \
12	'How many strawberries grow in the sea?' \
13	I answered him as I thought good— \
14	'As many red herrings as grow in the wood.'"
15	* AttackTheTail: Nutkin's tail is bitten off by Mr. Brown.
16	* BrattyHalfPint: Nutkin keeps taunting Mr. Brown, though [[VagueAge it's unclear whether he's actually a half-pint]].
17	* CarnivoreConfusion: The squirrels bring the owl some dead mice and a dead mole as a gift.
18	* DisneyDeath: "This looks like the end of the story, but it isn't." Nutkin was only ''about'' to be killed, but he still has a very narrow escape.
19	* TheGadfly: Nutkin is determined to annoy Mr. Brown. [[GoneHorriblyRight And boy, does he succeed]].
20	* LifeOrLimbDecision: Caught by Mr. Brown, Nutkin escapes at the expense of his own tail.
21	* LazyBum: Nutkin hates working and is often slacking off.
22	* NurseryRhyme: Most of Nutkin's riddles are drawn from the Mother Goose canon.
23	* OminousOwl: Mr. Brown may be polite, but he's still pretty creepy even before he gets fed up with Nutkin.
24	* {{Pun}}: "This is a Tale about a tail."
25	* RiddleMeThis: Nutkin's primary antic, though he doesn't expect an answer; he's just doing it to be annoying. [[spoiler:The answers are sneakily worked into the text preceding the riddles and are marked in ''italics''.]]
26	* ScrewballSquirrel: Nutkin is hyperactive and spends most of his time being TheGadfly to Mr. Brown. The other squirrels avert this as they are busy working responsibly and respectfully.
27	* TheSlacker: While all the other squirrels work gathering nuts, Nutkin amuses himself by playing games and teasing Mr. Brown.
28	* {{Sleepyhead}}: Mr. Brown, since he's an owl and the squirrels visit during the daytime.
29	* TooDumbToLive: Nutkin jumps directly onto Mr. Brown's head. Taunting the owl is bad enough, but throwing yourself at your natural predator is just asking for it.

Context Literature / TheTaleOfSquirrelNutkin