at last the venerable dormouse himself undertook it , for the very good reason that no one else would . at this time the dormouse was the largest animal in the world . when he stood up he looked like a mountain . it made haste to the place where the sun lay ensnared , and as it came nearer and nearer , its back began to smoke and burn with the heat . the whole top of his huge bulk was turned in a very short time to enormous heaps of ashes . it succeeded , however , in cutting the cord with its teeth and freeing the sun , which rolled up again , as round and beautiful as ever , into the wide blue sky . but the dormouse - or blind woman as it is called - was shrunk away to a very small size . that is the reason why it is now one of the tiniest creatures upon the earth . the little boy returned home when he discovered that the sun had escaped his snare , and devoted himself entirely to hunting . " if the beautiful hair of my sister would not hold the sun fast , nothing in the world could , " he said . " he was not born , a little fellow like himself , to look after the sun . it required one greater and wiser than he was to regulate that . " and he went out and shot ten more snow - birds . in this business he was very expert , and he had a new bird - skin coat made , which was prettier than the one he had worn before .
was the largest animal in the world .
why did the dormouse undertake the task ?
why did the dormouse undertake the task ?