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THE CITY CURIOUS

FRITILLA AND THE RED FLYING-FISH
Frontispiece

THE CITY CURIOUS

BY

JEAN de BOSSCHÈRE

ILLUSTRATED BY THE
AUTHOR AND RETOLD
IN ENGLISH BY
F. TENNYSON JESSE
NEW YORK: DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1920
Printed in Great Britain

CONTENTS

PAGE
CHAPTER I
Smaly and his wife Redy set forth in search of three little girls:
They are bewitched so that their noses turn into beaks: Smaly
eats the latch of a door and Redy eats the hinge: Redy's fingers
weep tears: They meet with a Confectioner who resembles a
Kangaroo [1]
CHAPTER II
Smaly installs himself upon one of the Kangaroo's paws: The
two little people see some of the inhabitants of this peculiar
country: They meet some sugar horses, and they see also a fish
which flies and some sponges which walk: The Wigs imagine
that Smaly is made of suet: The ebony and crystal spectacles:
The Mother of the Crow [15]
CHAPTER III
The Short-Legged Man with the musical voice: Smaly and
Redy again declare they are travelling to find three little girls:
Papylick puts Smaly and Redy in two boats made out of nutshells [34]
CHAPTER IV
Smaly and Redy are not well received: They are thought to be
made of painted cardboard: How the Despoiler fell into the
water and left a foot behind him: Mistigris sticks a fish-bone
into the back of the Despoiler: Judgment is passed on the two
strangers: They will be banished at nightfall: The walls of
the three gardens are discussed [38]
CHAPTER V
Redy and Smaly watch the review of the troops: Smaly and the
Mother of the Crow discourse about soldiers: The Chief Contractor
distributes the food, and the Wigs pass through a curious
little door: The Soy powder makes the provisions grow [59]
CHAPTER VI
The Sugar-Cane Prison arrives: The Rats water it with Soy
fluid to keep the canes growing as fast as the Prisoner breaks
them down: The time for siesta draws on, and Smaly and Redy
go into the house of the Historian [73]
CHAPTER VII
The Flying-Fish announces the hour of three, and the World
falls asleep: The Hen makes six hard-boiled eggs: Smaly and
Redy begin to read the manuscript of the Historian [82]
CHAPTER VIII
Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner [95]
CHAPTER IX
The elder Flying-Fish loses one eye, and the Hen finds it:
The Historian wakes up, and Smaly and Redy run out of the
house: The Healer mends the paw of the Confectioner [100]
CHAPTER X
The Wigs all imagine they suffer from headache: The Rats come
to the Healer to be cured of the ravages of hot Soy: The Chief
Contractor has to make himself ill eating the musical instruments [111]
CHAPTER XI
The young girls dance for the Rats, then play a curious game
of tennis: They fail to understand Smaly's point of view [122]
CHAPTER XII
The Mother of the Crow tells of the life and death of Djorak
in his own country [127]
CHAPTER XIII
Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet: The Prisoner arrives
and the Wigs fly in terror: Smaly and Redy at last have speech
with the Prisoner [146]
CHAPTER XIV
The three daughters of the Prisoner are installed in their gardens 161
CHAPTER XV
Smaly and Redy effect the rescue of the three young girls:
Djorak joins them and they all partake of a delightful picnic:
Smaly blows the Soy powder over the country of the Wigs:
Then the six friends go home [170]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

IN COLOUR

Facing page
Fritilla and the Red Flying-Fish [Frontispiece]
The City Curious [16]
They were known as the "Wigs" because of their Large Perukes [24]
These Creatures did not resemble Anything that Redy and Smaly had seen up to then [32]
Laptitza and Papylick [64]
Some of the Dances were very complicated [96]
Kisika in her Sedan-Chair [128]
The Picnic which followed was an Unforgettable Repast [160]

IN BLACK AND WHITE

PAGE
Redy [2]
Smaly [3]
In this Land all the Birds wore Hats and Spurs [4]
Redy's Hands were crying with Fright [6]
But he found he, too, had a Beak [7]
They sang and danced [8]
Neither the Latch nor the Hinge bore any Trace of having been bitten [10]
Looking for the Key [11]
Kangaroo-Confectioner [13]
To carry the Last Curl as though it were the End of a Train [16]
They made one want to Dance [17]
With the Spoon which every Wig carries hung from his Belt [19]
These Horses, however, were made of Sugar [20]
The Sponges [21]
To return to a Mere Shapeless Thing once again [23]
A Traveller told us [24]
Nevertheless Smaly and Redy started to help him [26]
The Grub was really the doorkeeper [27]
"We wish to have three girls" [28]
The Crow lifted him up [29]
The Crow [30]
The Mother of the Crow [31]
"She sees only one side of men, birds, and things" [32]
The Short-Legged Man [35]
Papylick [36]
Opening the Nuts and displaying the Two Little People [39]
Leading by the Hand the Chocolate Grub [40]
The Birds with their Legs encased in Cutlet Frills [41]
The Eggs running along [42]
They were Gentle and Pretty Pigs [43]
A Most Splendid Feast [44]
The Despoiler [45]
Which is in this Country a Great Sign of Mirth [46]
He fled hastily [47]
Mistigris [48]
The Young Stork [49]
Every One uttered Cries of Indignation [50]
"You can roll the cord" [51]
The Chief Contractor replied [53]
Children were built of much fewer Slices of Cake than the Grown-ups [54]
These Creatures will eat the Top off the Walls [55]
Anger [56]
It seemed to them that Men grew upwards and not towards the Ground [57]
Some very Elegant Mice [58]
One Half expressed Severe Authority, the Other was All Gentleness [60]
He decided that they must have a Similar Review every Week [62]
They had all put on Thick Gloves [63]
Wigs, who were putting the Soldiers back in their Boxes [64]
President of the Republic of Pasenipus [65]
To conduct her Back to her House, which was in a Cosy Nook in a Great Tree of Coral [67]
The Confectioner [69]
"Nevertheless it's so narrow that only one person can go through at a time" [70]
The Song went on [71]
Running hard with their Little Short Legs [73]
Soy Mill [74]
Soy Reservoir [75]
Carrying away every Object that they could lift [77]
The Prisoner [79]
The Prisoner never ceased to break the Sugar-canes [80]
The Pet Flying-Fish, which every Wig Family possesses and cherishes [83]
The Amount of Cake and Pudding eaten Annually in the Country [84]
The Elder of the Fishes [85]
The Hen [86]
This Care which the Confectioner took of Fritilla was by no Means unnecessary [88]
The Smaller Flying-Fish [89]
Dropped them through a Hole in his Beak [90]
Was sitting with One Ankle across the Knee of his Other Leg [91]
The Despoiler, who was always afraid that Some One would find out that he was only made of
Cardboard, never slept in Public [93]
"Instead of cutting his toe-nails as we do with the help of a long-handled
pair of scissors and a telescope" [96]
The King [97]
The King's Daughter [98]
The Healer [103]
Born with the Idea of One Day being a very Big Man [104]
Between them was fastened a Comfortable Arm-chair [106]
There were Newsboys selling Accounts of the Latest Disaster to the Wigs [108]
The Healer had finished his Mending [109]
Mathematician [111]
Migraine [112]
Wrapped their Handkerchiefs round their Heads [112]
"I, too, hope so," said his Wife, who had just come in [113]
Nearly all had One Leg which was much Longer than the Other, or a very Long Arm [115]
His Elongated Tail was tied to the Queue of his Wig [116]
"But only look at our arms and legs" [117]
Even more than they feared the Flies [118]
Rewards [119]
The Dwarf had pulled on a Pair of Boots [120]
The Accordion-Players began [123]
Tennis [124]
The Ball hung up thus [125]
Tea-Cosy [128]
"We're waiting for the sun to go down" [129]
Servants out Shopping followed it with their Laden Baskets on their Arms [131]
He thrust his Face into Roses covered with Dew [132]
The Executioner bandaged his Eyes [133]
Next he took some Old Cardboard Boxes [135]
Opened them and shut them again [136]
His Young Son was there [137]
The Brindled Rabbit [138]
His Little Paw shoved a Folded Slip of Paper through the Opening [139]
Then they sang a Comic Duet [140]
Then they questioned a Black Toad [141]
And fish in the Little River in the Afternoon [142]
The Thin Long Arm of the Historian [143]
Extracting Fish-bones from the Back of the Despoiler [147]
They bore a Large Copper Cauldron [148]
The Admiral was a Triton [149]
The White Dolphin with Pink Eyes [150]
An Extremely Curious Fish [151]
"A band of our rats will each morning copiously water our
fleet" [153]
Wigs were busy writing their Names [154]
A Red Flag [155]
"I have destroyed a hundred times passing over it in my
prison" [157]
"I was caught stepping right over their silly old dry canal with one stride" [158]
The Manufacturer of Cardboard Boxes [159]
A Sentinel who looked like a Dragon-Fly [163]
The Gardens were arranged after the Same Principle as the Windows in the House of the Historian [164]
A Little Red Feather, which she had picked up in the Market-Place [166]
Next the Despoiler approached [167]
The Wife of the Chief Contractor presented Kisika with a Beautiful Fan made of Paper Lace [169]
Directly they saw the Flying-Fish enter [171]
Their Two Little Heads appeared Side by Side [172]
Smaly standing on the Point of his Toes [173]
So during Three Days the Young Girls were busy making the Stairs [175]
The Red Flying-Fish carried a Large Hat and Mantle in its Claws [176]
Carrying as many of the Presents as they could [177]
Wigs themselves would have melted away directly they passed the Frontier [178]
They hung out of the Windows [179]

THE CITY CURIOUS

CHAPTER I

Smaly and his wife Redy set forth in search of three little girls: They are bewitched so that their noses turn into beaks: Smaly eats the latch of a door and Redy eats the hinge: Redy's fingers weep tears: They meet with a Confectioner who resembles a Kangaroo.

Smaly and Redy were husband and wife, and they lived together in a little white house. This house had three rooms upstairs and three rooms downstairs; and each room was so pretty that it gave one joy to see it. Smaly and Redy were very proud of their house, and were never so happy as when they were putting it to rights. Every day they did something to one or other of the rooms, changing the position of the furniture or the pictures.

One day, while Smaly was walking in the town he saw three mirrors in a shop window, and he thought they would be just the thing to hang up in the three bedrooms; so he bought the mirrors and went home with them in high glee.

In the meantime, Redy, his little wife, also had an idea to beautify the bedrooms, so she went out into the garden to pick some flowers.

Smaly hung a looking-glass in each of the three little bedrooms, then he carefully closed all three doors and, going downstairs, sat himself by the hearth. A fire was burning there, for the spring was still young in the land.

While he sat there, smoking, lost in the most delicious daydreams, his pleasant little wife Redy came in with her arms full of flowers. She took three vases from the dresser, and began to arrange the flowers in them, holding her head on one side like a bird.

Redy

When she had put each flower exactly as she wished, she gently shook Smaly's elbow. He jumped up, took two vases without a word, while she picked up the third. They disposed a vase in each of the three little bedrooms, and stood back to admire the effect; which, indeed, was quite charming.

Suddenly Redy gave a sigh.

"It's all very well," said she, "but there's no one to live in our pretty rooms."

Smaly sighed, too. "That's just what I was thinking," said he. "Oh, Redy, how nice it would be if we had three little girls to live in our three bedrooms, so that they could admire your flowers and look at themselves in my pretty mirrors."

"Let us wish for them," said Redy, and she folded her hands together on her apron and chanted:

"We wish to have three girls,
Fine, sweet, pink, and good
They shall have more pudding than they like,
And a green, green, and rosy garden."

Smaly repeated the poem in his turn, but Redy had to prompt him, for he had a very bad memory.

They waited for some time, but nothing happened, so they said the verse over again, and this time Smaly repeated it without any mistake; but still nothing happened.

"Wishing does not seem to be much good," said Smaly despondently.

"Wishing never is any good," answered Redy, "unless one does something more than wish. If we want to find our three little girls we must set out and look for them."

Smaly

"Yes, but where?" asked Smaly.

"As for that," answered his little wife, "I do not know any more than you, but that verse we chanted just now is a magic verse, and we shall find the way. We will get ready to start to-morrow."

So the very next morning they set off on their search for the three girls who would fill the white house with joy.

Redy had dressed herself in her best. Her green gown was trimmed with black and emerald leaves, and her stockings and little cocked hat were green to match. In her basket she thoughtfully placed two apples.

In this Land all the Birds wore Hats and Spurs

Smaly faced the world in his beautiful dark violet coat, on his head a tall hat of the same colour. A belt of yellow leather clasped his waist. In his buttonhole he stuck a sunflower to show how happy he was. His best boots shone upon his feet. In the big pocket of his coat he placed a couple of fresh rolls. The rolls and the apples were their provisions for the journey. For weapon, in case of attack, Smaly carried a thin red stick.

For a long while they walked and walked. They crossed many countries which everybody knows. At last, however, they found themselves in a strange land, a land of which one hardly ever even hears—a land which was even odder than these two odd little people.

In this land both men and beasts lived upon nothing but sweetmeats and pastry.

In this land the sun shone longer than it does with us, because it often stopped for a while to rest during the course of the day.

In this land all the birds wore hats and spurs.

In this land an orchestra of swallows played always at noonday.

In this land earthworms wore spectacles on their noses and swords at their sides.

In this land such things as bricks, iron, wood, stone, and steel were unknown.

In this land, after one had finished dinner, one ate the plates and dishes, for they were made of sugar.

In this land nearly every inhabitant was made of slices of cake, held together with pudding, sweetmeats, nougat, and chocolate.

In a word, there were to be found in this curious country a great many things that were strange and wonderful and good to eat.

Smaly and Redy knocked at the door of this wonderful land, but for some time no one came to answer them.

"Bother this door!" said Smaly, at last, kicking at it with his new boots, and hitting it with his red cane.

"Why, it's made of chocolate!" cried Redy, who had sucked her fingers after touching it.

"I will eat the latch away!" decided Smaly.

"And I'll eat the hinges," said Redy.

She seized a hinge and he tore off the latch.

The next moment the tears were pouring down their faces.

"Oh, oh, it's burning me!" cried poor Redy.

"It must be made of red pepper and spice!" wept Smaly.

Redy's Hands were crying with Fright

They had certainly burnt their tongues. They held hands and ran away, uttering little moans of pain. The path took an abrupt turn, then another, then a third, and yet a fourth, till it had described a complete circle. Smaly and Redy found themselves once again opposite the door.

There was no longer any way out, for a thick hedge now surrounded the two travellers, and they found themselves in a sort of green arena. Quite a pretty arena, but all the same, it was rather alarming to find themselves there, without a word of warning.

And the thick green hedge around the arena grew with such a horrible rapidity. Very soon it was so high that the place became as dark as night.

But he found he, too, had a Beak

Smaly, in his alarm, had seized both Redy's hands in his, and now he suddenly noticed that they were all wet. For one dreadful moment Smaly thought they must be wet with blood, but the fact was that poor Redy's hands were crying with fright.

For a little while Smaly and Redy wept bitterly, but they soon grew too tired to cry. They shut their mouths firmly, and tried to leave off sobbing when they left off weeping, but their sobs kept on and on in spite of them, for all the world like a tap that keeps on going "glug-glug!" when one has forgotten to turn it off.

Smaly put up his hand, meaning to lay it gently over Redy's mouth.

She no longer had a mouth—in place of it was a fine large beak, painted an elegant blue. Filled with horror, and sure that their end had come, Smaly thought to print on Redy's cheek one last kiss of despair.

But he found he, too, had a beak, with which he could do nothing but peck. They stood staring at each other's beaks. They did not yet know that the beaks were invisible to all save themselves and the birds.

They sat down on their heels like Turkish princes, and their sobs went on and on, sounding like the lament of thousands of insects, and still the green hedges around them went on growing, till it seemed that the two poor little people were at the bottom of a profound green funnel, brimming with darkness, in which their moaning sounded like the wind in the chimney of a winter's night.

"Oh, oh, my Redy, we're in a pretty pass!" murmured Smaly, and Redy knew that he was feeling almost mad with fright, so that at once she felt mad with fright also. Now Redy had heard that mad people sing and dance, and so she at once began to do both, dragging Smaly along with her. They sang and danced till they had no breath left, and then they wanted to drop down and rest, but found they had to keep on and on in spite of themselves. The dance of terror, and the song with which their little little sobs and moans mingled, continued there at the bottom of the green funnel. There was more noise than there is at midday in Oxford Circus.

They sang and danced

The pepper from the latch of the door began to burn again in Smaly's mouth, and reminded him that after all there was a door out of this horrible place. He began to feel about for it in the darkness. When he found it he uttered a sharp little cry, which, like the moans and the singing, refused to die away, but went on echoing in the green funnel, so that by now there was a noise like a tempest, for all the world as though the whole sea had been imprisoned in a box—and a box too small for it.

Smaly uttered this cry because he had discovered that the latch was once more in its place on the door, although Smaly had thrown it far away after biting it. Redy's hinge also was back in its place. Neither the latch nor the hinge bore any trace of having been bitten, but felt smooth and solid to the fingers.

Neither the Latch nor the Hinge bore any trace of having been bitten

Smaly and Redy became even more terrified than before, so that their hearts felt like two little lumps of ice in their breasts. And then a very odd thing happened to them. Their beaks opened of themselves, and these words came out of them—words which Smaly and Redy had never thought of saying:

"Where is the key?"

Nothing answered them.

Then they found themselves on their hands and knees looking for the key.

"Where is the key? Oh, Reckybecky, where is the key?" the beaks demanded, entirely of their own accord.

Looking for the Key

Immediately a little grille opened in the door, and a voice said:

"Upon this side are honey, tea, and sugar! On your side are pepper, ginger, and allspice!"

"And on this side there are also the beaks of birds!" replied Smaly, alarmed at his own temerity; "and here also are the hands which weep! And the horrible moanings! And——"

He was interrupted by a gentle laugh. This laugh sounded like a little peal of crystal bells. And as the laugh went rippling on, the hedge began to shrink and shrink, and the moans and sobs died away.

The hearts of Smaly and Redy were beating like a couple of alarum-clocks. The gate had a little grille in it and they peeped through this grille to see what creature it was whose silvery laughter had the power to charm away both the high hedge and the weird moanings. Although the creature was several yards away they could see quite clearly his large, rosy eyes edged with grey rims. They saw the creature as distinctly as one can see the actors on the stage when one looks through opera-glasses.

They saw that the rosy grey-rimmed eyes were set in a face of the green of a pistachio-nut. The hair was the vague blue of cigarette smoke. The head looked as though it were sculptured out of mother-of-pearl. Later, they discovered that it was a mingling of ice-cream and jelly, for the creature himself was a confectioner.

He was a confectioner ... and yet Smaly could have wagered his beautiful new boots that he was more of a kangaroo than anything else. For though this confectioner wore an apron and a fine green waistcoat, yet undoubtedly his chess-board trousers and embroidered stockings covered the powerful hind legs of a kangaroo. The long paws were shod with a species of pattens, so big they seemed like miniature tables, and these pattens were painted scarlet. Slung all about him, the Kangaroo carried as many pots and pans as a travelling tinker. He was adorned as well by spoons of bamboo, and from his belt hung ebony-handled knives, while jam-jars and flagons, filled with preserves and essences, dangled about him. The most tender mauves and translucent greens glowed through the glass of the flagons.

Kangaroo-Confectioner

Smaly studied the good-natured face of this personage, and asked him simply:

"Who are you?"

Then the Kangaroo-Confectioner said a surprising thing. He replied:

"I am the Architect."

The moment he had spoken he put up his hand and shut his mouth, to prevent the sound of his words going on and on in the curious air of the place, which seemed to hold sounds suspended as water holds the fronds of weeds.

Smaly looked at him dubiously.

"You say you are an architect ... and yet your occupation appears to me to be much more that of a confectioner, a super-confectioner."

The Kangaroo seemed overcome with a nervousness; his smiling face creased itself into a thousand little lines of distress, his eyes looked vacant, his manner became flustered. Evidently he was struggling with his emotion. When he had sufficiently recovered he planted his long feet more firmly on their scarlet pattens, and, taking a deep breath, chanted as follows:

"With jam I build the walls,
And with jam I fill the tarts,
With honey-cake I tile the roofs
Which crest the pastry towers.
The chairs are made of barley-sugar
And the tables and napkins are not of custard,
Nor of mustard nor of treacle,
But I weave them of thin macaroni.

"I am the Builder Architect,
Who makes the cottages and the tarts,
Who knows all about chairs and farms,
Who makes the castles and the biscuits
With chocolate and nice cornflour.

"Where I am—honey, tea, and sugar!
Where you are, pepper, ginger, and allspice!"

But, since the word "allspice" continued to reverberate through the air, the Confectioner shut his mouth smartly with his finger and thumb.

CHAPTER II

Smaly installs himself upon one of the Kangaroo's paws: The two little people see some of the inhabitants of this peculiar country: They meet some sugar horses, and they see also a fish which flies and some sponges which walk: The Wigs imagine that Smaly is made of suet: The ebony and crystal spectacles: The Mother of the Crow.

Smaly saw that there was no reason to be afraid of this strange creature so he crawled in through the grille of the gate and sat down upon one of the Confectioner's enormous paws. Redy made haste to follow him. No sooner was she settled than a number of strange little beings appeared as though from nowhere and clustered around her, pointing curious fingers at her while they chatted amongst themselves.

These little beings were the inhabitants of this strange new country. They nearly all wore gigantic wigs, and sometimes these wigs were so long that they needed a page to carry the last curl as though it were the end of a train.

The more Redy looked at these funny little people the greater was the amazement that appeared upon her face.

Smaly also was astonished; but he would have died sooner than let his astonishment appear.

To carry the Last Curl as though it were the End of a Train

These curious little beings, who were known as the "Wigs" because of their large perukes, were even smaller than Redy and Smaly. At first sight they looked rather like those stiff little coloured figures you may see in Egyptian drawings at the British Museum, but no Egyptians were ever dressed as these people were. Their vividly coloured clothes were composed of mosaics of caramel and jam, with insertions of fruit and cake. Each one wore on his head a hat made of preserved fruit or of a whole bun or little cake. Shoes seemed to be very much a matter of individual taste in this land, for every inhabitant wore a pair of a different colour, shoes so gay that the mere sight of them made one want to dance. There was one woman in particular who wore upon her head a cake in the form of a little tower, who had the most charming mauve shoes with red soles, upon which Redy felt her eyes always returning enviously.

THE CITY CURIOUS

The Wigs for their part had not gathered together merely to look at the little strangers. With brightly coloured sponges some began to mop up the dew which still clung to the leaves of the hedge, while others with little pieces of blotting-paper set to work to dry each blade of grass at the side of the road. This seemed such a useless thing to do that Smaly would have liked to ask why they were doing it, but he felt too shy, so he contented himself with winking at Redy. Then he glanced up at the Confectioner.

They made one want to Dance

"Tell me—why has Redy got a beak?" he asked, and before he could be answered began to suck his finger. He sucked it because a drop of sweet preserve had fallen upon it from one of the Confectioner's pots.

"Has Redy got wings as well?" asked the Confectioner, thoughtfully taking a spoonful of the same preserve and offering it to Redy.

"No," said Smaly.

"Then she can't have a beak," replied the Confectioner triumphantly.

"Do you mean to say you don't see her beak or mine either?" asked Smaly in astonishment.

"Never in my life have I seen a beak upon any creature that had not wings as well," replied the Confectioner stolidly; "therefore it doesn't exist."

"A beak, a beak, a beak, not exist, not exist, not exist," said all the echoes one after the other.

Smaly decided to wait until the Confectioner spoke again; but it was Redy who broke the silence in an unexpected manner.

She walked away from the Confectioner and stood looking at him scornfully from a little distance.

"An architect!" she said. "You say you are an architect, but when we called 'Reckybecky' you opened the door, therefore you are Reckybecky, nothing but Reckybecky."

The Confectioner, who was a simple soul, stared at her very disconcerted. "Reckybecky," he repeated in a sort of stupefaction. "Reckybecky, am I really nothing but that?"

"You are Reckybecky," repeated Redy firmly.

"Dear me, I never heard that before," said the Confectioner. "I wonder if you can be right. Then if I am Reckybecky I suppose I am not an architect at all," and he covered his face to try and think more clearly.

The two little people watched him timidly, wondering what was going on in that bent head. Suddenly the Confectioner raised his head and flung his pots and pans, his spoons and his knives, on to the ground on either side of him.

Most of the pots broke and fragrant streams of beautifully coloured preserves spread here and there over the uneven ground. Immediately dozens of Wigs pounced upon the wreckage, and while the jams trickled hither and thither amongst the grass these creatures tried to scrape it up again into jugs and basins, and even into their caps, with the spoon which every Wig carries hung from his belt.

With the Spoon which every Wig carries hung from his Belt

At some distance off a procession had been passing which had hitherto paid no attention to the crowd round the gate, but now this broke up and various persons quitted its ranks to try and scrape up some of the precious preserves. These creatures did not resemble anything that Redy and Smaly had seen up to then. At first sight they all appeared to be riding little horses; horses draped like those which we see in old pictures of tournaments.

These horses, however, were made of sugar, and very soon Redy and Smaly perceived that they were simply worn round the waists of the Wigs, whose two feet ran along the ground beneath the draperies where the four feet of the horses should have been.

These Horses, however, were made of Sugar

Smaly could not help thinking that to have a horse like that would be rather fine if you could not afford a real horse of your own; but Redy was occupied in admiring the fine costumes of the Wigs who owned the horses.

These cavaliers were splendidly clad in green, white, rose, grey, and black. One, in particular, wore rose-coloured boots, and his horse was made to resemble a blue roan. Its mane was like a cocks-comb, cut in scarlet points.

All these things Redy and Smaly managed to observe without showing undue astonishment; but neither could resist a little cry of surprise when they saw flying through the air a large fish. This fish, who wore a ring through his nose, had also come to take part in the unexpected feast.

Finally, even the Sponges, which the Wigs carried in their hands, and with which they had been drying the hedges, jumped out of their hands. Each Sponge unfolded little legs and started running towards the jam.

And now a strange thing began to happen to the Confectioner. The poor fellow was evidently in great distress because Redy had told him that he was not an architect, but only Reckybecky.

Redy and Smaly had never in all their lives seen any one so cruelly upset.

He seemed to be melting before their eyes and becoming transparent. He did not cry; but seemed rather to be transformed into a sort of damp and clinging fog. "Just as though he were 'dissolving in tears,'" thought Smaly. And he stared curiously at the Confectioner who every moment became more cloud-like than ever.

The Sponges

But suddenly the vague outline of a hand, which was all that remained of him, struck the vaguer outline of his forehead as though an idea had come to him. Once more his face assumed a clarity as though it were made of mother-of-pearl, and he cried out:

"Reckybecky!"

This name reverberated round and about like a clap of thunder. It went on and on, making such a noise that all the little Wigs left off scraping up the jam and scampered away.

Redy felt afraid. Smaly jumped off the patten on which he had remained perched during the eclipse of the Confectioner. As to the latter, he endeavoured to shut his mouth and stop the noise from going on echoing; but he was not very solid again as yet and found some difficulty in doing it. At the end of the long avenue of sugar-trees Redy could see little groups of people gathered together looking about them to try and discover whence came this noise.

The Confectioner succeeded in shutting his mouth, and then turning towards Redy he opened it again, and remarked firmly:

"You are a stupid little thing."

Then turning to Smaly he said, with that confidential accent which one adopts when singling out the most intelligent person of a company for one's remarks:

"No, I cannot be Reckybecky, for somebody else is Reckybecky, so there!"

The Confectioner seemed extremely relieved by this remarkable solution.

To return to a Mere Shapeless Thing once again

"Reckybecky must be the doorkeeper," he added firmly.

"The doorkeeper?" asked Smaly and Redy.

"Certainly, we've had a doorkeeper for years, and one day a traveller told us that since we had a doorkeeper it was necessary we should have a door, and then the Despoiler, who is the wisest of all of us, except the Mother of the Crow, decided that since we had a porter who was made of chocolate, we must have a gate made for him, and that the gate should be made of chocolate to match."

Smaly and Redy turned to look back at the door; the grille by which they had entered had disappeared, and everywhere the chocolate had become solid once again.

A Traveller told us

"I will show you the doorkeeper soon," promised the Confectioner, "but for goodness' sake don't tell him that you know he's a doorkeeper. He thinks he's simply a chocolate grub on his way to become a chocolate butterfly; in fact, we have nominated another doorkeeper to take his place if this ever comes off. This other person isn't really a doorkeeper either, but there's one thing he can do, and that is, he can make the latch and the hinge grow again when somebody has eaten them." The Confectioner looked at Redy and Smaly very severely when he said this.

THEY WERE KNOWN AS THE "WIGS" BECAUSE OF THEIR LARGE PERUKES
Page 15

They both felt extremely embarrassed.

With his nail, which looked exactly like a horn salt-spoon, the Confectioner scraped the inner side of the door just beside the latch, and Redy and Smaly saw the chocolate grow again as rapidly as he scraped it away.

The Confectioner gave a little exclamation of annoyance, and began to hunt for his magic ring amongst all the things he had thrown to the ground; but he could not find it. This ring had the power of preventing both plants and things from growing, and without it the Confectioner was unable to prevent the chocolate door from replacing itself as fast as he scraped it away. Nevertheless Smaly and Redy started to help him, and they all three scraped so hard that they caught a glimpse in the interior of the door of a tiny creature sitting in a niche. This creature was a grub about the size of a nut. Round its waist it wore a key as big as itself, and on its head a fur bonnet, which nodded forward to its chest.

"It's asleep," said the little man to the little woman.

At this moment a Crow made of bilberry preserve and liquorice hopped up to them. This Crow was the doorkeeper who was yet not the doorkeeper; and who had been nominated in the place of the grub. The grub was really the doorkeeper; but always refused to admit it.

Nevertheless Smaly and Redy started to help him

The Crow, who seemed convulsed with rage, seized Redy in one claw and Smaly in the other, preparatory to throwing them outside once more.

At this dangerous moment Smaly once again found his beak crying out of itself. This time he heard it say that he wished to speak to the Chief Contractor.

The Crow lifted him up by his waistband, and gazed at him with his big bright eye like a magnifying-glass, then he dropped him.

"Why, it's made of suet!" he cried in disgust.

He turned his eye upon Redy, who appeared to him much better looking with her delicate little blue beak, which had a bloom on it like a grape. Unlike the Confectioner, the Crow was perfectly well able to perceive the beaks of Smaly and Redy, for he himself was a bird, and to no one save a bird or each other were their beaks visible.

And that is why you who are reading this book, and who are not birds, cannot see their beaks either, unless you make a great effort.

The Grub was really the Doorkeeper

Redy, who saw that the moment had come to explain what they wanted, folded her hands on her apron, and repeated her little poem:

"We wish to have three girls,
Fine, sweet, pink, and good.
They shall have more pudding than they like,
And a green, green, and rosy garden."

The Crow said:

"It won't do," and he took off his glasses, which were made of ebony, set in a crystal frame. On the rims signs and letters were engraved in characters that looked rather Eastern. If you examined carefully you saw that round one lens was engraved:

DON'T LOOK AT ME.

And on the other one:

FOR YOU DON'T HEAR WITH YOUR EYES.

"We wish to have three girls"

Smaly paid no attention to the spectacles, but answered the Crow's remark.

"Why won't it do?" he asked.

The Crow opened his beak to answer, then he shut it again, and put on his glasses, for he only wore them when he wanted to speak, and did not particularly wish to see.

The Crow lifted him up

For this Crow had three eyes, one on each side of his beak, and a third one carried in a medallion which hung on a chain round his neck. This third eye was very busy and saw more than both the other two put together.

Redy felt extremely annoyed.

"How dare you look at me! You are only made of sugar and bilberry jam," she exclaimed.

"I didn't look at you," said the Crow, rather taken aback.

"Only because you are looking at me," now shouted Smaly.

"No, I am not," retorted the Crow, turning his back and taking off his spectacles.

"Don't leave us," cried Redy hastily. "I only meant that you were looking at us with that beautiful eye that hangs on a chain round your neck."

The Crow

"Well," said the Crow, coming back and putting on his spectacles once more, "why didn't you say so at once? That's my mother's eye. She's very old; but she still wants to know what is happening in the world, so I carry about her eye with me to let it see. But don't be frightened. She only sees you, she doesn't hear you."

"It wouldn't matter if she did. We should not dream of saying nasty things about your mother," said Redy with true emotion.

"I thought not," said the Crow more peaceably, "besides, she's such a funny little thing, poor dear; she's no legs, no wings, and no tail."

"Dear, dear, and only one eye?" asked Smaly.

"Yes," said the Crow, "only one eye, so she sees only one side of men, birds, and things."

"What does she live on?" asked Redy, with a woman's interest in practical matters.

The Crow replied, "Oh, on candy and caterpillars and sweets and flies, just as you and I do."

"I don't," said Smaly.

"Nor I," said Redy.

The Crow gazed at them with some disgust.

The Mother of the Crow

"No, I suppose you live on suet, mutton fat, and oil," he replied, and once again turned his back.

"She sees only one side of men, birds, and things"

Again Redy tried to detain him; but this time the Crow said he must leave because he had something to write in his diary.

THESE CREATURES DID NOT RESEMBLE ANYTHING THAT REDY AND SMALY HAD SEEN UP TO THEN
Page 19

Smaly asked again why they could not have three sweet little girls.

Putting on his spectacles the Crow replied, "Because there aren't any."

CHAPTER III

The Short-Legged Man with the musical voice: Smaly and Redy again declare they are travelling to find three little girls: Papylick puts Smaly and Redy in two boats made out of nutshells.

At this moment a short-legged little man came up to them, upon whose wig was perched a little round hat trimmed with a single rose. A box hung at his side, and upon this box was inscribed the word "SOY."

The Short-Legged Man had a voice so faint it was almost a whisper. It was as musical and delicate as a fiddle heard playing from a great distance. This little man whispered:

"What do we know
About boys and girls?
They have no feathers nor wings,
They are made of marzipan,
They have no claws nor beak,
They are everything that is sweet."

Smaly and Redy replied at once:

"We wish to have three girls,
Fine, sweet, pink, and good.
They shall have more pudding than they like,
And a green, green, and rosy garden."

The Short-Legged Man said, "It won't do."

"Why?" asked Redy.

"Because they should have three green, green, and rosy gardens."

"They shall have," said both the little man and his wife.

"It still won't do," said the Short-Legged Man.

"Why?"

"Because they can't leave this country."

There was a sad moment whilst Smaly and Redy thought of the little white house and the three bedrooms. Then they answered together:

"We'll make their gardens here."

"Come and talk to the Chief," said the Short-Legged Man.

But Redy was hungry and so tired she could not walk. The Crow, instead of helping, flew away. He hadn't really got to write anything in a diary, but he had to carry a girl called Fritilla to the tennis-ground, where a lot of young people were going to play tennis.

The Short-Legged Man

Fritilla was a pretty, fair girl with green eyes, whom the Crow had to look after. She was one of the three daughters of the Prisoner, of whom I will tell you later.

But the Short-Legged Man took pity on Redy, and he shouted with his delicious voice out of his froglike mouth, "Papylick!" and this name was repeated as long as the Short-Legged Man did not put his spoonlike finger on his lips.

Papylick arrived with his name written on his boots, which were yellow as toffee, and had no laces. This Papylick was made of slices of different coloured cake, and he, too, carried a box with the word "SOY" inscribed upon it, a word which began to interest Smaly, though he was determined not to betray his interest.

Papylick had a nut in one hand, and opening it he put Redy inside and shut it up again.

Smaly, too, was tired, and thinking it much better for him also to be carried, he said:

"Papylick, my dear Papylick," and immediately shut his mouth again with the first finger of his left hand.

Papylick opened another nut and placed Smaly inside it, then the Short-Legged Man put both nuts in his pocket.

Papylick

Now Smaly and Redy could not see the country they were being carried through because the nuts were closed; but Papylick had thought of this, and so the landscapes were painted complete in every detail inside the nuts.

But Smaly and Redy, instead of admiring these landscapes, soon discovered they were painted with delicious sweetstuffs such as they had seen in the jars and pots of the Confectioner.

So they licked off the landscapes.