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Five Children and It by E. Nesbit. Chapter one of
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Five Children and It. This is a LibriVox recording. All
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LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
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or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot or recording by
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Grandma Jenny. Five Children in It by E. Nesbit. Chapter
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one To John Bland, my lamb, you are so very small.
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You have not learned to read at all yet, never
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a printed book withstands the urgence of your dimpled hands.
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So though this book is for yourself, let mother keep
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it on the shelf till you can read. O days
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that pass. That day will come too soon, alas Chapter one,
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Beautiful as the day. The house was three miles from
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the station. But before the dusty hired fly had rattled
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along for five minutes, the children began to put their
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heads out of the carriage window and to say, aren't
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we there yet? And every time they passed a house,
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which was not very often, they all said, oh, is
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this it? But it never was till they reached the
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very top of the hill, just past the chot quarry,
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and before you come to the gravel pit. And then
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there was a white house with a green garden, and
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an orchard beyond. And Mother said, here we are. How
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white the house is, said Robert. And look at the roses,
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said Anthea, and the plums, said Jane. It is rather decent,
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Cyril admitted. The baby said, want to go walky? And
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the fly stopped with the last rattle and jolt. Everyone
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got its legs kicked or its feet trodden on in
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the scramble to get out of the carriage at that
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very minute, but no one seemed to mind. Mother, curiously enough,
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was in no hurry to get out, and even when
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she had come down slowly and by the step, and
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with no jump at all, she seemed to wish to
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see the boxes carried in, and even to pay the driver,
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instead of joining in that first glorious rush round the
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garden and the orchard, and the thorny, thistly, briary brambly
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wilderness beyond the broken gate, and the dry fountain at
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the side of the house. But the children were wiser
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for once, for it was not really a pretty house
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at all. It was quite ordinary, and Mother thought it
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was rather inconvenient, and was quite annoyed at there being
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no shelves to speak of, and hardly a cupboard in
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the place. Father used to say that the ironwork on
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the roof and coping was like an architect's nightmare. But
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the house was deep in the country, with no other
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house in sight, and the children had been in London
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for two years without so much as once going to
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the seaside, even for a day by an excursion train,
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and so the White House seemed to them a sort
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of fairy palace set down in an earthly paradise. For
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London is like prison for children, especially if their relations
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are not rich. Of course, there are shops and theaters
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and masculine and cooks and things. But if your people
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are rather poor, you don't get taken to the theaters,
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and you can't buy things out of the shops. And
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London has none of those nice things that children may
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play with without hurting the things or themselves, such as
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trees and sand and woods and waters, and nearly everything
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in London is the wrong sort of shape, all straight
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lines and flat streets, instead of being all sorts of
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odd shapes like things are in the country. Trees are
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all different, as you know, and I am sure some
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tiresome person must have told you that there are no
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two blades of grass exactly alike. But in streets where
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the blades of grass don't grow, everything is like everything else.
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This is why so many children who live in towns
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are so extremely naughty. They do not know what is
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the matter with them, and no more do their fathers
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and mothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, tutors, governesses and nurses. But
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I know, and so do you. Now children in the
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country are naughty sometimes too, but that is for quite
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different reasons. The children had explored the gardens and the
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outhouses thoroughly before they were caught and cleaned for Tea,
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and they saw quite well that they were certain to
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be happy at the White House. They thought so from
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the first moment. But when they found the back of
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the house covered with jasmine in white flower and smelling
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like a bottle of the most expensive scent that is
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ever given for a birthday present. And when they had
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seen the lawn all green and smooth and quite different
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from the brown grass in the gardens at Camden Town,
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and when they had found the stable with a loft
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over it and some old hay still left, they were
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almost certain. And when Robert had found the broken swing
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and tumbled out of it and got a lump on
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his head the size of an egg. And Cyril had
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nipped his finger in the door of a hutch that
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seemed made to keep rabbits in. If you ever had
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any they had no longer any doubts whatever. The best
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part of it all was that there were no rules
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about not going to places and not doing things. In London,
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almost everything is labeled you mustn't touch, And though the
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label is invisible, it's just as bad because you know
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it's there, or if you don't, you jolly soon get told.
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The White House was on the edge of a hill,
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with the wood behind it, and the chot quarry on
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one side and the gravel pit on the other. Down
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at the bottom of the hill was a level plain
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with queer shaped white buildings where people burnt lime, and
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a big red brewery and other high houses. And when
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the big chimneys were smoking and the sun was setting,
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the valley looked as if it were filled with golden
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mist and lime. Kilns and oast houses glimmered and glittered
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till they were like an enchanted city out of the
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Arabian nights. Now that I have begun to tell you
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about the place. I feel that I could go on
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and make this into a most interesting story about all
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the ordinary things that the children did, just the kind
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of things you do yourself, you know, and you would
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believe every word of it. And when I told about
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the children's being tiresome as you are, sometimes your aunts
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would perhaps write in the margin of the story with pencil,
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how true or how like life, and you would see
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it and very likely be annoyed. So I will only
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tell you the really astonishing things that happened, and you
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may leave the book about quite safely, for no aunts
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and uncles either are likely to write how true on
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the edge of the story. Grown Up people find it
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very difficult to believe really wonderful things unless they have
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what they call proof. But children will believe almost anything,
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and grown ups know this. That is why they tell
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you that the earth is round like an orange, when
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you can see perfectly well that is flat and lumpy,
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And why they say that the earth goes round the sun,
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when you can see for yourself any day that the
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sun gets up in the morning and goes to bed
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at night like a good sun, as it is, and
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the earth knows its place and lies as still as
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a mouse. Yet, I dare say you believed all that
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about the Earth and the sun, And if so, you
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will find it quite easy to believe that. Before Anthea
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and Cyril and the others had been a week in
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the country, they had found a fairy. At least they
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called it that, because that is what it called itself,
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and of course it knew best. But it was not
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at all like any fairy you ever saw, or heard
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of or read about. It was at the gravel pits.
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Father had to go away suddenly on business, and mother
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had gone away to stay with Granny, who was not
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very well. They both went in a great hurry, and
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when they were gone, the house seemed dreadfully quiet and empty,
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and the children wandered from one room to another and
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looked at bits of paper and string on the floors
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left over from the packing and not yet cleared up,
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and wished they had something to do. It was Cyril
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who said, I say, let's take our Margate's spades and
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go and dig in the gravel pits. We can pretend
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its seaside. Father said it was once. Anthea said, he says,
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there are shells there thousands of years old. So they went,
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of course, They had been to the edge of the
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gravel pit and looked over, but they had not gone
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down into it, for fear father should say they mustn't
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play there, And the same with the chokquerry. The gravel
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pit is not really dangerous if you don't try to
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climb down the edges, but go the slow, safe way
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round by the road, as if you were a cart.
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Each of the children carried its own spade and took
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it in turns to carry the lamb. He was the baby,
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and they called him that because bah was the first
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thing he ever said. They called Anthea panther, which seems
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silly when you read it, but when you say it
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it sounds a little like her name. The gravel pit
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is very large and wide, with grass growing round the
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edges at the top and dry, stringy wild flowers purple
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and yellow. It is like a giant's wash hand basin,
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and there are mounds of gravel and holes in the
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sides of the basin where the gravel has been taken out,
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and high up in the steep sides there are little
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holes that are the little front doors of the little
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sand martins little houses. The children built a castle, of course,
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but castle building is rather poor fun when you have
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no hope of the swishing tide ever coming in to
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fill up the moat and wash away the drawbridge, and
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at the happy last to wet everybody up to the waist.
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At least Cyril wanted to dig out a cave to
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place smugglers in, but the others thought it might bury
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them alive. So it ended in all spades going to
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work to dig a hole through the castle to Australia.
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These children, you see, believe the world was round, and
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that on the other side the little Australian boys and
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girls were really walking wrong way up flies on the
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ceiling with their heads hanging down into the air. The
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children dug, and they dug, and they dug, and their
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hands got sandy and hot and red, and their faces
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got damp and shiny. The lamb had tried to eat
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the sand, and had cried so hard when he found
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that it was not as he had supposed brown sugar,
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that he was now tired out and was lying asleep
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in a warm, fat bunch in the middle of the
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half finished castle. This left his brothers and sisters free
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to work really hard, and the hole that was to
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come out in Australia soon grew so deep that Jane,
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who was called Pussy for short, begged the others to stop.
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Suppose the bottom of the hole gave way suddenly, she said,
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and you tumbled out among the little Australians. All the
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sand would get in their eyes, yes, said Robert, and
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they would hate us and throw stones at us, and
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not let us see the kangaroos or apossums, or blue
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gums or emu brand birds or anything. Cyril and Anthea
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knew that Australia was not quite so near as all that,
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but they agreed to stop using the spades and go
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on with their hands. This was quite easy, because the
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sand at the bottom of the hole was very soft
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and fine and dry, like sea sand, and there were
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little shells in it. Fancy it having been wet sea
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here once, all sloppy and shiny, said Jane, with fishes
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and conger eels and coral and mermaids, and masts of
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ships and wrecked Spanish treasure. I wish we would find
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a gold the balloon or something. Cyril said, How did
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the sea get carried away? Robert asked, Not in a pail, silly,
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said his brother. Father says the earth got too hot underneath,
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like you do in bed sometimes, so it just hunched
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up its shoulders and the sea had to slip off
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like the blankets do off us, and the shoulder was
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left sticking out and turned into dry land. Let's go
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and look for shells. I think that little cave looks likely,
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and I see something sticking out there, like a bit
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of wrecked ship's anchor, and it's beastly hot in the
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Australian hole. The others agreed, but Anthea went on digging.
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She always liked to finish a thing when she had
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once begun it. She felt it would be a disgrace
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to leave that hole without getting through to Australia. The
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cave was disappointing because there were no shells, and the
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wrecked ship's anchor turned out to be only the broken
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end of a pick axe handle. And the cave party
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were just making up their minds that the sand makes
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you thirstier when it is not by the sea side,
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and someone had suggested going home for a lemonade, when
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Anthea suddenly screamed, Cyril, come here, come quick. Oh it's alive.
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It'll get away quick. They all hurried back. It's a rat.
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I shouldn't wonder, said Robert. Father says they infest old places,
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and this must be pretty old, if the sea was
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here thousands of years ago. Perhaps it's a snake, said Jane, shuddering.
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Let's look, said Cyril, jumping into the hole. I'm not
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afraid of snakes. I like them. If it is a snake,
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I'll tame it and it will follow me everywhere, and
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I'll let it sleep round my neck at night. No,
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you won't, said Robert firmly. He shared Cyril's bedroom. But
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you may if it's a rat. Oh, don't be silly,
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said Anthea. It's not a rat. It's much bigger, and
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it's not a snake. It's got feet, I saw them
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and fur. No, not the spade. You'll hurt it. Dig
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with your hands and let it hurt me instead. That's
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so likely, isn't it, said Cyril, seizing the spade. Oh don't,
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said Anthea. Squirrel don't. I It sounds silly, but it
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said something. It really and truly did what it said.
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You let me alone. But Cyril merely observed that his
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sister must have gone off her nut, and he and
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Robert dug with spades, while Anthea sat on the edge
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of the hole, jumping up and down with hotness and anxiety.
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They dug carefully, and presently everyone could see that there
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really was something moving in the bottom of the Australian hole.
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Then Anthea cried, I'm not afraid, let me dig, and
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fell on her knees and began to scratch, like a
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dog does when he has suddenly remembered where it was
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that he buried his bone. Oh, I felt fur, she cried,
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half laughing and half crying. I did, indeed I did.
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When suddenly a dry, husky voice in the sand made
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them all jump back, and their hearts jumped nearly as
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fast as they did. Let me alone, it said, And
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now everyone heard the voice and looked at the others
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to see if they had two. But we want to
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see you, said Robert, bravely. I wish you'd come out,
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said Anthea, also taking courage. Oh well, if that is
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your wish, the boy said, And the sand stirred and
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spun and scattered, and something brown and furry and fat
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came rolling out into the hole, and sand fell off it,
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and it sat there, yawning and rubbing the ends of
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its eyes with its hands. I believe I must have
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dropped asleep, it said, stretching itself. The children stood round
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the hole in the ring, looking at the creature they
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had found. It was worth looking at. Its eyes were
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on long horns, like a snail's eyes, and it could
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move them in and out like telescopes. It had ears
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like bat's ears, and its tubby body was shaped like
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a spider's and covered with thick, soft fur. Its legs
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and arms were furry, too, and it had hands and
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feet like a monkey's. What on earth is it? Jane said?
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Shall we take it home? The thing turned its long
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eyes to look at her and said, does she always
280
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talk nonsense? Or is it only the rubbish on her
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head that makes her silly? It looked scornfully at Jane's
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hat as it spoke, She doesn't mean to be silly,
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Anthea said gently. We none of us do whatever you
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may think. Don't be frightened. We don't want to hurt you.
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You know, hurt me, It said, me frightened upon my word?
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Why you talk as if I were nobody in particular?
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All it's first stood out like a cat's when it
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is going to fight. Well, said Anthea, still kindly. Perhaps
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if we knew who you are in particular, we could
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think of something to say that wouldn't make you cross.
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Everything we said so far seems to have who are you?
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And don't get angry, because really we don't know. You
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don't know? It said, Well, I knew the world had changed,
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but well, really, do you mean to tell me seriously?
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You don't know a samiad when you see one? A samiad.
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That's Greek to me, so it is to everyone, said
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the creature sharply, well in plain English, when a sand
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a fairy? Don't you know a sand when you see one?
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It looked so grieved and hurt that James hastened to say, oh,
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of course I see you are now it is quite plain.
301
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Now one comes to look at you. You looked at
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me several sentences ago, it said, crossly, beginning to curl
303
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up again in the sand. Oh don't go away again,
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Do talk some more. Robert cried, I didn't know you
305
00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:26.839
were a sand fairy, but I knew directly I saw
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you that you were much the wonderfulest thing I'd ever seen.
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The sand fairy seemed to shade less disagreeable after this.
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00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:40.880
It isn't talking. I mind, it said, as long as
309
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you're reasonably civil. But I'm not going to make polite
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conversation for you. If you talk nicely to me, perhaps
311
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I'll answer you, and perhaps I won't. Now say something.
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Of course, no one could think of anything to say.
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But at last Robert thought of how long have you
314
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lived here? And it said at once, oh, ages, several
315
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thousand years, replied the samiyad, Do tell us about it?
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Do it's all in books? You aren't, Jane said, Oh,
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tell us everything you can about yourself. We don't know
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anything about you, and you are so nice. The sand
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00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:27.079
fairy smoothed his long rat like whiskers and smiled between them.
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Do please tell, said the children altogether, it is wonderful
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how quickly you get used to things, even the most astonishing.
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Five minutes before, the children had had no more idea
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than you that there was such a thing as a
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sand fairy in the world, and now they were talking
325
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to it as though they had known it all their lives.
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It drew its eyes in and said, how very funny,
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it is quite like old times. Where do you get
328
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your megatheriums from? Now? What said the children? All at once.
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00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.039
It is very difficult always to remember that what is
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not polite, especially in moments of surprise or agitation. Are
331
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terodactyls plentiful? Now? The sand fairy went on. The children
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00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:28.559
were unable to reply. What do you have for breakfast?
333
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The sand fairy said, impatiently, And who gives it you?
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Eggs and bacon and bread and milk and porridge and
335
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things mother gives it us. What are mega? What's its names?
336
00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:48.079
And ta? What do you call thems? And does anyone
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have them for breakfast? Why? Almost everyone had tterodactyl for breakfast.
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In my time. Pterodactyls were something like crocodiles and something
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like birds. I believe they were very good grilled you see,
340
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it was like this. Of course, there were heaps of
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sand fairies then, and in the morning early you went
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out and hunted for them, and when you'd found one,
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it gave you your wish. People used to send their
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little boys down to the seashore early in the morning
345
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before breakfast to get the day's wishes, and very often
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the eldest boy in the family would be told to
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wish for a megatherium already jointed for cooking. It was
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as big as an elephant, you see, so there was
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a good deal of meat on it. And if they
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wanted fish, the Ichthiosaurus was asked for. He was twenty
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to forty feet long, so there was plenty of him.
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And for poultry there was the Plesiosaurus. There were nice
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pickings on that too. Then the other ldren could wish
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for other things. But when people had dinner parties, it
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was nearly always megatheriums and Ichthiosaurus, because his fins were
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a great delicacy and his tail made soup. There must
357
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have been heaps and heaps of cold meat left over,
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said Anthea, who meant to be a good housekeeper some day.
359
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Oh no, said the psammead. That would never have done. Why,
360
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of course, at sunset what was left over turned into stone.
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You find the stone bones of the megatherium and other
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things all over the place even now, they tell me,
363
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Who tell you, said Cyril. But the sand fairy frowned
364
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and began to dig very fast with its furry hands.
365
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Oh don't go, they all cried, tell us more about it.
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When it was Megatherium's for breakfast, was the world like this?
367
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Then it stopped digging, not a bit, it said. It
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was nearly all sand where I lived, and coal grew
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on trees, and the periwinkles were as big as tea trays.
370
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You find them now they're turned into stone. We sand
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fairies used to live on the sea shore, and the
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children used to come with their little flint spades and
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flint pails and make castles for us to live in.
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That's thousands of years ago, But I hear the children
375
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still build castles in the sand. It's difficult to break
376
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yourself of a habit. But why did you stop living
377
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in the castles, asked Robert. It's a sad story, said
378
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the samead, gloomily. It was because they would build moats
379
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to the castles, and the nasty, wet, bubbling sea used
380
00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:52.359
to come in. And of course, as soon as a
381
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sand fairy got wet, it got cold and generally died,
382
00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:00.279
And so there got to be fewer and fewer. And
383
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whenever you found a fairy and had a wish, you
384
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used to wish for a megatherium and eat twice as
385
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much as you wanted, because it might be weeks before
386
00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:17.759
you got another wish. And did you get wet? Robert inquired,
387
00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:23.240
the sand fairy shuddered only once, it said, at the
388
00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:26.839
end of the twelfth hair on my top left whisker,
389
00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:31.640
I feel the place still in damp weather. It was
390
00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:35.400
only once, but it was quite enough for me. I
391
00:26:35.480 --> 00:26:38.640
went away as soon as the sun had dried my
392
00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:42.160
poor dear whisker. I scurried away to the back of
393
00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:46.400
the beach and dug myself a house deep in warm,
394
00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:50.799
dry sand. And there I've been ever since. And the
395
00:26:50.839 --> 00:26:55.839
sea changed its lodgings afterwards. And now I'm not going
396
00:26:55.880 --> 00:27:00.559
to tell you another thing. Just one more, please, said
397
00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:06.599
the children. Can you give wishes now? Of course, said it.
398
00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:10.160
Didn't I give you yours? A minute ago you said
399
00:27:10.759 --> 00:27:15.559
I wish you'd come out, and I did. Oh please,
400
00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:20.359
mayn't we have another? Yes, but be quick about it.
401
00:27:20.440 --> 00:27:24.400
I'm tired of you, I dare say. You haven't often
402
00:27:24.519 --> 00:27:27.279
thought what you would do if you had three wishes
403
00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:31.279
given you, and have despised the old man and his
404
00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:35.359
wife in the Black Pudding story, and felt certain that
405
00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:38.920
if you had the chance, you would think of three
406
00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:44.480
really useful wishes without a moment's hesitation. These children had
407
00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:48.119
often talked this matter over, but now the chance had
408
00:27:48.119 --> 00:27:52.720
suddenly come to them. They could not make up their minds, quick,
409
00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:57.079
said the sand very crossly. No one could think of anything.
410
00:27:57.960 --> 00:28:02.119
Only Anthea did manage to remember a private wish of
411
00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:07.119
her own and Jane's, which they had never told the boys.
412
00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:10.359
She knew they would not care about it, but still
413
00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:15.160
it was better than nothing. I wish we were all
414
00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:19.200
as beautiful as the day, she said, in a great hurry.
415
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:23.440
The children looked at each other, but each could see
416
00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:26.519
that the others were not any better looking than usual.
417
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The samoyad pushed out its long eyes and seemed to
418
00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:33.480
be holding its breath and swelling itself out till it
419
00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:38.000
was twice as fat and furry as before. Suddenly it
420
00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:42.079
let its breath go in a long sigh. I'm really
421
00:28:42.119 --> 00:28:45.720
afraid I can't manage it, it said apologetically. I must
422
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:51.039
be out of practice. The children were horribly disappointed. Oh
423
00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:56.119
do try again, they said, Well, said the sand fairy.
424
00:28:56.680 --> 00:28:59.920
The fact is I was keeping back a little string
425
00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:03.359
to give the rest of you your wishes with. If
426
00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:07.400
you'll be contented with one wish a day amongst a
427
00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:11.119
lot of you, I dare say I could screw myself
428
00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:14.960
up to do it. Do you agree to that. Yes,
429
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:19.680
Oh yes, said Jane and Anthea. The boys nodded. They
430
00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:22.599
did not believe the sand fairy could do it. You
431
00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:26.200
can always make girls believe things much easier than you
432
00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:30.759
can't boys. It stretched out its eyes farther than ever
433
00:29:31.319 --> 00:29:37.319
and swelled and swelled and swelled. Oh I do hope
434
00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:41.480
it won't hurt itself, said Anthea. Or crack its skin,
435
00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:47.240
Robert said anxiously. Everyone was very much relieved when the
436
00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:51.160
sand fairy, after getting so big that it almost filled
437
00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:54.200
up the hole in the sand, suddenly let out its
438
00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:58.559
breath and went back to its proper size. That's all right,
439
00:29:58.920 --> 00:30:03.279
it said, panting heavily. It'll come easier tomorrow. Did it
440
00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:07.920
hurt much, asked Anthea. Only my poor whisker, Thank you,
441
00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:12.119
said he. But you're a kind and thoughtful child. Good day.
442
00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:16.000
It scratched suddenly and fiercely with its hands and feet,
443
00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:19.400
and disappeared in the sand. Then the children looked at
444
00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:24.079
each other, and each child suddenly found itself alone with
445
00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:29.880
three perfect strangers, all radiantly beautiful. They stood for some
446
00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:33.960
moments in perfect silence. Each thought that its brothers and
447
00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:36.960
sisters had wandered off, and that these strange children had
448
00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:40.880
stolen up unnoticed while it was watching the swelling form
449
00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:46.640
of the sand fairy. Anthea spoke, first, excuse me, she said,
450
00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:50.759
very politely, to Jane, who now had enormous blue eyes
451
00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:53.640
and a cloud of russet hair. But have you seen
452
00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:57.680
two little boys and a little girl anywhere about? I
453
00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:01.680
was just going to ask you that, Jane, and then
454
00:31:01.799 --> 00:31:07.039
Cyril cried, why it's you. I know the hole and
455
00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:12.640
your pinafore. You are Jane, aren't you? And your panther.
456
00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:16.160
I can see your dirty handkerchief that you've forgot to
457
00:31:16.279 --> 00:31:20.400
change after you'd cut your thumb. Crikey, the wish has
458
00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:24.599
come off after all. I say, am I as handsome
459
00:31:24.759 --> 00:31:28.799
as you are? If you're Cyril, I liked you much
460
00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:33.960
better as you were before, said Anthea decidedly. You look
461
00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:37.200
like a picture of the young chorister with your golden hair.
462
00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:41.839
You'll die young. I shouldn't wonder. And if that's Robert,
463
00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:46.319
he's like an Italian organ grinder. His hair's all black.
464
00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:50.960
You girls are like Christmas cards. Then that's all silly
465
00:31:51.039 --> 00:31:57.160
Christmas cards, said Robert angrily. And Jane's hair is simply carrot's.
466
00:31:57.680 --> 00:32:04.480
It was indeed of that Venetian tint so admired by artists. Well,
467
00:32:05.319 --> 00:32:08.160
it's no use finding fault with each other, said Anthea.
468
00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:11.599
Let's get the lamb and lug it home to dinner.
469
00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:16.680
The servants will admire us most awfully. You'll see. Baby
470
00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:19.519
was just waking when they got to him, and not
471
00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:23.000
one of the children, but was relieved to find that he,
472
00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:26.240
at least was not as beautiful as the day, but
473
00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:30.240
just the same as usual. I suppose he's too young
474
00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:34.319
to have wishes, naturally, said Jane. We shall have to
475
00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:39.000
mention him specially next time. Anthea ran forward and held
476
00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:43.599
out her arms. Come to own panther ducky, she said.
477
00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:48.359
Baby looked at her disapprovingly and put a sandy pink
478
00:32:48.440 --> 00:32:53.559
thumb in his mouth. Anthea was his favorite sister, Come then,
479
00:32:54.039 --> 00:32:59.640
she said, Go way, long, said the baby. Come to
480
00:32:59.720 --> 00:33:06.000
own pussy, said Jane. What's my panty? Said Lamb dismally,
481
00:33:06.039 --> 00:33:11.000
and his lip trembled. Here, Come on, veteran, said Robert,
482
00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:16.200
Come and have a yddy on Yabby's back. You nirky
483
00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:22.240
nurky boy, owled baby, giving way altogether. Then the children
484
00:33:22.359 --> 00:33:28.079
knew the worst. The baby did not know them. They
485
00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:31.759
looked at each other in despair, and it was terrible
486
00:33:31.799 --> 00:33:36.240
to each in this dire emergency, to meet only the
487
00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:43.039
beautiful eyes of perfect strangers, instead of the merry, friendly, commonplace, twinkling,
488
00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:47.599
jolly little eyes of its own brothers and sisters. This
489
00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:51.599
is most truly awful, said Cyril, when he had tried
490
00:33:51.640 --> 00:33:54.039
to lift up the lamb, and the lamb had scratched
491
00:33:54.079 --> 00:33:57.200
like a cat and bellowed like a bull. We've got
492
00:33:57.240 --> 00:34:00.720
to make friends with him. I can't carry him home
493
00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:04.480
screaming like that. Fancy having to make friends with our
494
00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:09.719
own baby. It's too silly. That, however, was exactly what
495
00:34:09.840 --> 00:34:13.039
they had to do. It took over an hour, and
496
00:34:13.159 --> 00:34:16.880
the task was not rendered any easier by the fact
497
00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:19.920
that the Lamb was by this time as hungry as
498
00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:24.320
a lion and as thirsty as a desert. At last,
499
00:34:24.760 --> 00:34:28.079
he consented to allow these strangers to carry him home
500
00:34:28.119 --> 00:34:31.480
by turns, but as he refused to hold on to
501
00:34:31.599 --> 00:34:36.159
such new acquaintances, he was a dead weight and most exhausting.
502
00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:40.519
Thank goodness, we're home, said Jane, staggering through the iron
503
00:34:40.599 --> 00:34:43.880
gate to where Martha the nursemaid stood at the front door.
504
00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:47.639
Shading her eyes with her hand and looking out anxiously.
505
00:34:48.280 --> 00:34:53.239
Here do take baby. Martha snatched baby from her arms.
506
00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:59.360
Thanks be, he's back safe, She said, where are the others?
507
00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:01.840
And who else? Her? To goodness, gracious are all of you?
508
00:35:03.559 --> 00:35:09.079
We're us, of course, said Robert. And who's us when
509
00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:14.079
you're at home, asked Martha scornfully. I tell you it's
510
00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:19.320
us only we're beautiful as the day, said Cyril. I'm Cyril,
511
00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:22.400
and these are the others, and we're jolly hungry. Let
512
00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:26.079
us in, and don't be a silly idiot. Martha merely
513
00:35:26.199 --> 00:35:29.599
dratted Cyril's impudence and tried to shut the door in
514
00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:34.719
his face. I know we look different, but I'm Anthea,
515
00:35:34.880 --> 00:35:38.079
and we're so tired, and it's long past dinner time.
516
00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:41.360
Then go home to your dinners, whoever you are. And
517
00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:44.360
if our children put you up to this plate acting,
518
00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:47.599
you can tell them from me. They'll catch it, so
519
00:35:47.719 --> 00:35:51.480
they know what to expect. With that, she did bang
520
00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:57.800
the door. Cyril rang the bell violently, no answer. Presently,
521
00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:00.400
Cook put her head out of a bedroom window and said,
522
00:36:01.239 --> 00:36:04.840
if you don't take yourselves off and that precious sharp,
523
00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:08.840
I'll go and fetch the police, and she slammed down
524
00:36:08.840 --> 00:36:14.760
the window. It's no good, said Anthea, Oh, do do
525
00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:18.760
come away before we get sent to prison. The boys
526
00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:22.000
said it was nonsense, and the law of England couldn't
527
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:24.360
put you in prison for just being as beautiful as
528
00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:27.519
the day. But all the same, they followed the others
529
00:36:27.639 --> 00:36:30.960
out into the lane. We shall be our proper selves
530
00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:36.760
at sunset, I suppose, said Jane. I don't know. Cyril said, sadly,
531
00:36:37.360 --> 00:36:40.440
it mayn't be like that now. Things have changed a
532
00:36:40.519 --> 00:36:47.480
good deal since megatherium times. Oh, cried Anthea. Suddenly, perhaps
533
00:36:47.559 --> 00:36:51.280
we shall turn into stone at sunset like the megatheriums did,
534
00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:54.320
so that there mayn't be any of us left over
535
00:36:54.440 --> 00:36:58.559
for the next day. She began to cry, so did Jane,
536
00:36:59.199 --> 00:37:02.599
even the boys and Pale. No one had the heart
537
00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:07.360
to say anything. It was a horrible afternoon. There was
538
00:37:07.400 --> 00:37:09.920
no house near where the children could beg a crust
539
00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:12.639
of bread or even a glass of water. They were
540
00:37:12.679 --> 00:37:15.480
afraid to go to the village because they had seen
541
00:37:15.559 --> 00:37:18.760
Martha go down there with the basket, and there was
542
00:37:18.800 --> 00:37:23.800
a local constable. True, they were all as beautiful as
543
00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:26.719
the day, but that was poor comfort when you are
544
00:37:26.719 --> 00:37:30.440
as hungry as a hunter and as thirsty as a sponge.
545
00:37:31.320 --> 00:37:33.960
Three times they tried in vain to get the servants
546
00:37:33.960 --> 00:37:36.000
in the white House to let them in and listen
547
00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:40.400
to their tail. And then Robert went alone, hoping to
548
00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:42.079
be able to climb in at one of the back
549
00:37:42.119 --> 00:37:45.400
windows and so open the door to the others, But
550
00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:49.920
all the windows were out of reach, and Martha emptied
551
00:37:49.960 --> 00:37:53.320
a toilet jug of cold water over him from a
552
00:37:53.400 --> 00:37:57.559
top window and said, go along with you, you nasty
553
00:37:57.679 --> 00:38:02.079
little Italian monkey. It came at last to their sitting
554
00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:05.360
down in a row under the hedge, with their feet
555
00:38:05.400 --> 00:38:09.519
in a dry ditch, waiting for sunset, and wondering whether
556
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:13.159
when the sun did set they would turn into stone
557
00:38:13.679 --> 00:38:18.719
or only into their own old natural selves. And each
558
00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:23.039
of them still felt lonely and among strangers, and tried
559
00:38:23.119 --> 00:38:26.400
not to look at the others, for though their voices
560
00:38:26.440 --> 00:38:30.800
were their own, their faces were so radiantly beautiful as
561
00:38:30.840 --> 00:38:34.679
to be quite irritating to look at. I don't believe
562
00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:38.079
we shall turn into stone, said Robert, breaking a long
563
00:38:38.159 --> 00:38:41.639
miserable silence, because the sand fairy said he'd give us
564
00:38:41.679 --> 00:38:45.239
another wish tomorrow, and he couldn't if we were stone,
565
00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:49.679
could he The others said no, but they weren't at
566
00:38:49.719 --> 00:38:55.800
all comforted. Another silence, longer and more miserable, was broken
567
00:38:55.840 --> 00:39:00.000
by Cyril's suddenly saying, I don't want to frighten you girls,
568
00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:04.280
but I believe it's beginning with me already. My foot's
569
00:39:04.400 --> 00:39:07.400
quite dead. I'm turning to stone. I know I am,
570
00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:10.840
and so will you. In a minute. Never mind, said
571
00:39:10.920 --> 00:39:14.559
Robert kindly. Perhaps you'll be the only stone one, and
572
00:39:14.639 --> 00:39:16.639
the rest of us will be all right, and will
573
00:39:16.719 --> 00:39:21.519
cherish your statue and hang garlands on it. But when
574
00:39:21.519 --> 00:39:23.960
it turned out that Cyril's foot had only gone to
575
00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:27.159
sleep through his sitting too long with it under him,
576
00:39:27.719 --> 00:39:30.039
and when it came to life in an agony of
577
00:39:30.119 --> 00:39:34.679
pins and needles, the others were quite cross, giving us
578
00:39:34.760 --> 00:39:38.800
such a fright for nothing, said Anthea. The third and
579
00:39:39.079 --> 00:39:43.480
miserablest silence of all was broken by Jane. She said,
580
00:39:44.119 --> 00:39:47.480
if we do come out of this all right, we'll
581
00:39:47.559 --> 00:39:50.920
ask the Psamiad to make it so that the servants
582
00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:55.079
don't notice anything different, no matter what wishes we have.
583
00:39:55.960 --> 00:39:59.559
The others only grunted. They were too wretched even to
584
00:39:59.639 --> 00:40:06.039
make good resolutions. At last, hunger and fright, and crossness
585
00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:11.880
and tiredness, four very nasty things all joined together to
586
00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:17.679
bring one nice thing, and that was sleep. The children
587
00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:21.280
lay asleep in a row, with their beautiful eyes shut
588
00:40:21.480 --> 00:40:26.880
and their beautiful mouths open. Anthea woke first. The sun
589
00:40:26.960 --> 00:40:32.199
had set and the twilight was coming on. Anthea pinched
590
00:40:32.199 --> 00:40:35.760
herself very hard to make sure, and when she found
591
00:40:36.039 --> 00:40:39.440
she could still feel pinching, she decided that she was
592
00:40:39.480 --> 00:40:43.840
not stone, and then she pinched the others. They also
593
00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:48.880
were soft. Wake up, she said, almost in tears of joy.
594
00:40:49.320 --> 00:40:54.480
It's all right, we're not stone. And oh, Cyril, how
595
00:40:54.599 --> 00:40:58.400
nice and ugly you do look, with your old freckles
596
00:40:58.440 --> 00:41:01.760
and your brown hair and your little eyes. And so
597
00:41:01.920 --> 00:41:04.480
do you all, she added, so that they might not
598
00:41:04.599 --> 00:41:08.280
feel jealous. When they got home, they were very much
599
00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:11.360
scolded by Martha, who told them about the strange children.
600
00:41:12.079 --> 00:41:15.599
A good looking lot, I must say, but that impudent,
601
00:41:16.559 --> 00:41:20.480
I know, said Robert, who knew by experience how hopeless
602
00:41:20.480 --> 00:41:22.760
it would be to try to explain things to Martha.
603
00:41:23.400 --> 00:41:26.880
And where on earth have you been all this time?
604
00:41:27.079 --> 00:41:32.119
You naughty little things? You in the lane? Why didn't
605
00:41:32.159 --> 00:41:36.119
you come home hours ago? We couldn't because of them,
606
00:41:36.840 --> 00:41:41.760
said Anthea, who the children, who were as beautiful as
607
00:41:41.800 --> 00:41:46.039
the day. They kept us there till after sunset. We
608
00:41:46.119 --> 00:41:49.559
couldn't come back till they were gone. You don't know
609
00:41:49.639 --> 00:41:53.000
how we hated them. Oh, do give us some supper.
610
00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:58.360
We are so hungry, hungry, I should think so, said
611
00:41:58.440 --> 00:42:02.320
Martha angrily, all day like this. Well, I hope it'll
612
00:42:02.360 --> 00:42:04.920
be a lesson to you not to go picking up
613
00:42:04.960 --> 00:42:10.559
with strange children down here after measles as likely as not. Now, mind,
614
00:42:10.599 --> 00:42:13.320
if you see them again, don't you speak to them,
615
00:42:13.639 --> 00:42:16.840
not one word, nor so much as a look, But
616
00:42:16.960 --> 00:42:20.480
come straight away and tell me I'll spoil their beauty
617
00:42:20.519 --> 00:42:25.079
for them. If ever we do see them again, we'll
618
00:42:25.119 --> 00:42:29.639
tell you, Anthea said, and Robert, fixing his eyes fondly
619
00:42:29.679 --> 00:42:32.039
on the cold beef that was being brought in on
620
00:42:32.119 --> 00:42:37.400
a tray by cook, added in heartfelt undertones, and we'll
621
00:42:37.440 --> 00:42:40.920
take jolly good care we never do see them again,
622
00:42:42.159 --> 00:42:48.519
and they never have. End of chapter one. Recording by
623
00:42:48.599 --> 00:42:55.760
Jenny Lundak, South Padre Island, Texas in July two thousand eleven.
1
00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:07.360
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit. Chapter one of
2
00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:13.039
Five Children and It. This is a LibriVox recording. All
3
00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:18.359
LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
4
00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:25.719
or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot or recording by
5
00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:31.239
Grandma Jenny. Five Children in It by E. Nesbit. Chapter
6
00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:37.799
one To John Bland, my lamb, you are so very small.
7
00:00:38.399 --> 00:00:42.039
You have not learned to read at all yet, never
8
00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:47.600
a printed book withstands the urgence of your dimpled hands.
9
00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:52.719
So though this book is for yourself, let mother keep
10
00:00:52.759 --> 00:00:56.719
it on the shelf till you can read. O days
11
00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:03.759
that pass. That day will come too soon, alas Chapter one,
12
00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:09.159
Beautiful as the day. The house was three miles from
13
00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:13.560
the station. But before the dusty hired fly had rattled
14
00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:17.159
along for five minutes, the children began to put their
15
00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:20.879
heads out of the carriage window and to say, aren't
16
00:01:20.920 --> 00:01:24.760
we there yet? And every time they passed a house,
17
00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:29.599
which was not very often, they all said, oh, is
18
00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:34.519
this it? But it never was till they reached the
19
00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:38.719
very top of the hill, just past the chot quarry,
20
00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:42.840
and before you come to the gravel pit. And then
21
00:01:43.319 --> 00:01:47.040
there was a white house with a green garden, and
22
00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:53.000
an orchard beyond. And Mother said, here we are. How
23
00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:58.079
white the house is, said Robert. And look at the roses,
24
00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:04.799
said Anthea, and the plums, said Jane. It is rather decent,
25
00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:11.400
Cyril admitted. The baby said, want to go walky? And
26
00:02:11.560 --> 00:02:15.919
the fly stopped with the last rattle and jolt. Everyone
27
00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.240
got its legs kicked or its feet trodden on in
28
00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:21.680
the scramble to get out of the carriage at that
29
00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:27.759
very minute, but no one seemed to mind. Mother, curiously enough,
30
00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:32.000
was in no hurry to get out, and even when
31
00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:35.280
she had come down slowly and by the step, and
32
00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:38.479
with no jump at all, she seemed to wish to
33
00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:42.599
see the boxes carried in, and even to pay the driver,
34
00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:47.800
instead of joining in that first glorious rush round the
35
00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:53.479
garden and the orchard, and the thorny, thistly, briary brambly
36
00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:59.919
wilderness beyond the broken gate, and the dry fountain at
37
00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:03.919
the side of the house. But the children were wiser
38
00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:07.919
for once, for it was not really a pretty house
39
00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:11.919
at all. It was quite ordinary, and Mother thought it
40
00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.319
was rather inconvenient, and was quite annoyed at there being
41
00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:19.919
no shelves to speak of, and hardly a cupboard in
42
00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:23.840
the place. Father used to say that the ironwork on
43
00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:28.120
the roof and coping was like an architect's nightmare. But
44
00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.319
the house was deep in the country, with no other
45
00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:34.680
house in sight, and the children had been in London
46
00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:38.560
for two years without so much as once going to
47
00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:42.360
the seaside, even for a day by an excursion train,
48
00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:46.479
and so the White House seemed to them a sort
49
00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:51.719
of fairy palace set down in an earthly paradise. For
50
00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:56.840
London is like prison for children, especially if their relations
51
00:03:56.919 --> 00:04:01.000
are not rich. Of course, there are shops and theaters
52
00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:05.319
and masculine and cooks and things. But if your people
53
00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:08.639
are rather poor, you don't get taken to the theaters,
54
00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:12.080
and you can't buy things out of the shops. And
55
00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:15.000
London has none of those nice things that children may
56
00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:18.759
play with without hurting the things or themselves, such as
57
00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:23.920
trees and sand and woods and waters, and nearly everything
58
00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:28.319
in London is the wrong sort of shape, all straight
59
00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:32.360
lines and flat streets, instead of being all sorts of
60
00:04:32.439 --> 00:04:36.480
odd shapes like things are in the country. Trees are
61
00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.199
all different, as you know, and I am sure some
62
00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:42.279
tiresome person must have told you that there are no
63
00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:46.879
two blades of grass exactly alike. But in streets where
64
00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:50.839
the blades of grass don't grow, everything is like everything else.
65
00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:54.639
This is why so many children who live in towns
66
00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:59.360
are so extremely naughty. They do not know what is
67
00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:02.680
the matter with them, and no more do their fathers
68
00:05:02.680 --> 00:05:08.360
and mothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, tutors, governesses and nurses. But
69
00:05:08.519 --> 00:05:12.040
I know, and so do you. Now children in the
70
00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:15.680
country are naughty sometimes too, but that is for quite
71
00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:19.720
different reasons. The children had explored the gardens and the
72
00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:23.480
outhouses thoroughly before they were caught and cleaned for Tea,
73
00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:26.879
and they saw quite well that they were certain to
74
00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:30.199
be happy at the White House. They thought so from
75
00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:33.319
the first moment. But when they found the back of
76
00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:38.279
the house covered with jasmine in white flower and smelling
77
00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:41.480
like a bottle of the most expensive scent that is
78
00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:44.480
ever given for a birthday present. And when they had
79
00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:48.639
seen the lawn all green and smooth and quite different
80
00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:51.720
from the brown grass in the gardens at Camden Town,
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and when they had found the stable with a loft
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over it and some old hay still left, they were
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almost certain. And when Robert had found the broken swing
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and tumbled out of it and got a lump on
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his head the size of an egg. And Cyril had
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nipped his finger in the door of a hutch that
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seemed made to keep rabbits in. If you ever had
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any they had no longer any doubts whatever. The best
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part of it all was that there were no rules
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about not going to places and not doing things. In London,
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almost everything is labeled you mustn't touch, And though the
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label is invisible, it's just as bad because you know
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it's there, or if you don't, you jolly soon get told.
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The White House was on the edge of a hill,
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with the wood behind it, and the chot quarry on
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one side and the gravel pit on the other. Down
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at the bottom of the hill was a level plain
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with queer shaped white buildings where people burnt lime, and
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a big red brewery and other high houses. And when
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the big chimneys were smoking and the sun was setting,
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the valley looked as if it were filled with golden
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mist and lime. Kilns and oast houses glimmered and glittered
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till they were like an enchanted city out of the
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Arabian nights. Now that I have begun to tell you
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about the place. I feel that I could go on
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and make this into a most interesting story about all
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the ordinary things that the children did, just the kind
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of things you do yourself, you know, and you would
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believe every word of it. And when I told about
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the children's being tiresome as you are, sometimes your aunts
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would perhaps write in the margin of the story with pencil,
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how true or how like life, and you would see
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it and very likely be annoyed. So I will only
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tell you the really astonishing things that happened, and you
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may leave the book about quite safely, for no aunts
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and uncles either are likely to write how true on
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the edge of the story. Grown Up people find it
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very difficult to believe really wonderful things unless they have
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what they call proof. But children will believe almost anything,
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and grown ups know this. That is why they tell
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you that the earth is round like an orange, when
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you can see perfectly well that is flat and lumpy,
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And why they say that the earth goes round the sun,
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when you can see for yourself any day that the
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sun gets up in the morning and goes to bed
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at night like a good sun, as it is, and
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the earth knows its place and lies as still as
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a mouse. Yet, I dare say you believed all that
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about the Earth and the sun, And if so, you
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will find it quite easy to believe that. Before Anthea
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and Cyril and the others had been a week in
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the country, they had found a fairy. At least they
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called it that, because that is what it called itself,
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and of course it knew best. But it was not
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at all like any fairy you ever saw, or heard
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of or read about. It was at the gravel pits.
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Father had to go away suddenly on business, and mother
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had gone away to stay with Granny, who was not
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very well. They both went in a great hurry, and
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when they were gone, the house seemed dreadfully quiet and empty,
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and the children wandered from one room to another and
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looked at bits of paper and string on the floors
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left over from the packing and not yet cleared up,
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and wished they had something to do. It was Cyril
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who said, I say, let's take our Margate's spades and
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go and dig in the gravel pits. We can pretend
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its seaside. Father said it was once. Anthea said, he says,
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there are shells there thousands of years old. So they went,
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of course, They had been to the edge of the
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gravel pit and looked over, but they had not gone
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down into it, for fear father should say they mustn't
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play there, And the same with the chokquerry. The gravel
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pit is not really dangerous if you don't try to
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climb down the edges, but go the slow, safe way
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round by the road, as if you were a cart.
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Each of the children carried its own spade and took
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it in turns to carry the lamb. He was the baby,
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and they called him that because bah was the first
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thing he ever said. They called Anthea panther, which seems
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silly when you read it, but when you say it
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it sounds a little like her name. The gravel pit
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is very large and wide, with grass growing round the
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edges at the top and dry, stringy wild flowers purple
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and yellow. It is like a giant's wash hand basin,
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and there are mounds of gravel and holes in the
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sides of the basin where the gravel has been taken out,
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and high up in the steep sides there are little
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holes that are the little front doors of the little
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sand martins little houses. The children built a castle, of course,
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but castle building is rather poor fun when you have
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no hope of the swishing tide ever coming in to
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fill up the moat and wash away the drawbridge, and
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at the happy last to wet everybody up to the waist.
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At least Cyril wanted to dig out a cave to
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place smugglers in, but the others thought it might bury
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them alive. So it ended in all spades going to
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work to dig a hole through the castle to Australia.
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These children, you see, believe the world was round, and
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that on the other side the little Australian boys and
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girls were really walking wrong way up flies on the
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ceiling with their heads hanging down into the air. The
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children dug, and they dug, and they dug, and their
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hands got sandy and hot and red, and their faces
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got damp and shiny. The lamb had tried to eat
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the sand, and had cried so hard when he found
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that it was not as he had supposed brown sugar,
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that he was now tired out and was lying asleep
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in a warm, fat bunch in the middle of the
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half finished castle. This left his brothers and sisters free
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to work really hard, and the hole that was to
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come out in Australia soon grew so deep that Jane,
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who was called Pussy for short, begged the others to stop.
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Suppose the bottom of the hole gave way suddenly, she said,
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and you tumbled out among the little Australians. All the
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sand would get in their eyes, yes, said Robert, and
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they would hate us and throw stones at us, and
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not let us see the kangaroos or apossums, or blue
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gums or emu brand birds or anything. Cyril and Anthea
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knew that Australia was not quite so near as all that,
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but they agreed to stop using the spades and go
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on with their hands. This was quite easy, because the
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sand at the bottom of the hole was very soft
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and fine and dry, like sea sand, and there were
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little shells in it. Fancy it having been wet sea
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here once, all sloppy and shiny, said Jane, with fishes
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and conger eels and coral and mermaids, and masts of
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ships and wrecked Spanish treasure. I wish we would find
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a gold the balloon or something. Cyril said, How did
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the sea get carried away? Robert asked, Not in a pail, silly,
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said his brother. Father says the earth got too hot underneath,
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like you do in bed sometimes, so it just hunched
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up its shoulders and the sea had to slip off
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like the blankets do off us, and the shoulder was
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left sticking out and turned into dry land. Let's go
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and look for shells. I think that little cave looks likely,
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and I see something sticking out there, like a bit
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of wrecked ship's anchor, and it's beastly hot in the
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Australian hole. The others agreed, but Anthea went on digging.
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She always liked to finish a thing when she had
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once begun it. She felt it would be a disgrace
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to leave that hole without getting through to Australia. The
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cave was disappointing because there were no shells, and the
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wrecked ship's anchor turned out to be only the broken
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end of a pick axe handle. And the cave party
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were just making up their minds that the sand makes
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you thirstier when it is not by the sea side,
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and someone had suggested going home for a lemonade, when
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Anthea suddenly screamed, Cyril, come here, come quick. Oh it's alive.
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It'll get away quick. They all hurried back. It's a rat.
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I shouldn't wonder, said Robert. Father says they infest old places,
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and this must be pretty old, if the sea was
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here thousands of years ago. Perhaps it's a snake, said Jane, shuddering.
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Let's look, said Cyril, jumping into the hole. I'm not
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afraid of snakes. I like them. If it is a snake,
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I'll tame it and it will follow me everywhere, and
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I'll let it sleep round my neck at night. No,
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you won't, said Robert firmly. He shared Cyril's bedroom. But
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you may if it's a rat. Oh, don't be silly,
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said Anthea. It's not a rat. It's much bigger, and
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it's not a snake. It's got feet, I saw them
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and fur. No, not the spade. You'll hurt it. Dig
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with your hands and let it hurt me instead. That's
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so likely, isn't it, said Cyril, seizing the spade. Oh don't,
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said Anthea. Squirrel don't. I It sounds silly, but it
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said something. It really and truly did what it said.
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You let me alone. But Cyril merely observed that his
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sister must have gone off her nut, and he and
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Robert dug with spades, while Anthea sat on the edge
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of the hole, jumping up and down with hotness and anxiety.
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They dug carefully, and presently everyone could see that there
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really was something moving in the bottom of the Australian hole.
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Then Anthea cried, I'm not afraid, let me dig, and
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fell on her knees and began to scratch, like a
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dog does when he has suddenly remembered where it was
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that he buried his bone. Oh, I felt fur, she cried,
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half laughing and half crying. I did, indeed I did.
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When suddenly a dry, husky voice in the sand made
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them all jump back, and their hearts jumped nearly as
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fast as they did. Let me alone, it said, And
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now everyone heard the voice and looked at the others
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to see if they had two. But we want to
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see you, said Robert, bravely. I wish you'd come out,
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said Anthea, also taking courage. Oh well, if that is
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your wish, the boy said, And the sand stirred and
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spun and scattered, and something brown and furry and fat
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came rolling out into the hole, and sand fell off it,
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and it sat there, yawning and rubbing the ends of
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its eyes with its hands. I believe I must have
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dropped asleep, it said, stretching itself. The children stood round
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the hole in the ring, looking at the creature they
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had found. It was worth looking at. Its eyes were
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on long horns, like a snail's eyes, and it could
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move them in and out like telescopes. It had ears
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like bat's ears, and its tubby body was shaped like
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a spider's and covered with thick, soft fur. Its legs
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and arms were furry, too, and it had hands and
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feet like a monkey's. What on earth is it? Jane said?
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Shall we take it home? The thing turned its long
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eyes to look at her and said, does she always
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talk nonsense? Or is it only the rubbish on her
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head that makes her silly? It looked scornfully at Jane's
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hat as it spoke, She doesn't mean to be silly,
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Anthea said gently. We none of us do whatever you
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may think. Don't be frightened. We don't want to hurt you.
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You know, hurt me, It said, me frightened upon my word?
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Why you talk as if I were nobody in particular?
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All it's first stood out like a cat's when it
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is going to fight. Well, said Anthea, still kindly. Perhaps
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if we knew who you are in particular, we could
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think of something to say that wouldn't make you cross.
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Everything we said so far seems to have who are you?
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And don't get angry, because really we don't know. You
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don't know? It said, Well, I knew the world had changed,
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but well, really, do you mean to tell me seriously?
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You don't know a samiad when you see one? A samiad.
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That's Greek to me, so it is to everyone, said
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the creature sharply, well in plain English, when a sand
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a fairy? Don't you know a sand when you see one?
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It looked so grieved and hurt that James hastened to say, oh,
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of course I see you are now it is quite plain.
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Now one comes to look at you. You looked at
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me several sentences ago, it said, crossly, beginning to curl
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up again in the sand. Oh don't go away again,
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Do talk some more. Robert cried, I didn't know you
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were a sand fairy, but I knew directly I saw
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you that you were much the wonderfulest thing I'd ever seen.
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The sand fairy seemed to shade less disagreeable after this.
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It isn't talking. I mind, it said, as long as
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you're reasonably civil. But I'm not going to make polite
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conversation for you. If you talk nicely to me, perhaps
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I'll answer you, and perhaps I won't. Now say something.
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Of course, no one could think of anything to say.
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But at last Robert thought of how long have you
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lived here? And it said at once, oh, ages, several
315
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thousand years, replied the samiyad, Do tell us about it?
316
00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:15.119
Do it's all in books? You aren't, Jane said, Oh,
317
00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:18.799
tell us everything you can about yourself. We don't know
318
00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:23.039
anything about you, and you are so nice. The sand
319
00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:27.079
fairy smoothed his long rat like whiskers and smiled between them.
320
00:21:27.559 --> 00:21:32.759
Do please tell, said the children altogether, it is wonderful
321
00:21:32.839 --> 00:21:37.200
how quickly you get used to things, even the most astonishing.
322
00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:42.400
Five minutes before, the children had had no more idea
323
00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:45.759
than you that there was such a thing as a
324
00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:49.160
sand fairy in the world, and now they were talking
325
00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:53.240
to it as though they had known it all their lives.
326
00:21:53.319 --> 00:21:57.720
It drew its eyes in and said, how very funny,
327
00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:02.480
it is quite like old times. Where do you get
328
00:22:02.519 --> 00:22:09.119
your megatheriums from? Now? What said the children? All at once.
329
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.039
It is very difficult always to remember that what is
330
00:22:14.119 --> 00:22:19.039
not polite, especially in moments of surprise or agitation. Are
331
00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:24.319
terodactyls plentiful? Now? The sand fairy went on. The children
332
00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:28.559
were unable to reply. What do you have for breakfast?
333
00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:32.720
The sand fairy said, impatiently, And who gives it you?
334
00:22:33.640 --> 00:22:37.680
Eggs and bacon and bread and milk and porridge and
335
00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:43.359
things mother gives it us. What are mega? What's its names?
336
00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:48.079
And ta? What do you call thems? And does anyone
337
00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:53.720
have them for breakfast? Why? Almost everyone had tterodactyl for breakfast.
338
00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:58.200
In my time. Pterodactyls were something like crocodiles and something
339
00:22:58.319 --> 00:23:03.279
like birds. I believe they were very good grilled you see,
340
00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:07.519
it was like this. Of course, there were heaps of
341
00:23:07.640 --> 00:23:11.839
sand fairies then, and in the morning early you went
342
00:23:11.880 --> 00:23:15.720
out and hunted for them, and when you'd found one,
343
00:23:16.440 --> 00:23:19.839
it gave you your wish. People used to send their
344
00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:22.920
little boys down to the seashore early in the morning
345
00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:27.559
before breakfast to get the day's wishes, and very often
346
00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:31.079
the eldest boy in the family would be told to
347
00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:36.119
wish for a megatherium already jointed for cooking. It was
348
00:23:36.359 --> 00:23:39.519
as big as an elephant, you see, so there was
349
00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:42.599
a good deal of meat on it. And if they
350
00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:47.759
wanted fish, the Ichthiosaurus was asked for. He was twenty
351
00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:51.000
to forty feet long, so there was plenty of him.
352
00:23:51.319 --> 00:23:56.440
And for poultry there was the Plesiosaurus. There were nice
353
00:23:56.519 --> 00:24:00.960
pickings on that too. Then the other ldren could wish
354
00:24:01.000 --> 00:24:05.400
for other things. But when people had dinner parties, it
355
00:24:05.559 --> 00:24:12.039
was nearly always megatheriums and Ichthiosaurus, because his fins were
356
00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:16.480
a great delicacy and his tail made soup. There must
357
00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:19.480
have been heaps and heaps of cold meat left over,
358
00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:23.200
said Anthea, who meant to be a good housekeeper some day.
359
00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:28.799
Oh no, said the psammead. That would never have done. Why,
360
00:24:28.839 --> 00:24:32.720
of course, at sunset what was left over turned into stone.
361
00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:36.200
You find the stone bones of the megatherium and other
362
00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:39.519
things all over the place even now, they tell me,
363
00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:44.200
Who tell you, said Cyril. But the sand fairy frowned
364
00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:46.920
and began to dig very fast with its furry hands.
365
00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:52.000
Oh don't go, they all cried, tell us more about it.
366
00:24:52.039 --> 00:24:56.240
When it was Megatherium's for breakfast, was the world like this?
367
00:24:56.480 --> 00:25:01.400
Then it stopped digging, not a bit, it said. It
368
00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:05.079
was nearly all sand where I lived, and coal grew
369
00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:09.039
on trees, and the periwinkles were as big as tea trays.
370
00:25:09.559 --> 00:25:13.039
You find them now they're turned into stone. We sand
371
00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:15.720
fairies used to live on the sea shore, and the
372
00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:19.200
children used to come with their little flint spades and
373
00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:22.319
flint pails and make castles for us to live in.
374
00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:26.599
That's thousands of years ago, But I hear the children
375
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:30.160
still build castles in the sand. It's difficult to break
376
00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:34.039
yourself of a habit. But why did you stop living
377
00:25:34.119 --> 00:25:39.160
in the castles, asked Robert. It's a sad story, said
378
00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:44.759
the samead, gloomily. It was because they would build moats
379
00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:49.079
to the castles, and the nasty, wet, bubbling sea used
380
00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:52.359
to come in. And of course, as soon as a
381
00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:56.559
sand fairy got wet, it got cold and generally died,
382
00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:00.279
And so there got to be fewer and fewer. And
383
00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:05.000
whenever you found a fairy and had a wish, you
384
00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:09.160
used to wish for a megatherium and eat twice as
385
00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:12.240
much as you wanted, because it might be weeks before
386
00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:17.759
you got another wish. And did you get wet? Robert inquired,
387
00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:23.240
the sand fairy shuddered only once, it said, at the
388
00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:26.839
end of the twelfth hair on my top left whisker,
389
00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:31.640
I feel the place still in damp weather. It was
390
00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:35.400
only once, but it was quite enough for me. I
391
00:26:35.480 --> 00:26:38.640
went away as soon as the sun had dried my
392
00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:42.160
poor dear whisker. I scurried away to the back of
393
00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:46.400
the beach and dug myself a house deep in warm,
394
00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:50.799
dry sand. And there I've been ever since. And the
395
00:26:50.839 --> 00:26:55.839
sea changed its lodgings afterwards. And now I'm not going
396
00:26:55.880 --> 00:27:00.559
to tell you another thing. Just one more, please, said
397
00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:06.599
the children. Can you give wishes now? Of course, said it.
398
00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:10.160
Didn't I give you yours? A minute ago you said
399
00:27:10.759 --> 00:27:15.559
I wish you'd come out, and I did. Oh please,
400
00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:20.359
mayn't we have another? Yes, but be quick about it.
401
00:27:20.440 --> 00:27:24.400
I'm tired of you, I dare say. You haven't often
402
00:27:24.519 --> 00:27:27.279
thought what you would do if you had three wishes
403
00:27:27.319 --> 00:27:31.279
given you, and have despised the old man and his
404
00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:35.359
wife in the Black Pudding story, and felt certain that
405
00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:38.920
if you had the chance, you would think of three
406
00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:44.480
really useful wishes without a moment's hesitation. These children had
407
00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:48.119
often talked this matter over, but now the chance had
408
00:27:48.119 --> 00:27:52.720
suddenly come to them. They could not make up their minds, quick,
409
00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:57.079
said the sand very crossly. No one could think of anything.
410
00:27:57.960 --> 00:28:02.119
Only Anthea did manage to remember a private wish of
411
00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:07.119
her own and Jane's, which they had never told the boys.
412
00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:10.359
She knew they would not care about it, but still
413
00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:15.160
it was better than nothing. I wish we were all
414
00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:19.200
as beautiful as the day, she said, in a great hurry.
415
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:23.440
The children looked at each other, but each could see
416
00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:26.519
that the others were not any better looking than usual.
417
00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:30.160
The samoyad pushed out its long eyes and seemed to
418
00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:33.480
be holding its breath and swelling itself out till it
419
00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:38.000
was twice as fat and furry as before. Suddenly it
420
00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:42.079
let its breath go in a long sigh. I'm really
421
00:28:42.119 --> 00:28:45.720
afraid I can't manage it, it said apologetically. I must
422
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:51.039
be out of practice. The children were horribly disappointed. Oh
423
00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:56.119
do try again, they said, Well, said the sand fairy.
424
00:28:56.680 --> 00:28:59.920
The fact is I was keeping back a little string
425
00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:03.359
to give the rest of you your wishes with. If
426
00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:07.400
you'll be contented with one wish a day amongst a
427
00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:11.119
lot of you, I dare say I could screw myself
428
00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:14.960
up to do it. Do you agree to that. Yes,
429
00:29:15.319 --> 00:29:19.680
Oh yes, said Jane and Anthea. The boys nodded. They
430
00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:22.599
did not believe the sand fairy could do it. You
431
00:29:22.680 --> 00:29:26.200
can always make girls believe things much easier than you
432
00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:30.759
can't boys. It stretched out its eyes farther than ever
433
00:29:31.319 --> 00:29:37.319
and swelled and swelled and swelled. Oh I do hope
434
00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:41.480
it won't hurt itself, said Anthea. Or crack its skin,
435
00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:47.240
Robert said anxiously. Everyone was very much relieved when the
436
00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:51.160
sand fairy, after getting so big that it almost filled
437
00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:54.200
up the hole in the sand, suddenly let out its
438
00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:58.559
breath and went back to its proper size. That's all right,
439
00:29:58.920 --> 00:30:03.279
it said, panting heavily. It'll come easier tomorrow. Did it
440
00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:07.920
hurt much, asked Anthea. Only my poor whisker, Thank you,
441
00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:12.119
said he. But you're a kind and thoughtful child. Good day.
442
00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:16.000
It scratched suddenly and fiercely with its hands and feet,
443
00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:19.400
and disappeared in the sand. Then the children looked at
444
00:30:19.440 --> 00:30:24.079
each other, and each child suddenly found itself alone with
445
00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:29.880
three perfect strangers, all radiantly beautiful. They stood for some
446
00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:33.960
moments in perfect silence. Each thought that its brothers and
447
00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:36.960
sisters had wandered off, and that these strange children had
448
00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:40.880
stolen up unnoticed while it was watching the swelling form
449
00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:46.640
of the sand fairy. Anthea spoke, first, excuse me, she said,
450
00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:50.759
very politely, to Jane, who now had enormous blue eyes
451
00:30:50.799 --> 00:30:53.640
and a cloud of russet hair. But have you seen
452
00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:57.680
two little boys and a little girl anywhere about? I
453
00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:01.680
was just going to ask you that, Jane, and then
454
00:31:01.799 --> 00:31:07.039
Cyril cried, why it's you. I know the hole and
455
00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:12.640
your pinafore. You are Jane, aren't you? And your panther.
456
00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:16.160
I can see your dirty handkerchief that you've forgot to
457
00:31:16.279 --> 00:31:20.400
change after you'd cut your thumb. Crikey, the wish has
458
00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:24.599
come off after all. I say, am I as handsome
459
00:31:24.759 --> 00:31:28.799
as you are? If you're Cyril, I liked you much
460
00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:33.960
better as you were before, said Anthea decidedly. You look
461
00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:37.200
like a picture of the young chorister with your golden hair.
462
00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:41.839
You'll die young. I shouldn't wonder. And if that's Robert,
463
00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:46.319
he's like an Italian organ grinder. His hair's all black.
464
00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:50.960
You girls are like Christmas cards. Then that's all silly
465
00:31:51.039 --> 00:31:57.160
Christmas cards, said Robert angrily. And Jane's hair is simply carrot's.
466
00:31:57.680 --> 00:32:04.480
It was indeed of that Venetian tint so admired by artists. Well,
467
00:32:05.319 --> 00:32:08.160
it's no use finding fault with each other, said Anthea.
468
00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:11.599
Let's get the lamb and lug it home to dinner.
469
00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:16.680
The servants will admire us most awfully. You'll see. Baby
470
00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:19.519
was just waking when they got to him, and not
471
00:32:19.680 --> 00:32:23.000
one of the children, but was relieved to find that he,
472
00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:26.240
at least was not as beautiful as the day, but
473
00:32:26.599 --> 00:32:30.240
just the same as usual. I suppose he's too young
474
00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:34.319
to have wishes, naturally, said Jane. We shall have to
475
00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:39.000
mention him specially next time. Anthea ran forward and held
476
00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:43.599
out her arms. Come to own panther ducky, she said.
477
00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:48.359
Baby looked at her disapprovingly and put a sandy pink
478
00:32:48.440 --> 00:32:53.559
thumb in his mouth. Anthea was his favorite sister, Come then,
479
00:32:54.039 --> 00:32:59.640
she said, Go way, long, said the baby. Come to
480
00:32:59.720 --> 00:33:06.000
own pussy, said Jane. What's my panty? Said Lamb dismally,
481
00:33:06.039 --> 00:33:11.000
and his lip trembled. Here, Come on, veteran, said Robert,
482
00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:16.200
Come and have a yddy on Yabby's back. You nirky
483
00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:22.240
nurky boy, owled baby, giving way altogether. Then the children
484
00:33:22.359 --> 00:33:28.079
knew the worst. The baby did not know them. They
485
00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:31.759
looked at each other in despair, and it was terrible
486
00:33:31.799 --> 00:33:36.240
to each in this dire emergency, to meet only the
487
00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:43.039
beautiful eyes of perfect strangers, instead of the merry, friendly, commonplace, twinkling,
488
00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:47.599
jolly little eyes of its own brothers and sisters. This
489
00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:51.599
is most truly awful, said Cyril, when he had tried
490
00:33:51.640 --> 00:33:54.039
to lift up the lamb, and the lamb had scratched
491
00:33:54.079 --> 00:33:57.200
like a cat and bellowed like a bull. We've got
492
00:33:57.240 --> 00:34:00.720
to make friends with him. I can't carry him home
493
00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:04.480
screaming like that. Fancy having to make friends with our
494
00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:09.719
own baby. It's too silly. That, however, was exactly what
495
00:34:09.840 --> 00:34:13.039
they had to do. It took over an hour, and
496
00:34:13.159 --> 00:34:16.880
the task was not rendered any easier by the fact
497
00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:19.920
that the Lamb was by this time as hungry as
498
00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:24.320
a lion and as thirsty as a desert. At last,
499
00:34:24.760 --> 00:34:28.079
he consented to allow these strangers to carry him home
500
00:34:28.119 --> 00:34:31.480
by turns, but as he refused to hold on to
501
00:34:31.599 --> 00:34:36.159
such new acquaintances, he was a dead weight and most exhausting.
502
00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:40.519
Thank goodness, we're home, said Jane, staggering through the iron
503
00:34:40.599 --> 00:34:43.880
gate to where Martha the nursemaid stood at the front door.
504
00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:47.639
Shading her eyes with her hand and looking out anxiously.
505
00:34:48.280 --> 00:34:53.239
Here do take baby. Martha snatched baby from her arms.
506
00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:59.360
Thanks be, he's back safe, She said, where are the others?
507
00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:01.840
And who else? Her? To goodness, gracious are all of you?
508
00:35:03.559 --> 00:35:09.079
We're us, of course, said Robert. And who's us when
509
00:35:09.119 --> 00:35:14.079
you're at home, asked Martha scornfully. I tell you it's
510
00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:19.320
us only we're beautiful as the day, said Cyril. I'm Cyril,
511
00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:22.400
and these are the others, and we're jolly hungry. Let
512
00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:26.079
us in, and don't be a silly idiot. Martha merely
513
00:35:26.199 --> 00:35:29.599
dratted Cyril's impudence and tried to shut the door in
514
00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:34.719
his face. I know we look different, but I'm Anthea,
515
00:35:34.880 --> 00:35:38.079
and we're so tired, and it's long past dinner time.
516
00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:41.360
Then go home to your dinners, whoever you are. And
517
00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:44.360
if our children put you up to this plate acting,
518
00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:47.599
you can tell them from me. They'll catch it, so
519
00:35:47.719 --> 00:35:51.480
they know what to expect. With that, she did bang
520
00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:57.800
the door. Cyril rang the bell violently, no answer. Presently,
521
00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:00.400
Cook put her head out of a bedroom window and said,
522
00:36:01.239 --> 00:36:04.840
if you don't take yourselves off and that precious sharp,
523
00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:08.840
I'll go and fetch the police, and she slammed down
524
00:36:08.840 --> 00:36:14.760
the window. It's no good, said Anthea, Oh, do do
525
00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:18.760
come away before we get sent to prison. The boys
526
00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:22.000
said it was nonsense, and the law of England couldn't
527
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:24.360
put you in prison for just being as beautiful as
528
00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:27.519
the day. But all the same, they followed the others
529
00:36:27.639 --> 00:36:30.960
out into the lane. We shall be our proper selves
530
00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:36.760
at sunset, I suppose, said Jane. I don't know. Cyril said, sadly,
531
00:36:37.360 --> 00:36:40.440
it mayn't be like that now. Things have changed a
532
00:36:40.519 --> 00:36:47.480
good deal since megatherium times. Oh, cried Anthea. Suddenly, perhaps
533
00:36:47.559 --> 00:36:51.280
we shall turn into stone at sunset like the megatheriums did,
534
00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:54.320
so that there mayn't be any of us left over
535
00:36:54.440 --> 00:36:58.559
for the next day. She began to cry, so did Jane,
536
00:36:59.199 --> 00:37:02.599
even the boys and Pale. No one had the heart
537
00:37:02.719 --> 00:37:07.360
to say anything. It was a horrible afternoon. There was
538
00:37:07.400 --> 00:37:09.920
no house near where the children could beg a crust
539
00:37:09.960 --> 00:37:12.639
of bread or even a glass of water. They were
540
00:37:12.679 --> 00:37:15.480
afraid to go to the village because they had seen
541
00:37:15.559 --> 00:37:18.760
Martha go down there with the basket, and there was
542
00:37:18.800 --> 00:37:23.800
a local constable. True, they were all as beautiful as
543
00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:26.719
the day, but that was poor comfort when you are
544
00:37:26.719 --> 00:37:30.440
as hungry as a hunter and as thirsty as a sponge.
545
00:37:31.320 --> 00:37:33.960
Three times they tried in vain to get the servants
546
00:37:33.960 --> 00:37:36.000
in the white House to let them in and listen
547
00:37:36.039 --> 00:37:40.400
to their tail. And then Robert went alone, hoping to
548
00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:42.079
be able to climb in at one of the back
549
00:37:42.119 --> 00:37:45.400
windows and so open the door to the others, But
550
00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:49.920
all the windows were out of reach, and Martha emptied
551
00:37:49.960 --> 00:37:53.320
a toilet jug of cold water over him from a
552
00:37:53.400 --> 00:37:57.559
top window and said, go along with you, you nasty
553
00:37:57.679 --> 00:38:02.079
little Italian monkey. It came at last to their sitting
554
00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:05.360
down in a row under the hedge, with their feet
555
00:38:05.400 --> 00:38:09.519
in a dry ditch, waiting for sunset, and wondering whether
556
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:13.159
when the sun did set they would turn into stone
557
00:38:13.679 --> 00:38:18.719
or only into their own old natural selves. And each
558
00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:23.039
of them still felt lonely and among strangers, and tried
559
00:38:23.119 --> 00:38:26.400
not to look at the others, for though their voices
560
00:38:26.440 --> 00:38:30.800
were their own, their faces were so radiantly beautiful as
561
00:38:30.840 --> 00:38:34.679
to be quite irritating to look at. I don't believe
562
00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:38.079
we shall turn into stone, said Robert, breaking a long
563
00:38:38.159 --> 00:38:41.639
miserable silence, because the sand fairy said he'd give us
564
00:38:41.679 --> 00:38:45.239
another wish tomorrow, and he couldn't if we were stone,
565
00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:49.679
could he The others said no, but they weren't at
566
00:38:49.719 --> 00:38:55.800
all comforted. Another silence, longer and more miserable, was broken
567
00:38:55.840 --> 00:39:00.000
by Cyril's suddenly saying, I don't want to frighten you girls,
568
00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:04.280
but I believe it's beginning with me already. My foot's
569
00:39:04.400 --> 00:39:07.400
quite dead. I'm turning to stone. I know I am,
570
00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:10.840
and so will you. In a minute. Never mind, said
571
00:39:10.920 --> 00:39:14.559
Robert kindly. Perhaps you'll be the only stone one, and
572
00:39:14.639 --> 00:39:16.639
the rest of us will be all right, and will
573
00:39:16.719 --> 00:39:21.519
cherish your statue and hang garlands on it. But when
574
00:39:21.519 --> 00:39:23.960
it turned out that Cyril's foot had only gone to
575
00:39:24.000 --> 00:39:27.159
sleep through his sitting too long with it under him,
576
00:39:27.719 --> 00:39:30.039
and when it came to life in an agony of
577
00:39:30.119 --> 00:39:34.679
pins and needles, the others were quite cross, giving us
578
00:39:34.760 --> 00:39:38.800
such a fright for nothing, said Anthea. The third and
579
00:39:39.079 --> 00:39:43.480
miserablest silence of all was broken by Jane. She said,
580
00:39:44.119 --> 00:39:47.480
if we do come out of this all right, we'll
581
00:39:47.559 --> 00:39:50.920
ask the Psamiad to make it so that the servants
582
00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:55.079
don't notice anything different, no matter what wishes we have.
583
00:39:55.960 --> 00:39:59.559
The others only grunted. They were too wretched even to
584
00:39:59.639 --> 00:40:06.039
make good resolutions. At last, hunger and fright, and crossness
585
00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:11.880
and tiredness, four very nasty things all joined together to
586
00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:17.679
bring one nice thing, and that was sleep. The children
587
00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:21.280
lay asleep in a row, with their beautiful eyes shut
588
00:40:21.480 --> 00:40:26.880
and their beautiful mouths open. Anthea woke first. The sun
589
00:40:26.960 --> 00:40:32.199
had set and the twilight was coming on. Anthea pinched
590
00:40:32.199 --> 00:40:35.760
herself very hard to make sure, and when she found
591
00:40:36.039 --> 00:40:39.440
she could still feel pinching, she decided that she was
592
00:40:39.480 --> 00:40:43.840
not stone, and then she pinched the others. They also
593
00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:48.880
were soft. Wake up, she said, almost in tears of joy.
594
00:40:49.320 --> 00:40:54.480
It's all right, we're not stone. And oh, Cyril, how
595
00:40:54.599 --> 00:40:58.400
nice and ugly you do look, with your old freckles
596
00:40:58.440 --> 00:41:01.760
and your brown hair and your little eyes. And so
597
00:41:01.920 --> 00:41:04.480
do you all, she added, so that they might not
598
00:41:04.599 --> 00:41:08.280
feel jealous. When they got home, they were very much
599
00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:11.360
scolded by Martha, who told them about the strange children.
600
00:41:12.079 --> 00:41:15.599
A good looking lot, I must say, but that impudent,
601
00:41:16.559 --> 00:41:20.480
I know, said Robert, who knew by experience how hopeless
602
00:41:20.480 --> 00:41:22.760
it would be to try to explain things to Martha.
603
00:41:23.400 --> 00:41:26.880
And where on earth have you been all this time?
604
00:41:27.079 --> 00:41:32.119
You naughty little things? You in the lane? Why didn't
605
00:41:32.159 --> 00:41:36.119
you come home hours ago? We couldn't because of them,
606
00:41:36.840 --> 00:41:41.760
said Anthea, who the children, who were as beautiful as
607
00:41:41.800 --> 00:41:46.039
the day. They kept us there till after sunset. We
608
00:41:46.119 --> 00:41:49.559
couldn't come back till they were gone. You don't know
609
00:41:49.639 --> 00:41:53.000
how we hated them. Oh, do give us some supper.
610
00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:58.360
We are so hungry, hungry, I should think so, said
611
00:41:58.440 --> 00:42:02.320
Martha angrily, all day like this. Well, I hope it'll
612
00:42:02.360 --> 00:42:04.920
be a lesson to you not to go picking up
613
00:42:04.960 --> 00:42:10.559
with strange children down here after measles as likely as not. Now, mind,
614
00:42:10.599 --> 00:42:13.320
if you see them again, don't you speak to them,
615
00:42:13.639 --> 00:42:16.840
not one word, nor so much as a look, But
616
00:42:16.960 --> 00:42:20.480
come straight away and tell me I'll spoil their beauty
617
00:42:20.519 --> 00:42:25.079
for them. If ever we do see them again, we'll
618
00:42:25.119 --> 00:42:29.639
tell you, Anthea said, and Robert, fixing his eyes fondly
619
00:42:29.679 --> 00:42:32.039
on the cold beef that was being brought in on
620
00:42:32.119 --> 00:42:37.400
a tray by cook, added in heartfelt undertones, and we'll
621
00:42:37.440 --> 00:42:40.920
take jolly good care we never do see them again,
622
00:42:42.159 --> 00:42:48.519
and they never have. End of chapter one. Recording by
623
00:42:48.599 --> 00:42:55.760
Jenny Lundak, South Padre Island, Texas in July two thousand eleven.
