THG
CITY CURIOUS
BOSSCHR
m&
FRITILLA AND THE RED FLYING-FISH
Frontispiece
THE vALH : "OK^
CITY CURIOUS
BY
JEAN de BOSSCHERE
ILLUSTRATED BY THE
AUTHOR AND RETOLD
IN ENGLISH BY
F. TENNYSON JESSE
NEW YORK : DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1920
Printed in Great Britain
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I
Smaly and his wife Redy set forth in search of three little girls :
They are bewitched so that their noses turn into beaks : Smaly
eats the latch of a door and Redy eats the hinge : Redy's fingers
weep tears : They meet with a Confectioner who resembles a
Kangaroo I
CHAPTER II
Smaly installs himself upon one of the Kangaroo's paws : The
two little people see some of the inhabitants of this peculiar
country : They meet some sugar horses, and they see also a fish
which flies and some sponges which walk : The Wigs imagine
that Smaly is made of suet : The ebony and crystal spectacles :
The Mother of the Crow 15
CHAPTER III
The Short-Legged Man with the musical voice : Smaly and
Redy again declare they are travelling to find three little girls :
Papylick puts Smaly and Redy in two boats made out of nut-
shells 34
CHAPTER IV
Smaly and Redy are not well received : They are thought to be
made of painted cardboard : How the Despoiler fell into the
water and left a foot behind him : Mistigris sticks a fish-bone
into the back of the Despoiler : Judgment is passed on the two
strangers : They will be banished at nightfall : The walls of
the three gardens are discussed 38
CHAPTER V
Redy and Smaly watch the review of the troops : Smaly and the
Mother of the Crow discourse about soldiers : The Chief Con-
tractor distributes the food, and the Wigs pass through a curious
little door : The Soy powder makes the provisions grow 59
458302
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER VI
The Sugar-Cane Prison arrives : The Rats water it with Soy
fluid to keep the canes growing as fast as the Prisoner breaks
them down : The time for siesta draws on, and Smaly and Redy
go into the house of the Historian 73
CHAPTER VII
The Flying-Fish announces the hour of three, and the World
falls asleep : The Hen makes six hard-boiled eggs : Smaly and
Redy begin to read the manuscript of the Historian 82
CHAPTER VIII
Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner 95
CHAPTER IX
The elder Flying- Fish loses" one eye, and the Hen finds it :
The Historian wakes up, and Smaly and Redy run out of the
house : The Healer mends the paw of the Confectioner 100
CHAPTER X
The Wigs all imagine they suffer from headache : The Rats come
to the Healer to be cured of the ravages of hot Soy : The Chief
Contractor has to make himself ill eating the musical instru-
ments in
CHAPTER XI
The young girls dance for the Rats, then play a curious game
of tennis : They fail to understand Smaly 's point of view 122
CHAPTER XII
The Mother of the Crow tells of the life and death of Djorak
in his own country 127
CHAPTER XIII
Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet : The Prisoner arrives
and the Wigs fly in terror : Smaly and Redy at last have speech
with the Prisoner 146
CHAPTER XIV
The three daughters of the Prisoner are installed in their gardens 161
CHAPTER XV
Smaly and Redy effect the rescue of the three young girls :
Djorak joins them and they all partake of a delightful picnic :
Smaly blows the Soy powder over the country of the Wigs :
Then the six friends go home 170
vi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
IN COLOUR
Facing
page
FRITILLA AND THE RED FLYING-FISH Frontispiece
THE CITY CURIOUS 16
THEY WERE KNOWN AS THE " WIGS " BECAUSE OF THEIR LARGE
PERUKES 24
THESE CREATURES DID NOT RESEMBLE ANYTHING THAT REDY AND
SMALY HAD SEEN UP TO THEN 32
LAPTITZA AND PAPYLICK 64
SOME OF THE DANCES WERE VERY COMPLICATED 96
KISIKA IN HER SEDAN-CHAIR 128
THE PICNIC WHICH FOLLOWED WAS AN UNFORGETTABLE REPAST 160
IN BLACK AND WHITE
PAGE
REDY 2
SMALY 3
IN THIS LAND ALL THE BIRDS WORE HATS AND SPURS 4
REDY'S HANDS WERE CRYING WITH FRIGHT 6
BUT HE FOUND HE, TOO, HAD A BEAK 7
THEY SANG AND DANCED 8
NEITHER THE LATCH NOR THE HINGE BORE ANY TRACE OF HAVING
BEEN BITTEN IO
vii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
LOOKING FOR THE KEY n
KANGAROO-CONFECTIONER 13
TO CARRY THE LAST CURL AS THOUGH IT WERE THE END OF A
TRAIN 16
THEY MADE ONE WANT TO DANCE 17
WITH THE SPOON WHICH EVERY WIG CARRIES HUNG FROM HIS BELT 19
THESE HORSES, HOWEVER, WERE MADE OF SUGAR 20
THE SPONGES 21
TO RETURN TO A MERE SHAPELESS THING ONCE AGAIN 23
A TRAVELLER TOLD us 24
NEVERTHELESS SMALY AND REDY STARTED TO HELP HIM 26
THE GRUB WAS REALLY THE DOORKEEPER 27
" WE WISH TO HAVE THREE GIRLS " 28
THE CROW LIFTED HIM UP 29
THE CROW 30
THE MOTHER OF THE CROW 31
" SHE SEES ONLY ONE SIDE OF MEN, BIRDS, AND THINGS " 32
THE SHORT-LEGGED MAN 35
PAPYLICK 36
OPENING THE NUTS AND DISPLAYING THE Two LITTLE PEOPLE 39
LEADING BY THE HAND THE CHOCOLATE GRUB 40
THE BIRDS WITH THEIR LEGS ENCASED IN CUTLET FRILLS 41
THE EGGS RUNNING ALONG 42
THEY WERE GENTLE AND PRETTY PIGS 43
A MOST SPLENDID FEAST 44
THE DESPOILER 45
WHICH is IN THIS COUNTRY A GREAT SIGN OF MIRTH 46
HE FLED HASTILY 47
MlSTIGRIS 48
THE YOUNG STORK 49
EVERY ONE UTTERED CRIES OF INDIGNATION 50
viii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
"YOU CAN ROLL THE CORD" 5!
THE CHIEF CONTRACTOR REPLIED 53
CHILDREN WERE BUILT OF MUCH FEWER SLICES OF CAKE THAN THE
GROWN-UPS 54
THESE CREATURES WILL EAT THE TOP OFF THE WALLS 55
ANGER 56
IT SEEMED TO THEM THAT MEN GREW UPWARDS AND NOT TOWARDS
THE GROUND 57
SOME VERY ELEGANT MICE 58
ONE HALF EXPRESSED SEVERE AUTHORITY, THE OTHER WAS ALL
GENTLENESS 60
HE DECIDED THAT THEY MUST HAVE A SIMILAR REVIEW EVERY WEEK 62
THEY HAD ALL PUT ON THICK GLOVES 63
WlGS, WHO WERE PUTTING -THE SOLDIERS BACK IN THEIR BOXES 64
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF PASENIPUS 65
TO CONDUCT HER BACK TO HER HOUSE, WHICH WAS IN A COSY NOOK
IN A GREAT TREE OF CORAL 67
THE CONFECTIONER 69
' '"NEVERTHELESS IT'S so NARROW THAT ONLY ONE PERSON CAN GO
THROUGH AT A TIME" 70
THE SONG WENT ON 71
RUNNING HARD WITH THEIR LITTLE SHORT LEGS 73
SOY MILL 74
SOY RESERVOIR 75
CARRYING AWAY EVERY OBJECT THAT THEY COULD LIFT 77
THE PRISONER 79
THE PRISONER NEVER CEASED TO BREAK THE SUGAR-CANES 80
THE PET FLYING-FISH, WHICH EVERY WIG FAMILY POSSESSES AND
CHERISHES 83
THE AMOUNT OF CAKE AND PUDDING EATEN ANNUALLY IN THE
COUNTRY 84
THE ELDER OF THE FISHES 85
ix
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
THE HEN 86
THIS CARE WHICH THE CONFECTIONER TOOK OF FRITILLA WAS BY
NO MEANS UNNECESSARY 88
THE SMALLER FLYING-FISH 89
DROPPED THEM THROUGH A HOLE IN HIS BEAK 90
WAS SITTING WITH ONE ANKLE ACROSS THE KNEE OF HIS OTHER LEG 9!
THE DESPOILER, WHO WAS ALWAYS AFRAID THAT SOME ONE WOULD
FIND OUT THAT HE WAS ONLY MADE OF CARDBOARD, NEVER
SLEPT IN PUBLIC 93
" INSTEAD OF CUTTING HIS TOE-NAILS AS WE DO WITH THE HELP OF
A LONG-HANDLED PAIR OF SCISSORS AND A TELESCOPE " 96
THE KING 97
THE KING'S DAUGHTER 98
THE HEALER 103
BORN WITH THE IDEA OF ONE DAY BEING A VERY BIG MAN 104
BETWEEN THEM WAS FASTENED A COMFORTABLE ARM-CHAIR 106
THERE WERE NEWSBOYS SELLING ACCOUNTS OF THE LATEST DISASTER
TO THE WIGS 1 08
THE HEALER HAD FINISHED HIS MENDING 109
MATHEMATICIAN in
MIGRAINE 112
WRAPPED THEIR HANDKERCHIEFS ROUND THEIR HEADS 112
" I, TOO, HOPE SO," SAID HIS WlFE, WHO HAD JUST COME IN 113
NEARLY ALL HAD ONE LEG WHICH WAS MUCH LONGER THAN THE
OTHER, OR A VERY LONG ARM 115
His ELONGATED TAIL WAS TIED TO THE QUEUE OF HIS WIG 116
" BUT ONLY LOOK AT OUR ARMS AND LEGS " 117
EVEN MORE THAN THEY FEARED THE FLIES Il8
REWARDS 119
THE DWARF HAD PULLED ON A PAIR OF BOOTS 120
THE ACCORDION-PLAYERS BEGAN 123
X
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAOB
TENNIS 124
THE BALL HUNG. UP THUS 125
TEA-COSY 128
'WE'RE WAITING FOR THE SUN TO GO DOWN" 129
SERVANTS OUT SHOPPING FOLLOWED IT WITH THEIR LADEN BASKETS
ON THEIR ARMS 131
HE THRUST HIS FACE INTO ROSES COVERED WITH DEW 132
THE EXECUTIONER BANDAGED HIS EYES 133
NEXT HE TOOK SOME OLD CARDBOARD BOXES 135
OPENED THEM AND SHUT THEM AGAIN 136
His YOUNG SON WAS THERE 137
THE BRINDLED RABBIT 138
His LITTLE PAW SHOVED A FOLDED SLIP OF PAPER THROUGH THE
OPENING 139
THEN THEY SANG A COMIC DUET 140
THEN THEY QUESTIONED A BLACK TOAD 141
AND FISH IN THE LITTLE RIVER IN THE AFTERNOON 142
THE THIN LONG ARM OF THE HISTORIAN 143
EXTRACTING FISH-BONES FROM THE BACK OF THE DESPOILER 147
THEY BORE A LARGE COPPER CAULDRON 148
THE ADMIRAL WAS A TRITON 149
THE WHITE DOLPHIN WITH PINK EYES 150
AN EXTREMELY CURIOUS FISH 151
" A BAND OF OUR RATS WILL EACH MORNING COPIOUSLY WATER OUR
FLEET " 153
WlGS WERE BUSY WRITING THEIR NAMES 154
A RED FLAG 155
" I HAVE DESTROYED A HUNDRED TIMES PASSING OVER IT IN MY
PRISON " 157
" I WAS CAUGHT STEPPING RIGHT OVER THEIR SILLY OLD DRY CANAL
158
xi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
THE MANUFACTURER OF CARDBOARD BOXES 159
A SENTINEL WHO LOOKED LIKE A DRAGON-FLY 163
THE GARDENS WERE ARRANGED AFTER THE SAME PRINCIPLE AS THE
WINDOWS IN THE HOUSE OF THE HISTORIAN 164
A LITTLE RED FEATHER, WHICH SHE HAD PICKED UP IN THE MARKET-
PLACE 166
NEXT THE DESPOILER APPROACHED 167
THE WIFE OF THE CHIEF CONTRACTOR PRESENTED KISIKA WITH A
BEAUTIFUL FAN MADE OF PAPER LACE 169
DIRECTLY THEY SAW THE FLYING-FISH ENTER 171
THEIR Two LITTLE HEADS APPEARED SIDE BY SIDE 172
SMALY STANDING ON THE POINT OF HIS TOES 173
So DURING THREE DAYS THE YOUNG GIRLS WERE BUSY MAKING THE
STAIRS 175
THE RED FLYING-FISH CARRIED A LARGE HAT AND MANTLE IN ITS
CLAWS 176
CARRYING AS MANY OF THE PRESENTS AS THEY COULD 177
WlGS THEMSELVES WOULD HAVE MELTED AWAY DIRECTLY THEY
PASSED THE FRONTIER 178
THEY HUNG our OF THE WINDOWS 179
Xll
THE CITY CURIOUS
CHAPTER I
Smaly and his wife Redy set forth in search of three little girls :
They are bewitched so that their noses turn into beaks : Smaly
eats the latch of a door and Redy eats the hinge : Redy's fingers
weep tears : They meet with a Confectioner who resembles a
Kangaroo.
SMALY and Redy were husband and wife, and
they lived together in a little white house. This
house had three rooms upstairs and three rooms
downstairs ; and each room was so pretty that it
gave one joy to see it. Smaly and Redy were very
proud of their house, and were never so happy as
when they were putting it to rights. Every day
they did something to one or other of the rooms,
changing the position of the furniture or the pictures.
One day, while Smaly was walking in the town he
saw three mirrors in a shop window, and he thought
they would be just the thing to hang up in the three
bedrooms ; so he bought the mirrors and went home
with them in high glee.
In the meantime, Redy, his little wife, also had
an idea to beautify the bedrooms, so she went out
into the garden to pick some flowers.
Smaly hung a looking-glass in each of the three
little bedrooms, then he carefully closed all three
doors and, going downstairs, sat himself by the
A I
THE CITY CURIOUS
hearth. A fire was burning there, for the spring was
still young in the land.
While he sat there, smoking, lost in the most
delicious daydreams, his pleasant little wife Redy
came in with her arms full of flowers. She took three
vases from the dresser, and began to arrange the
flowers in them, holding her head on one side like a
bird.
When she had put each flower exactly as she
wished, she gently shook Smaly's elbow. He jumped
up, took two vases without a word, while she picked
up the third. They disposed a vase in
each of the three little bedrooms, and
stood back to admire the effect ; which,
indeed, was quite charming.
Suddenly Redy gave a sigh.
It's all very well," said she, " but
there's no one to live in our
pretty rooms."
Smaly sighed, too. " That's
just what I was thinking," said
he. " Oh, Redy, how nice it
would be if we had three little
girls to live in our three bed-
rooms, so that they could admire
your flowers and look at them-
selves in my pretty mirrors."
" Let us wish for them," said
Redy, and she folded her hands
together on her apron and
REDY chanted :
THE CITY CURIOUS
" We wish to have^three] girls,
Fine, sweet, pink, and good
They shall have more pudding than they like.
And a green, green, and rosy garden."
Smaly repeated the poem in his turn, but Redy
had to prompt him, for he had a very bad memory.
They waited for some time, but nothing happened,
so they said the verse over again, and this time
Smaly repeated it without any mistake ; but still
nothing happened.
" Wishing does not seem to be much
good," said Smaly despondently.
" Wishing never is any good," an-
swered Redy, " unless one does some-
thing more than wish. If we want to
find our three little girls we must set
out and look for them."
" Yes, but where ? " asked Smaly.
" As for that," answered his little
wife, "I do not know any
more than you, but that verse
we chanted just now is a
magic verse, and we shall find
the way. We will get ready
to start to-morrow."
So the very next mornin
they set off on their searc
for the three girls who would
fill the white house with joy.
Redy had dressed herself
in her best. Her green gown SMALY
THE CITY CURIOUS
was trimmed with black and emerald leaves, and her
stockings and little cocked hat were green to' match
In her basket she thoughtfully placed two apples.
IN THIS LAND ALL THE BIRDS WORE HATS AND SPURS
Smaly faced the world in his beautiful dark violet
coat, on his head a tall hat of the same colour. A
belt of yellow leather clasped his waist. In his
buttonhole he stuck a sunflower to show how happy
THE CITY CURIOUS
he was. His best boots shone upon his feet. In
the big pocket of his coat he placed a couple of fresh
rolls. The rolls and the apples were their provisions
for the journey. For weapon, in case a of attack,
Smaly carried a thin red stick.
For a long while they walked and walked. They
crossed many countries which everybody knows. At
last, however, they found themselves in a strange
land, a land of which one hardly ever even hears
a land which was even odder than these two odd
little people.
In this land both men and beasts lived upon
nothing but sweetmeats and pastry.
In this land the sun shone longer than it does
with us, because it often stopped for a while to rest
during the course of the day.
In this land all the birds wore hats and spurs.
In this land an orchestra of swallows played always
at noonday.
In this land earthworms wore spectacles on their
noses and swords at their sides.
In this land such things as bricks, iron, wood,
stone, and steel were unknown.
In this land, after one had finished dinner, one
ate the plates and dishes, for they were made of
sugar.
In this land nearly every inhabitant was made of
slices of cake, held together with pudding, sweet-
meats, nougat, and chocolate.
In a word, there were to be found in this curious
5
THE CITY CURIOUS
country a great many things that were strange and
wonderful and good to eat.
Smaly and Redy knocked at the door of this
wonderful land, but for some time no one came to
answer them.
" Bother this door ! " said Smaly, at last, kicking at
it with his new boots, and hitting it with his red cane.
"Why, it's made of
chocolate ! ' : cried Redy,
who had sucked her fingers
after touching it.
" I will eat the latch
away ! " decided Smaly.
" And I'll eat the hin-
ges/' said Redy.
She seized a hinge and
he tore off the latch.
The next moment the
tears were pouring down
their faces.
" Oh, oh, it's burning
me ! " cried poor Redy.
" It must be made of
red pepper and spice ! "
wept Smaly.
They had certainly burnt
their tongues. They held
hands and ran away, utter-
ing little moans of pain.
REDY'S HANDS WERE CRYING The P* th *** an ^ TU P t
WITH FRIGHT turn, then another, then a
6
THE CITY CURIOUS
third, and yet a fourth, till it had described a com-
plete circle. Smaly and Redy found themselves
once again opposite the door.
...
There was no longer any way out, for a thick
hedge now surrounded the two travellers, and they
found themselves in a sort of green arena. Quite a
pretty arena, but all the same, it was rather alarming
to find themselves there, without a word
of warning.
And the thick green hedge around
the arena grew with such a horrible
rapidity. Very soon it was so
high that the place became as
dark as night.
Smaly, in his alarm, had
seized both Redy's hands in
his, and now he suddenly noticed
that they were all wet. For one
dreadful moment Smaly thought
they must be wet with blood, but
the fact was that poor Redy's hands
were crying with fright.
For a little while Smaly and
Redy wept bitterly, but they soon
grew too tired to cry. They shut
their mouths firmly, and tried to
leave off sobbing when they left
off weeping, but their sobs kept BUT HE FOUND HE> T00>
on and on in spite or them, for HAD A BEAK
THE CITY CURIOUS
all the world like a tap that keeps on going " glug-
glug ! " when one has forgotten to turn it off.
Smaly put up his hand, meaning to lay it gently
over Redy's mouth.
She no longer had a mouth in place of it was a
fine large beak, painted an elegant blue. Filled with
horror, and sure that their end had come, Smaly
thought to print on Redy's cheek one last kiss of
despair.
But he found he, too, had a beak, with which he
could do nothing but peck. They stood staring at
each other's beaks. They did not yet know that the
beaks were invisible to all save themselves and the
birds.
They sat down on their heels like Turkish
princes, and their sobs went on and on, sounding like
the lament of thousands of insects, and still the green
hedges around them went on growing, till it seemed
that the two^poor little people were at the bottom of
a profound green funnel, brimming with darkness,
in which their moaning sounded like the wind in
the chimney of a winter's night.
" Oh, oh, my Redy, we're in a pretty pass ! "
murmured Smaly, and Redy knew that he was feeling
almost mad with fright, so that at once she felt
mad with fright also. Now Redy had heard that
mad people sing and dance, and so she at once
began to do both, dragging Smaly along with her.
They sang and danced till they had no breath left,
and then they wanted to drop down and rest, but
8
THE CITY CURIOUS
found they had to keep on and on in spite of them-
selves. The dance of terror, and the song with
which their little little sobs and moans mingled,
continued there at the bottom of the green funnel.
There was more noise than there is at midday in
Oxford Circus.
The pepper from the latch of the door began to
THEY SANG AND DANCED
burn again in Smaly's mouth, and reminded him that
after all there was a door out of this horrible place.
He began to feel about for it in the darkness. When
he found it he uttered a sharp little cry, which , like
the moans and the singing, refused to die away, but
went on echoing in the green funnel, so that by now
there was a noise like a tempest, for all the world as
though the whole sea had been imprisoned in a box
and a box too small for it.
Smaly uttered this cry because he had discovered
9
THE CITY CURIOUS
that the latch was once more in its place on the door,
although Smaly had thrown it far away after biting
it. Redy's hinge also was back in its place. Neither
NEITHER THE LATCH NOR THE HINGE BORE
ANY TRACE OF HAVING BEEN BITTEN
the latch nor the hinge bore any trace of having
been bitten, but felt smooth and solid to the fingers.
Smaly and Redy became even more terrified than
before, so that their hearts felt like two little lumps
of ice in their breasts. And then a very odd thing
happened to them. Their beaks opened of them-
selves, and these words came out of them words
which Smaly and Redy had never thought of saying :
10
THE CITY CURIOUS
" Where is the key ? "
Nothing answered them.
Then they found themselves on their hands and
knees looking for the key.
" Where is the key ? Oh, Reckybecky, where is
the key ? >:> the beaks demanded, entirely of their
own accord.
LOOKING FOR THE KEY
Immediately a little grille opened in the door,
and a voice said :
" Upon this side are honey, tea, and sugar ! On
your side are pepper, ginger, and allspice ! "
" And on this side there are also the beaks of
birds ! " replied Smaly, alarmed at his own temerity ;
" and here also are the hands which weep ! And the
horrible moanings ! And "
He was interrupted by a gentle laugh. This laugh
sounded like a little peal of crystal bells. And as the
laugh went rippling on, the hedge began to shrink
and shrink, and the moans and sobs died away.
ii
THE CITY CURIOUS
The hearts of Smaly and Redy were beating like
a couple of alarum-clocks. The gate had a little
grille in it and they peeped through this grille to see
what creature it was whose silvery laughter had the
power to charm away both the high hedge and the
weird moanings. Although the creature was several
yards away they could see quite clearly his large, rosy
eyes edged with grey rims. They saw the creature
as distinctly as one can see the actors on the stage
when one looks through opera-glasses.
They saw that the rosy grey-rimmed eyes were
set in a face of the green of a pistachio-nut. The
hair was the vague blue of cigarette smoke. The
head looked as though it were sculptured out of
mother-of-pearl. Later, they discovered that it was
a mingling of ice-cream and jelly, for the creature
himself was a confectioner.
He was a confectioner . . . and yet Smaly could
have wagered his beautiful new boots that he was
more of a kangaroo than anything else. For though
this confectioner wore an apron and a fine green
waistcoat, yet undoubtedly his chess-board trousers
and embroidered stockings covered the powerful
hind legs of a kangaroo. The long paws were shod
with a species of pattens, so big they seemed like
miniature tables, and these pattens were painted
scarlet. Slung all about him, the Kangaroo carried
as many pots and pans as a travelling tinker. He was
adorned as well by spoons of bamboo, and from his
belt hung ebony-handled knives, while jam-jars and
flagons, filled with preserves and essences, dangled
12
THE CITY CURIOUS
about him. The most
tender mauves and
translucent greens
glowed through the
glass of the flagons.
Smaly studied the
good-natured face of
this personage, and
asked him simply :
" Who are you ? "
Then the Kanga-
roo-Confectioner said
a surprising thing. He
replied :
" I am the Archi-
tect."
The moment he
had spoken he put up
his hand and shut his
mouth, to prevent the
sound of his words
going on and on in the
curious air of the place,
which seemed to hold
sounds suspended as
water holds the fronds
of weeds.
Smaly looked at
him dubiously.
" You say you
are an architect .
KANGAROO-CONFECTIONER
THE CITY CURIOUS
and yet your occupation appears to me to be much
more that of a confectioner, a super-confectioner."
The Kangaroo seemed overcome with a nervous-
ness ; his smiling face creased itself into a thousand
little lines of distress, his eyes looked vacant,
his manner became flustered. Evidently he was
struggling with his emotion. When he had suf-
ficiently recovered he planted his long feet more
firmly on their scarlet pattens, and, taking a deep
breath, chanted as follows :
" With jam I build the walls,
And with jam I fill the tarts,
With honey-cake I tile the roofs
Which crest the pastry towers.
The chairs are made of barley -sugar
And the tables and napkins are not of custard,
Nor of mustard nor of treacle,
But I weave them of thin macaroni.
" I am the Builder Architect,
Who makes the cottages and the tarts,
Who knows all about chairs and farms,
Who makes the castles and the biscuits
With chocolate and nice cornflour.
" Where 1 am honey, tea, and sugar !
Where you are, pepper, ginger, and allspice 1 '
But, since the word " allspice " continued to
reverberate through the air, the Confectioner shut
his mouth smartly with his finger and thumb.
CHAPTER II
Smaly installs himself upon one of the Kangaroo's paws : The
two little people see some of the inhabitants of this peculiar
country : They meet some sugar horses, and they see also a fish
which flies and some sponges which walk : The Wigs imagine
that Smaly is made of suet : The ebony and crystal spectacles :
The Mother of the Crow.
SMALY saw that there was no reason to be afraid
of this strange creature so he crawled in through
the grille of the gate and sat down upon one of
the Confectioner's enormous paws. Redy made haste
to follow him. No sooner was she settled than a
number of strange little beings appeared as though
from nowhere and clustered around her, pointing
curious fingers at her while they chatted amongst
themselves.
These little beings were the inhabitants of this
strange new country. They nearly all wore gigantic
wigs, and sometimes these wigs were so long that
they needed a page to carry the last curl as though
it were the end of a train.
The more Redy looked at these funny little people
the greater was the amazement that appeared upon
her face.
Smaly also was astonished ; but he would have
died sooner than let his astonishment appear.
15
THE CITY CURIOUS
These curious little beings, who were known as
the " Wigs " because of their large perukes, were
even smaller than Redy and Smaly. At first sight
they looked rather like those stiff little coloured figures
you may see in Egyptian drawings at the British
Museum, but no Egyptians were ever dressed as
TO CARRY THE LAST CURL AS THOUGH IT WERE THE
END OF A TRAIN
these people were. Their vividly coloured clothes
were composed of mosaics of caramel and jam,
with insertions of fruit and cake. Each one wore
on his head a hat made of preserved fruit or of a
whole bun or little cake. Shoes seemed to be very
much a matter of individual taste in this land, for
every inhabitant wore a pair of a different colour,
shoes so gay that the mere sight of them made
one want to dance. There was one woman in
particular who wore upon her head a cake in the
16
THE CITY CURIOUS
THE CITY CURIOUS
form of a little tower, who had the most charming
mauve shoes with red soles, upon which Redy felt
her eyes always returning enviously.
The Wigs for their part had not gathered to-
gether merely to look at the little strangers. With
brightly coloured sponges some began to mop up
the dew which still clung to the leaves of the hedge,
THEY MADE ONE WANT TO DANCE
while others with little pieces of blotting-paper set
to work to dry each blade of grass at the side of the
road. This seemed such a useless thing to do that
Smaly would have liked to ask why they were doing
it, but he felt too shy, so he contented himself with
winking at Redy. Then he glanced up at the Con-
fectioner.
" Tell me why has Redy got a beak ? ' he
asked, and before he could be answered began to
suck his finger. He sucked it because a drop of
B 17
THE CITY CURIOUS
sweet preserve had fallen upon it from one of the
Confectioner's pots.
" Has Redy got wings as well ? ' asked the
Confectioner, thoughtfully taking a spoonful of the
same preserve and offering it to Redy.
' No," said Smaly.
" Then she can't have a beak," replied the
Confectioner triumphantly.
" Do you mean to say you don't see her beak or
mine either ? " asked Smaly in astonishment.
" Never in my life have I seen a beak upon any
creature that had not wings as well," replied the
Confectioner stolidly; " therefore it doesn't exist."
" A beak, a beak, a beak, not exist, not exist,
not exist," said all the echoes one after the other.
Smaly decided to wait until the Confectioner
spoke again ; but it was Redy who broke the silence
in an unexpected manner.
She walked away from the Confectioner and stood
looking at him scornfully from a little distance.
" An architect ! " she said. " You say you are an
architect, but when we called * Reckybecky ' you
opened the door, therefore you are Reckybecky,
nothing but Reckybecky."
The Confectioner, who was a simple soul, stared
at her very disconcerted. " Reckybecky," he re-
peated in a sort of stupefaction. " Reckybecky, am
I really nothing but that ? '
" You are Reckybecky," repeated Redy firmly.
" Dear me, I never heard that before," said the
Confectioner. " I wonder if you can be right.
18
THE CITY CURIOUS
Then if I am Reckybecky I suppose I am not an
architect at all/' and he covered his face to try and
think more clearly.
The two little people watched him timidly,
wondering what was going on in that bent head.
Suddenly the Confectioner raised his head and flung
his pots and pans, his spoons and his knives, on to
the ground on either side of him.
Most of the pots broke and fragrant streams of
beautifully coloured preserves spread here and there
over the uneven ground. Immediately dozens of
Wigs pounced upon the wreckage, and while the jams
trickled hither and thither amongst
the grass these creatures tried to
scrape it up again into jugs and
basins, and even into their caps,
with the spoon which every Wig
carries hung from his belt.
At some distance off a
procession had been passing
which had hitherto paid no
attention to the crowd round
the gate, but now this broke
up and various persons quit-
ted its ranks to try and scrape
up some of the precious pre-
serves. These creatures did
not resemble anything that
Redy and Smaly had seen
up to then. At first sight WITH THE SPOON WHICH EVERY
. ,9 WlG CARRIES HUNG FROM HIS
they all appeared to be riding BELT
19
THE CITY CURIOUS
little horses ; horses draped like those which we see
in old pictures of tournaments.
These horses, however, were made of sugar, and
very soon Redy and Smaly perceived that they were
simply worn round the waists of the Wigs, whose two
feet ran along the ground beneath the draperies where
the four feet of the horses should have been.
Smaly could not help thinking that to have a
THESE HORSES, HOWEVER, WERE MADE OF SUGAR
horse like that would be rather fine if you could not
afford a real horse of your own ; but Redy was
occupied in admiring the fine costumes of the Wigs
who owned the horses.
These cavaliers were splendidly clad in green,
white, rose, grey, and black. One, in particular,
wore rose-coloured boots, and his horse was made
to resemble a blue roan. Its mane was like a cocks-
comb, cut in scarlet points.
All these things Redy and Smaly managed to
observe without showing undue astonishment ; but
20
THE CITY CURIOUS
neither could resist a little cry of surprise when
they saw flying through the air a large fish. This
fish, who wore a ring through his nose, had also
come to take part in the unexpected feast.
Finally, even the Sponges, which the Wigs
carried in their hands, and with which they had
been drying the hedges, jumped out of their hands.
Each Sponge unfolded little legs and started running
towards the jam.
And now a strange thing began to happen to the
Confectioner. The poor fellow was evidently in great
distress because Redy had told
him that he was not an archi-
tect, but only Reckybecky.
Redy and Smaly had never
in all their lives seen any one
so cruelly upset.
He seemed to be melting
before their eyes and becom-
ing transparent. He did not
cry ; but seemed rather to
be transformed into a sort of
damp and clinging fog. " Just as
though he were * dissolving in
tears/" thought Smaly. And he
stared curiously at the Confectioner
who every moment became more
cloud-like than ever.
But suddenly the vague outline
of a hand, which was all that re- THE SPONGES
21
THE CITY CURIOUS
mained of him, struck the vaguer outline of his fore-
head as though an idea had come to him. Once
more his face assumed a clarity as though it were
made of mother-of-pearl, and he cried out :
1 Reckybecky ! "
This name reverberated round and about like a
clap of thunder. It went on and on, making such a
noise that all the little Wigs left off scraping up the
jam and scampered away.
| Redy felt afraid. Smaly jumped off the patten
on which he had remained perched during the
eclipse of the Confectioner. As to the latter, he
endeavoured to shut his mouth and stop the noise
from going on echoing ; but he was not very solid
again as yet and found some difficulty in doing it.
At the end of the long avenue of sugar-trees Redy
could see little groups of people gathered together
looking about them to try and discover whence came
this noise.
The Confectioner succeeded in shutting his
mouth, and then turning towards Redy he opened
it again, and remarked firmly :
" You are a stupid little thing."
Then turning to Smaly he said, with that con-
fidential accent which one adopts when singling out
the most intelligent person of a company for one's
remarks :
" No, I cannot be Reckybecky, for somebody
else is Reckybecky, so there ! "
The Confectioner seemed extremely relieved by
this remarkable solution.
22
TO RETURN TO A MERE SHAPELESS THING ONCE AGAIN
THE CITY CURIOUS
" Reckybecky must be the doorkeeper," he added
firmly.
" The doorkeeper ? " asked Smaly and Redy.
" Certainly, we've had a doorkeeper for years,
and one day a traveller told us that since we had a
doorkeeper it was necessary we should have a door,
and then the Despoiler, who is the wisest of all of
us, except the Mother of
the Crow, decided that since
we had a porter who was
made of chocolate, we must
have a gate made for him,
and that the gate should be
made of chocolate to match."
Smaly and Redy turned
to look back at the door ; the
grille by which they had en-
tered had disappeared, and
everywhere the chocolate
had become solid once again.
" 1 will show you the
doorkeeper soon," promised
the Confectioner, " but for
goodness' sake don't tell him
that you know he's a door-
keeper. He thinks he's sim-
ply a chocolate grub on his
way to become a chocolate
butterfly ; in fact, we have
nominated another door-
A TRAVELLER TOLD us keeper to take his place if
THEY WERE KNOWN AS THE " WIGS " BECAUSE OF
THEIR LARGE PERUKES
?* 15
THE CITY CURIOUS
this ever comes off. This other person isn't really a
doorkeeper either, but there's one thing he can do,
and that is, he can make the latch and the hinge
grow again when somebody has eaten them." The
Confectioner looked at Redy and Smaly very
severely when he said this.
They both felt extremely embarrassed.
With his nail, which looked exactly like a horn
salt-spoon, the Confectioner scraped the inner side
of the door just beside the latch, and Redy and
Smaly saw the chocolate grow again as rapidly as
he scraped it away.
The Confectioner gave a little exclamation of
annoyance, and began to hunt for his magic ring
amongst all the things he had thrown to the ground ;
but he could not find it. This ring had the power
of preventing both plants and things from growing,
and without it the Confectioner was unable to prevent
the chocolate door from replacing itself as fast as
he scraped it away. Nevertheless Smaly and Redy
started to help him, and they all three scraped so
hard that they caught a glimpse in the interior of
the door of a tiny creature sitting in a niche. This
creature was a grub about the size of a nut. Round
its waist it wore a key as big as itself, and on its head
a fur bonnet, which nodded forward to its chest.
" It's asleep," said the little man to the little
woman.
At this moment a Crow made of bilberry preserve
25
THE CITY CURIOUS
and liquorice hopped up to them. This Crow was
the doorkeeper who was yet not the doorkeeper ;
NEVERTHELESS SMALY AND REDY STARTED TO HELP HIM
and who had been nominated in the place of the
grub. The grub wasj really the doorkeeper ; but
always refused to admit it.
The Crow, who seemed convulsed with rage,
26
THE CITY CURIOUS
seized Redy in one claw and Smaly in the other,
preparatory to throwing them outside once more.
At this dangerous moment Smaly once again
found his beak crying out of itself. This time he
heard it say that he wished to speak to the Chief
Contractor.
The Crow lifted him up by his waistband, and
gazed at him with his big bright eye like a magnifying-
glass, then he dropped him.
' Why, it's made of suet ! " he cried in disgust.
He turned his eye upon Redy, who appeared to
him much better looking with her delicate little blue
beak, which had a bloom on it like a grape. Un-
like the Confectioner, the Crow was perfectly
well able to perceive the beaks of
Smaly and Redy, for he himself was
a bird, and to no one -save a bird or
each other were their beaks visible.
And that is why you who are
reading this book, and who are not
birds, cannot see their beaks either,
unless you make a great effort.
Redy, who saw that the moment
had come to explain what they
wanted, folded her hands on her
apron, and repeated her little poem :
" We wish to have three girls,
Fine, sweet, pink, and good.
They shall have more pudding than they like,
And a green, green, and rosy garden." THE GRUB WAS
rr,, ~ REALLY THE DOOR-
1 he Crow said : KEEPER
27
THE CITY CURIOUS
" It won't do," and he took off his glasses, which
were made of ebony, set in a crystal frame. On the
rims signs and letters were engraved in characters
that looked rather Eastern. If you examined care-
fully you saw that round one lens was engraved :
DON'T LOOK AT ME.
" WE WISH TO HAVE THREE GIRLS "
And on the other one :
FOR YOU DON'T HEAR WITH YOUR EYES.
Smaly paid no attention to the spectacles, but
answered the Crow's remark.
" Why won't it do ? " he asked.
The Crow opened his beak to answer, then he
shut it again, and put on his glasses, for he only
28
THE CROW LIFTED HIM UP
THE CITY CURIOUS
wore them when he wanted to speak, and did not
particularly wish to see.
For this Crow had three eyes, one on each side
of his beak, and a third one carried in a medallion
which hung on a chain round his neck. This third
eye was very busy and saw more than both the other
two put together.
Redy felt extremely annoyed.
" How dare you look at me ! You are only
made of sugar and bilberry
jam," she exclaimed.
" I didn't look at you," said
the Crow, rather taken aback.
" Only because you are
looking at me," now shouted
Smaly.
" No, I am not," re-
torted the Crow, turning
his back and taking off
his spectacles.
"Don't leave us,"
cried Redy hastily. " I
only meant that you
were looking at us with
that beautiful eye that hangs on
a chain round your neck."
"Well," said the Crow,
coming back and putting on
his spectacles once more, " why
didn't you say so at once ?
THE CROW That's my mother's eye. She's
30
THE CITY CURIOUS
very old ; but she still wants to know what is hap-
pening in the world, so I carry about her eye with
me to let it see. But don't be frightened. She
only sees you, she doesn't hear you."
" It wouldn't matter if she did. We should not
dream of saying nasty things about your mother,"
said Redy with true emotion.
" I thought not," said the Crow more peaceably,
" besides, she's such a funny little thing, poor dear ;
she's no legs, no wings, and
no tail."
" Dear, dear, and only one
eye ? " asked Smaly.
"Yes," said the Crow,
" only one eye, so she sees
only one side of men, birds,
and things."
" What does she live
on ? " asked Redy, with a
woman's interest in practical
matters.
The Crow replied, " Oh,
on candy and caterpillars and
sweets and flies, just as
you and I do."
" I don't," said Smaly.
' Nor I," said Redy.
The Crow gazed at
them with some disgust.
" No, I suppose you
live on SUet, mutton fat, THE MOTHER OF THE CROW
THE CITY CURIOUS
" SHE SEES ONLY ONE SIDE OF MEN, BIRDS, AND THINGS "
and oil," he replied, and once again turned his
back.
Again Redy tried to detain him ; but this time
the Crow said he must leave because he had some-
thing to write in his diary.
THESE CREATURES DID NOT RESEMBLE ANYTHING THAT
REDY AND SMALY HAD SEEN UP TO THEN
Page 19
THE CITY CURIOUS
Smaly asked again why they could not have
three sweet little girls.
Putting on his spectacles the Crow replied,
" Because there aren't any."
33
CHAPTER III
The Short-Legged Man with the musical voice : Smaly and
Redy again declare they are travelling to find three little girls :
Papylick puts Smaly and Redy in two boats made out of nut-
shells.
AT this moment a short-legged little man
came up to them, upon whose wig was
perched a little round hat trimmed with a
single rose. A box hung at his side, and upon
this box was inscribed the word " SOY.'^
The Short-Legged Man had a voice so faint it
was almost a whisper. It was as musical and delicate
as a fiddle heard playing from a great distance. This
little man whispered :
" What do we know
About boys and girls ?
They have no feathers nor wings,
They are made of marzipan,
They have no claws nor beak,
They are everything that is sweet."
Smaly and Redy replied at once :
" We wish to have three girls,
Fine, sweet, pink, and good.
They shall have more pudding than they like,
And a green, green, and rosy garden."
The Short-Legged Man said, " It won't do."
34
THE CITY CURIOUS
" Why ? " asked Redy.
" Because they should have three green, green,
and rosy gardens."
" They shall have," said both the little man and
his wife.
" It still won't do," said the Short-Legged Man
" Why ? '
" Because they can't leave this
country."
There was a sad moment whilst
Smaly and Redy thought of the
little white house and the three
bedrooms. Then they answered
together :
" We'll make their gardens
here."
" Come and talk to the Chief,"
said the Short-Legged Man.
But Redy was hungry and so
tired she could not walk. The Crow,
instead of helping, flew away. He
hadn't really got to write anything
in a diary, but he had to carry a
girl called Fritilla to the tennis-
ground, where^a lot of young peo-
ple were going to play tennis.
Fritilla was a pretty, fair girl
with green eyes, whom the Crow
had to look after. She was one of
the three daughters of the Prisoner,
of whom I will tell you later. THE SHORT-LEGGED MAN
35
THE CITY CURIOUS
But the Short-Legged Man took pity on Redy,
and he shouted with his delicious voice out of his
froglike mouth, " Papylick ! ' and this name was
repeated as long as the Short-Legged Man did not
put his spoonlike finger on his lips.
Papylick arrived with his name written on his
boots, which were yellow as toffee,
and had no laces. This Papylick was
made of slices of different coloured cake,
and he, too, carried a box with the
word " SOY ' inscribed upon it, a
word which began to interest Smaly,
though he was determined not to betray
his interest.
Papylick had a nut in one hand,
and opening it he put Redy inside
and shut it up again.
Smaly, too, was tired, and think-
ing it much better for him also to
be carried, he said :
" Papylick, my dear Papylick,"
and immediately shut his mouth
again with the first finger of his left
hand.
Papylick opened another nut^and
placed Smaly inside j it, then the
Short-Legged Man put^both nuts in
his pocket.
PAPYLICK Now Smaly and Redy could not
THE CITY CURIOUS
see the country they were being carried through
because the nuts were closed ; but Papylick had
thought of this, and so the landscapes were painted
complete in every detail inside the nuts.
But Smaly and Redy, instead of admiring these
landscapes, soon discovered they were painted with
delicious sweetstuffs such as they had seen in the
jars and pots of the Confectioner.
So they licked off the landscapes.
37
CHAPTER IV
Smaly and Redy are not well received : They are thought to be
made of painted cardboard : How the Despoiler fell into the
water and left a foot behind him : Mistigris sticks a fish-bone
into the back of the Despoiler : Judgment is passed on the two
strangers : They will be banished at nightfall : The walls of the
three gardens are discussed.
THE two rulers of this country were the Chief
Contractor and the Despoiler. On arriving
at the town where the rulers lived, Redy
and Smaly could hear a hundred bells ringing
out crystal chimes. These bells were made of
coloured sugar and were hung in campaniles of
barley-sugar, whose domes were made of gilded
crusts.
When the bells left off ringing, a beautiful song
arose, and each person who sang it had a voice as
sweet as that of the Short-Legged Man or of Papylick.
" We must have arrived for the midday prayer
of the Wigs," said Smaly and Redy to themselves
in their nuts.
Before very long Papylick and the Short-Legged
Man arrived at the house where the Chief Contractor
lived and went into the great kitchen.
" Well," said the Chief Contractor, coming forward
to meet them, " what have you brought me ? "
38
OPENING THE NUTS AND DISPLAYING THE Two LITTLE PEOPLE
THE CITY CURIOUS
" A mere nothing," replied Papylick, opening
the nuts and displaying the two little people, who,
jumping out, became their normal size once more.
" They are two suet-eaters," said the Short-
Legged Man apologetically, as he made Smaly and
LEADING BY THE HAND THE CHOCOLATE
GRUB
Redy sit down upon two charming seats made of
painted wax.
There were more than a hundred of these seats
round the enormous kitchen, each occupied by some
noted Wig.
Smaly and Redy soon recognized the Crow, and
40
THE CITY CURIOUS
the next moment they saw the Confectioner come
in, apparently having quite got over his trouble and
leading by the hand the Chocolate Grub who was
the doorkeeper.
The Chief Contractor and the Despoiler gazed
attentively at Smaly and his wife ; but as at this
moment dinner was brought in, the two little humans
were forgotten in the graver interest of the banquet.
The eating in this country was a serious affair
attended with many rites.
......
The banquet began. This solemn feast took
place every day. As soon as the guests had taken
their seats, each picked up a little slate, which hung
by the side of his chair, a slate made of chocolate
framed in well-cookedjpastry, and each be-
gan to write his menu upon his slate. No
matter what he wrote, whether it were eggs
or roast larks, or whatever it were, the
thing at once appeared: the
birds with their legs encased
in cutlet frills, and the eggs
running along on two little feet, and
carrying a spoon and salt-cellar in
either hand.
Redy and Smaly could not help
thinking that all this was rather
alarming ; they were not used to see-
ing s;ices of toast arrive running like^
. , THE BIRDS WITH THEIR
Dig Spiders. L EGS ENCASED IN
Careering busily about the kitchen CUTLET FRILLS
THE CITY CURIOUS
were little pigs made of marzipan. They were gentle
and pretty pigs, who smelt deliciously of aromatic
herbs, and each had a knife and fork stuck in his
back.
When each guest had cut as much marzipan as
he wanted he replaced the knife and fork, and the
little pig at once ran merrily on to the next guest
without turning so much as one of its marzipan
hairs.
As to the tarts, they arrived flying like sparrows
or miniature aeroplanes.
Redy also was presented with a slate, and she
copied upon it the signs which she saw the Chief
Contractor make upon his. By this means she par-
took of plum tart, oranges, and marzipan,
all of which she shared with Smaly, who
was not so quick as she was at copying the
writing of the next-door neighbour.
Certainly it was a most splen-
did feast ; and as to the service,
as one sees, it was conducted in
a very novel fashion. Such was
a banquet in this country, though
on more ordinary occasions the
Wigs had to go to their pro-
visions instead of the provisions
coming to them.
THE EGGS RUNNING ALONG
42
The feast over, the Wigs
THE CITY CURIOUS
dipped their hands in finger-bowls, which consisted
of the halves of melons scooped out and filled with
rose-water. The Wigs all appeared very happy, their
THEY WERE GENTLE AND PRETTY PIGS
cheeks were flushed, their little amethyst-coloured
eyes shone with satisfaction, the air was filled with
a delicious scent of fruit.
" It seems to me there is an extraordinary
43
THE CITY CURIOUS
smell of suet here/' said the Chief Contractor, sud-
denly darting an unpleasant look at Smaly and his
wife.
" For my part," said the Despoiler, whose whole
person from his nose to his feet, which were flatter
than pancakes, expressed extreme suspicion " for
my part, what I smell is painted and varnished card-
A MOST SPLENDID FEAST
board." And he, too, fixed Smaly and Redy with
his eyes.
All the Wigs began to laugh, their large, amiable
frogs' mouths expanded, and they crossed their
fingers under their chins, which is in this country
a great sign of mirth. They laughed because they
all knew quite well that the Despoiler himself was
only made of cardboard. He was certainly very well
covered with jams and sweetmeats ; but he was
cardboard underneath for all that.
There was a story that one day the Despoiler
had found himself beside a pool which lay between
his house and the great kitchen of the Chief Con-
44
THE DESPOILER
THE CITY CURIOUS
tractor. The Despoiler had wanted to capture a
flying-fish made of red marzipan, which was feeding
upon a laurel-tree beside the pool. He leaned
forward too far towards the tree and fell into the
water, which was none the less wet for being scented
WHICH is IN THIS COUNTRY A GREAT
SIGN OF MIRTH
with orange flowers. The birds which lived at the
bottom of the pool brought him up to the surface
once more. He was saved ; but a terrible thing
had happened to him. Not one spot of jam re-
mained upon his cardboard.
THE CITY CURIOUS
He fled hastily.
He had left one of his feet behind him in the
water, and the Crow, taking off his spectacles, fished
it up. Two kindly Wigs ran after the Despoiler with
his cardboard foot.
The Despoiler, although he was very clever, was
also very vain, and pretended that it was not his
foot at all ; but only the sole of one of his shoes ;
HE FLED HASTILY
but all the Wigs knew perfectly well that it was
really his foot.
While the Wigs were still laughing at the expense
of the Despoiler, Smaly saw Mistigris, a Wig who
moved with an extremely cat-like tread, strike the
Despoiler from behind with a long fish-bone, and
transfix his insensible cardboard back.
The Chief Contractor, who saw what had
47
THE CITY CURIOUS
happened, rattled the castanets which he wore
on his left knee, and a young Stork dressed in
the uniform of a fireman ran up behind the
Despoiler, and by the aid
of long pincers withdrew
the fish-bone. This was evi-
dently quite a usual occur-
rence.
The Chief Contractor
picked up one of the masks
that hung round his neck,
a mask which was called
" Dignity," and placed it
over his face. When he had
worn this for a minute he
let it swing like a monocle,
and put in its place a
mask called " Severity."
" Let ever} 7 one take his
place," he cried in a stern
voice.
The Wigs gathered round
in a circle, all looking to-
wards the door.
".You're making a mis-
take, old man," whispered the Despoiler familiarly.
" The arrangement was that we were going to see
a review of your soldiers."
" We are going to hold a council instead," shouted
the Chief Contractor, and drops of perspiration, big
and pink as strawberries, rolled down his mask.
MlSTIGRIS
THE CITY CURIOUS
Suddenly he snatched it off and replaced it with
a mask which signified " Anger."
The assembly trembled. There was a sound as
of shuddering macaroni or of dominoes rattling with
fear.
" Reckybecky, you are out of line ! " cried the
Chief Contractor from beneath his mask of saffron
and flame colour. " Papylick and Mistigris, pay
attention ! Is it possible that already the intrusion
here of two rascals made of suet is going to corrupt
you all and reduce you to anarchy ? ):
Mistigris and Papylick came running up with a
cord, and, each taking an end, they held it in front of
the row of Wigs to keep them straight.
Those Wigs whose feet stuck out too
far drew them back, and those whose
feet did not come out far enough
advanced them until every one's toes
touched the cord and made a straight
line.
" You can roll the cord up," com-
manded the master ; then he turned to
Smaly. " Tell the truth," he demanded,
" are you made of suet ? '
At this moment Papylick and the
Young Stork gave a cry of horror.
They had discovered that Smaly and
Redy had licked the painted landscapes
off the insides of the nuts in which
they had been transported. THE YOUNG STORK
D 49
THE CITY
CURIOUS
of indignation,
Every one uttered cries of indignation, and
pressed forward so that their feet had to be brought
to order again with the help of the cord.
1 The law is clear. These people made of card-
board and suet must be banished at once," said
the Despoiler, who did not wear a mask, but could
EVERY ONE UTTERED CRIES OF INDIGNATION
roll his eyes and open his mouth as much as he
liked.
" The sun is at its height. It's hot enough to
bake tarts," said the Confectioner. " If these two
people go out now the sun will melt them, and our
beautiful lawns will be covered with fat."
" Horror ! " cried several of the Wigs.
" Then they must stay here until the sun has
set," decided the Chief Contractor, and putting on
a mask called " The Listener >: he continued :
50
" YOU CAN ROLL THE CORD "
THE CITY CURIOUS
" Now tell me what they want, these disturbing
people whom you have brought here. Tell me
everything that you know, O Short-Legged Man."
But Smaly and Redy spoke together, and they
said :
" We wish to have three girls.
Fine, sweet, pink and good.
They shall have more pudding than they like,
And a green, green "
Here Redy stopped and said :
" . . . each a green garden."
The Chief Contractor replied, " Won't do."
The Crow added, " Because there aren't any."
" There are the three daughters of the Prisoner,"
said the Chief Contractor ; " but they can't go out
of the country."
" Look here," said the Mother of the Crow, who
had just been brought in seated in her oyster-shell,
" why shouldn't this man and his wife live just
behind the wall of the country, then they will be
able to look at the Prisoner's daughters."
" That won't do," said the Chief Contractor,
" the girls mustn't speak to each other. They don't
know, none of them knows, that their father was
beheaded, and if they spoke to each other about it
they would all know."
" Well, well," said the Mother of the Crow,
preparing to be very wise, " they can surround each
garden by a wall and keep the girls separate,"
THE CITY CURIOUS
So it was decided that the little man and his
wife were to be banished after sunset ; but they
could live beyond the wall, and the girls should
THE CHIEF CONTRACTOR REPLIED
each have a green garden surrounded by a wall of
its own.
These walls were to be quite low to suit the
stature of the young girls, and each year the walls
53
THE CITY CURIOUS
were to be raised as the girls grew taller. Thus
the girls would not be able to see each other or be
able to confide to each other indiscretions on a
CHILDREN WERE BUILT OF MUCH FEWER SLICES
OF CAKE THAN THE GROWN-UPS
thousand and one subjects of which they knew
nothing.
Here the Chief Contractor again made a very
strong objection.
" It's important," he said, " that every year on
their birthdays we should insert a slice of cake in
these little girls so that they should grow tall enough
to suit their age."
54
THE CITY CURIOUS
In the somewhat embarrassed silence which
followed, Smaly discovered why the Wigs had such
short legs and such long bodies.
" Of course, that is it," he said to himself ; " each
year on their birthdays somebody adds another tart
or slice of cake to them, and they grow taller."
THESE CREATURES WILL EAT THE TOP OFF THE WALLS
He glanced out of the window and saw that this
was indeed so, that the children were built of much
fewer slices of cake than the grown-ups.
The Chief Contractor now made a second objec-
tion.
" But what shall we do," he said, " when the
garden wall of the eldest girl grows to be five feet
high, for you mustn't forget that that is the height
at which the fishes and lizards fly, so the wall will
55
THE CITY CURIOUS
never be able to be higher than five feet, for every
night these creatures will eat the top off the walls."
It was again the Mother of the Crow who saved
the situation. The dark hole in which she wore
her eye when her son was not carrying it round his
neck seemed full of intelligence. She placed her
finger upon her brow without moving her arm
(for the simple reason that she did not possess one),
and said :
" When we can no longer make the walls higher,
then we will sink the gardens as much as is needful."
All the same the Wigs could not accept this as
ANGER
a solution, for it seemed to them that men grew
upwards and not towards the ground, that is to say,
from the head and not from the feet.
The Chief Contractor gave the matter due
thought.
" We will place the annual slice of cake exactly
56
IT SEEMED TO THEM THAT MEN GREW UPWARDS AND NOT
TOWARDS THE GROUND
THE CITY CURIOUS
in the middle of the girls/' he announced,
u
and
thus we will only have to sink the level of the gardens
a little, and raise the top of the walls a little."
But since nobody seemed quite ready to accept
this as a solution, the Chief Contractor again placed
upon his face the mask called " Anger," and every
one held their tongues from perplexity.
SOME VERY ELEGANT MICE
Happily at this moment the most charming music
was heard upon the air. One could detect the scent
of this music with one's nose, and taste it with one's
tongue. One could see it floating out from various
little boxes that some very elegant mice were opening
and shutting with much delicacy and care.
" It's the review of the troops beginning," ex-
claimed the Young Stork in a loud voice as he
tweaked the hundredth fish-bone out of the insensible
back of the Despoiler.
CHAPTER V
Redy and Smaly watch the review of the troops : Smaly and the
Mother of the Crow discourse about soldiers : The Chief Con-
tractor distributes the food, and the Wigs pass through a curious
little door : The Soy powder makes the provisions grow.
THE Wigs now began to form themselves into
a semicircle, the smallest nearest the door,
and the others standing behind them so
that they could see over their heads.
It was a half-holiday for Laptitza, the second
daughter of the Prisoner, and Papylick brought her
in so that she could see the review of the troops.
Laptitza was shown to a low chair in the midst
of the semicircle formed by the Wigs.
Laptitza was so beautiful that it would not have
been possible to have painted her portrait.
The soldiers arrived in Indian file, one behind
the other.
" There are a hundred and two of them," an-
nounced the Chief Contractor, looking furtively at
Smaly. He shot this look through the eyeholes of
the mask which he had just slipped on and which
appeared to be made in two halves, for while one
59
THE CITY CURIOUS
ONE HALF EXPRESSED SEVERE
AUTHORITY, THE OTHER WAS
ALL GENTLENESS
half expressed severe
authority, the other was
all gentleness.
" One hundred and
two/' repeated Smaly
in a perfectly expres-
sionless voice.
" My brother used
to have only one hun-
dred/' said the De-
spoiler, " but I made
him understand that
they could not possibly
march until they had
one at the head and one
at the tail, and that
makes one hundred and
two." It was now the
Despoiler's turn to look
slyly at the two little
human beings and see
how they took his re-
mark.
The soldiers came on in a straight line towards
the great door of the kitchen. They had an extra-
ordinarily complicated method of marching, taking
two steps in advance and then one backwards, and
this was made all the more difficult for them because
discipline enjoined that each man should place his
60
THE CITY CURIOUS
feet accurately in the footsteps of the leader. This
man's feet, by an ingenious arrangement, left white
marks in the ground.
When the leading soldier arrived at the door,
since it was not permitted him to turn his back upon
such an august assembly, he had to take his departure
marching backwards, and so had all those who
followed after him. From that moment there were
two long lines of soldiers, one going forwards, the
other going backwards ; but all the soldiers had
their noses, their chests, their knees, and their big
toes pointing in the same direction the door of
the kitchen.
When the review was over, the Chief Contractor
was so pleased that he decided that they must have
a similar review every week. He had a fence erected
round the traces left by the soldiers' feet, so that
they would not be effaced, but could be used again
each week.
Just as this was finished Smaly noticed that
the eye of the Mother of the Crow was regarding
him steadfastly. Suddenly the eye winked as though
to signal him to approach. Smaly began to walk
towards the eye ; but it occurred to him on reflection
that it was towards the Mother of the Crow 7 herself
that he ought to turn his steps, and not towards
her eye, which, after all, was merely hung in a
locket round the neck of her son. Therefore he
turned and approached the oyster-shell, where the
Mother of the Crow was seated.
The Wigs were no longer taking any notice of
61
THE CITY CURIOUS
him; they were eating ices, and chatting together
in their mellifluous voices. They had ail put on
thick gloves, for the warmth of the fresh pastry of
HE DECIDED THAT THEY MUST HAVE A SIMILAR REVIEW
EVERY WEEK
which their hands were composed would have melted
the ices.
62
None of them really knows what a soldier is, :
THE CITY CURIOUS
said the Mother of the Crow in a low voice to
Smaly.
*\Oh," said Smaly ; " but you know, don't you ? "
"^Certainly I know. Soldiers are beings who cut
up the meat that men like you eat, who hack down
big trees, who kill the beautiful horned animals for
food. You see I know perfectly well what a soldier
is, and one can always tell a real soldier because he
carries big knives, axes, saws, razors, and scythes."
" H'm ! Not at all,"
contradicted Smaly with
the air of one beginning
a lecture. " A soldier is
a man who fights other
soldiers."
"What?' asked the
Mother of the Crow.
" How is that possible
when they are both the
same thing ? '
" I assure you that it
is so," replied Smaly.
The Mother of the
Crow reflected ; but catch-
ing sight of the Wigs, who
were putting the soldiers
back in their boxes at the
end of the courtyard, she
began again.
"He," she said, nod-
ding her head towards the
63
THEY HAD ALL PUT ON
GLOVES
THE CITY CURIOUS
Chief Contractor, " has no idea of what a soldier
is. He has never seen one excepting in a painting
that a cousin sent him. It is a painting that repre-
sents a court in full dress. There are several soldiers
with knives standing round the cousin, who is the
President of the Republic of Pasenipus. They wear
WlGS, WHO WERE PUTTING THE SOLDIERS BACK IN THEIR
BOXES
breastplates of gold to prevent the blood of the
animals they kill soiling their fine coats. The
Chief Contractor thought that these breastplates
must be eggs, and, as you see, these soldiers are
just eggs with legs. The Chief Contractor has had
oxeye daisies fastened to their heels, because in the
picture there were golden daisies fastened to the
boots of the soldiers."
LAPTITZA AND PAPYLICK
Page 59
I
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF PASENIPUS
E
THE CITY CURIOUS
" Those must have been spurs ! ' explained
Smaly absently, his attention being distracted by a
curious rattling noise from afar off.
" I don't know what spurs are," admitted the
Mother of the Crow ; " but the Chief Contractor
doesn't even know what the shield is that each soldier
carries to protect his face from the horns of the
animals. He doesn't even know that soldiers carry
knives," she added, " but has put in his soldiers'
hands flowers with long stalks. He doesn't know
what a helmet is, for he thought that soldiers must
be a sort of bird with a plume on their heads."
Smaly didn't mind. He had very much admired
the feathered heads, and, above all, he admired the
shields, which were made of pearly shell-fish, but
before the review the Wigs had eaten the contents
of these beautiful shields lest the shell-fish should
all have hidden their faces from fright.
When the Wigs had placed the soldiers in the
boxes the Young Stork and Papylick came towards
Smaly. The Stork took charge of the Mother of
the Crow to conduct her back to her house, which
was in a cosy nook in a great tree of coral.
Smaly and Redy now wished to go, but Papylick
informed them that neither the sun nor moon having
yet set, it was not possible, and so the little husband
and wife sat down on their heels in the doorway of
the kitchen.
The rattling sound had now come nearer, and
66
THE CITY CURIOUS
the Chief Contractor appeared in the public square
surrounded by Wigs pushing wheelbarrows and
turning rattles.
TO CONDUCT HER BACK TO HER HOUSE, WHICH WAS IN A^
NOOK IN A GREAT TREE OF CORAL
These Wigs laid the rattles in the wheelbarrows,
and everything became quiet once more.
Then the Chief Contractor advanced boldly into
the full sunshine, and the Wigs, who watched him
THE CITY CURIOUS
put one foot in front of the other, prepared also to
advance.
The Chief Contractor had made a few changes
in his costume. He still wore his big ring and his
box marked " Soy " ; but a huge hat now covered
his head. Little shelves were hung all about his
person, and on these and on his hat were placed
pots and jars, cakes and flagons. He had many
more than the Confectioner, who, after all, was
only his lieutenant. He carried a quiverful of
ebony knives, and an urn from which stuck out
long bamboo spoons. His masks were slung from
the end of a stick. He touched his lips with his
magic ring, then he agitated the castanets which
hung at his knee, and cried :
" Food, food ! Come in by the door, come in
by the door," and he shut his mouth up again
quickly with his left thumb.
" I don't see a door, or even a place for a door.
There isn't anything," said Smaly to Papylick.
" There it is," said Redy, pointing towards a
little door which stood in the middle of the square.
" There's no wall, but that is a door. See, it's
open," she added.
" But what's the good of that door," cried Smaly
to the Chocolate Grub, which had come up beside
him and was waiting with the others to go and get
his provisions.
" I know nothing about doors," said the Grub
sharply. " You must ask some specialist in such
matters ; some one who knows about draughts and
68
THE CONFECTIONER
THE CITY CURIOUS
opening and shutting. Some one, in fact, who looks
like a doorkeeper," and the Grub withdrew proudly.
" NEVERTHELESS IT'S so NARROW THAT ONLY ONE PERSON CAN
GO THROUGH AT A TIME "
Smaly realized that he had been lacking in tact
to mention the word " door >!> to the Grub, who
always pretended that he was not a doorkeeper.
Papylick explained to the two little people :
70
THE CITY CURIOUS
" If there weren't a door the people would simply
tear the Chief Contractor to bits to get at the food."
' But " began Smaly.
" And anyway the door was open," said Redy.
" That's true," replied Papylick, " but never-
THE SONG WENT ON
theless it's so narrow that only one person can go
through at a time."
And, indeed, each Wig was passing singly through
the little door to receive in his pot or pan a drop of
gooseberry jam or a morsel of cake or apple, or one
or two cherry-stones.
The Chief Contractor served out his goods with
his bamboo spoons. When the Wigs were served
they made their way in single file towards two posts
which stood in the square, and passed very carefully
7 1
THE CITY CURIOUS
between them so as not to spill any of their precious
provisions.
And every one had received from the Contractor
a little powder in a box like a small snuff-box labelled
" Soy."
Back in their kitchen the Wigs sprinkled a pinch
of the Soy powder on their crumbs of cake and
spots of jam, and then taking hands danced slowly
round the table, singing, while the little crumbs of
food began to grow bigger and bigger. The frag-
ments of cake became whole cakes, the spots of jam
swelled to marvellous jellies, and the cherry-stones
became baskets full of the most succulent fruits.
When they had finished their song they did not shut
their mouths up again, thereby attaining two excel-
lent results the song went on and on while they
could eat their dessert at their ease.
CHAPTER VI
The Sugar-Cane Prison arrives : The Rats water it with Soy
fluid to keep the canes growing as fast as the Prisoner breaks
them down : The time for siesta draws on, and Smaly and Redy
go into the house of the Historian.
WHILE the Wigs were in the kitchen, and
Smaly and Redy were seated in the doorway
sharing Papylick's provisions, distant cries
rose upon the air. Smaly and Redy turned to gaze
out at the public square, which was hot and empty ;
but in a moment several Wigs arrived at the far
RUNNING HARD WITH THEIR LITTLE SHORT LEGS
end, running hard with their little short legs, and
crying out :
" The prison has turned round, it's coming in
this direction."
The Chief Contractor, who was eating in the
kitchen in company with the Despoiler, the Con-
73
THE CITY CURIOUS
fectioner, the Crow, Mistigris, the Stork, and various
other people, precipitated himself towards the door,
followed by the rest. Listening to their scraps of
SOY MILL
conversation Smaly gathered that the Wigs held
some stranger captive, and that this prisoner lived
in a perambulating prison which travelled about
the country. This astonished Smaly very much, as,
74
THE CITY CURIOUS
indeed, it would have astonished you had you been
in his place. Even I, who have seen many strange
things, was very astonished when I first heard about it.
SOY RESERVOIR
The shouting grew nearer, and there appeared
at the far end of the square a forest of sugar-canes
moving steadily onwards. The canes reared up into
the air like rockets which never rose any higher, or
75
THE CITY CURIOUS
like a field of gigantic corn, and they formed a solid
wall which came ever nearer and nearer.
The wall came onward and hit against a house
which stood in its way, and mowed it down. The
sugar-canes were far more powerful than the pastry
of which the house was composed.
The sugar-cane forest came closer, so close that
Smaly and Redy perceived how amongst the base
of the canes there was a multitude of Water-Rats
who were busy watering the roots.
These Rats were all provided with large mackin-
toshes, which, however, they took off for greater
freedom of movement while they were watering.
They wore boots like those you see upon the men
who clean out drains, and each Rat had upon its
head a fireman's helmet similar to that worn by
the Stork.
Some watered with a watering-can, some with
firemen's hose, connected with reservoirs shaped
like enormous bottles of champagne, and mounted
upon wheels.
One of the Rats, who wore a long red feather
trailing from its helmet, was mounted upon a Hare
whose pads were wrapped in linen. The Rat gal-
loped backwards and forwards upon the Hare from
the forest to a big windmill marked " Soy," where
the reservoirs were.
Still the forest kept on advancing until the quiet
square was transformed into a den of noise and
activity. The sugar-canes grew higher and more
numerous every moment under the influence of the
THE CITY CURIOUS
water of Soy, which was as productive as the Soy
powder.
The kitchen was by now emptied of everything
movable ; the Wigs ran hither and thither carrying
away every object that they could lift, as people
move furniture when a neighbouring house is burn-
ing ; only Smaly and Redy remained, stupefied
before this moving forest which marched down
upon them.
CARRYING AWAY EVERY OBJECT THAT THEY COULD LIFT
When it was almost on them they ran to one side,
and there, where the sugar-canes were less thick,
they could see into the heart of the forest, and they
saw crouching within it a strange-looking man
dressed in rags. Little of his face showed between
his long hair and his tangled beard. He wore no
shoes ; but carried at the end of a string several
boxes of matches. Perpetually he made the same
rhythmic gesture with his arms, and with every
gesture the sugar-canes around him broke as if they
were made of brittle glass. His eyes stared straight
77
THE CITY CURIOUS
in front of him, and he seemed to be laughing to
himself.
" He is a madman/' said Redy.
" They have driven him mad," replied Smaly
in a low voice.
Smaly and Redy joined hands. " We ought to
save him/' they said together.
The Prisoner never ceased to break the sugar-
canes, and fresh canes sprang up around him also
without a pause.
Fish that had wings and paws flew above the
forest, brushing the heads of the canes with their
ringed noses. Whenever they did this the sugar-
canes seemed to shrivel up and vanish.
And thus the forest advanced, new canes spring-
ing up ahead, and the old canes withering behind ;
but always surrounding the Prisoner, no matter how
he shattered them.
Now these rings which the Flying-Fish wore in
their noses had been fixed there by the Despoiler,
and the rings worn by all the Wigs came from the
same source and served the same purpose, that of
stopping all growth. This was how the Despoiler
came by his name, for mere creature of insensate
pasteboard as he was, he had the power from his
magic ring to arrest all life a blade of grass in the
ground, or the passage of a bird in the air.
Suddenly the Prisoner paused in his frantic
toil and fell asleep like a child. The rats also left
THE PRISONER
THE CITY CURIOUS
off their work and wrapped themselves in their
mackintoshes.
Smaly and Redy wished to attract the attention
THE PRISONER NEVER CEASED TO BREAK THE SUGAR-CANES
of the Prisoner ; but the strange man slept on, and
they did not dare speak to him too loudly, for they
were afraid that he might be quite mad, and also
they did not know how the Wigs would take inter-
So
THE CITY CURIOUS
ference with their prisoner. Indeed, Papylick and
the Young Stork had already noticed what they were
trying to do, and since the kitchen had been destroyed
by the passing of the forest they now drew Smaly
and Redy gently but firmly into one of the houses
in the square.
" This is the house of the Historian," said Papy-
lick, " and here you must stay until the setting of the
sun.
81
CHAPTER VII
The Flying-Fish announces the hour of three, and the World falls
asleep : The Hen makes six hard-boiled eggs : Smaly and Redy
begin to read the manuscript of the Historian.
SMALY and Redy found themselves in a room
that was rather dark in spite of the fact that
the sun was still high in the heavens. There
were only four windows, one placed so low down
that the Wigs, even when seated, could observe
what passed. Another, very little higher, was for
the Wigs to look out of when they were standing on
their short legs. These two windows had already
been in existence when the Government of the
country offered the house to the Historian to enable
him to write the chronicles of the inhabitants.
The Historian put in an indent asking for two
more windows, and succeeded in obtaining them.
The first of the new windows was put alongside the
old one, which had been for the use of the Wigs
standing ; but this new window was for the Historian
when he was sitting down, as he was twice the height
of an ordinary Wig. The fourth window was set
very high to allow of the Historian looking out on
the market square as he walked about.
It will be seen what bright ideas this Historian
Sz
THE CITY CURIOUS
had ; but the result of one of his brightest was to
be seen in the ceiling, where there were two circular
holes, one much bigger than the other.
The big hole had been there for a long time and
had been made to allow of free exit and entry to the
pet Flying-Fish, whichevery
Wig family possesses and
cherishes, much as you or
I cherish a dog or a cat ;
but when some one made
the Historian a present of
another and much younger
Fly ing -Fish, he at once
caused a smaller hole to be
made so that his new pet
also could come in and out
as it pleased.
Redy and Smaly found
the Historian sitting in a
corner of his room studying
a piece of paper through a
telescope, and taking notes
as to what he saw. The
little husband and wife shut
the door gently behind them and remained very
quiet. They were quite alone with this curious
and enormous being, who took no more notice of
them than if they had been a couple of mice.
It was the first time that Redy and Smaly had
seen the interior of a Wig house, and they found it
resembled nothing so much as the laboratory of an
83
THE PET FLYING-FISH, WHICH
EVERY WIG FAMILY POSSESSES
AND CHERISHES
THE CITY CURIOUS
alchemist or astronomer. The thing Smaly and
Redy admired most was a large globe upon which
all the Wig possessions were painted in red.
THE AMOUNT OF CAKE AND PUDDING EATEN ANNUALLY IN THE COUNTRY
At first they were very astonished to see how
big the Wigs' country appeared to be ; but after a
little study Smaly suggested that the areas covered
in red must represent the importance morally and
THE CITY CURIOUS
mentally of the coun-
try rather than its
geographical area,and
this Redy agreed
with, for she had
found ranged in a
row beside the globe
a lot of little painted
cardboard figures of
different sizes repre-
senting the amount of
cake and pudding
eaten annually in the
countries represented
by these little figures ;
which were the Wigs'
country, Parseny's
Land, England,
France, Italy, and
Belgium, and the
Wigs' countiy was the
biggest of the lot.
THE ELDER OF THE FISHES
While the little husband and wife were discussing
this in low voices so as not to disturb the Historian,
the elder of the Fishes flew in. With great difficulty
it scraped through the small hole instead of its own.
It flew to its perch, and announced in a clear voice :
" Three o'clock has struck."
It said these words to a Hen who was sitting
85
THE CITY CURIOUS
upon a coal-scuttle, busily making little white and
yellow pasties.
THE HEN
Having made this announcement the Fish pulled
down its eyelids with its left paw, buried its nose
86
THE CITY CURIOUS
in a nightcap, wrapped its wings round its head,
and went to sleep. The Hen seemed very agitated
by the Fish's words, and began to work harder than
ever.
She wore a peruke like all the Wigs, and an
infinite number of skirts made of butter muslin.
She looked at the clock, for the big hand had stopped
at two, whereas the little hand was at the hour of
three. While she gazed at it the left foot of the
Historian shot out and brought the little hand round
to six o'clock.
At once the Hen started rolling out six yellow
balls upon her pasteboard. These she wrapped up
in a white crust and then hid them in the pockets of
her skirts and sat upon them, while she made fourteen
more eggs out of the white and yellow paste.
" The little hand must be to ask for six hard-
boiled eggs," whispered Redy to Smaly.
At that moment Smaly, who was staring out of
the window, nudged Redy, and looking out together
they saw that the Wigs, who had been busily re-
building the kitchen, had all fallen asleep in the
market square because three o'clock was the hour
of the afternoon's rest. The Confectioner, his hair
streaming in the wind, was running hard towards
his own house. He held by the hand Fritilla, the
youngest of the Prisoner's daughters, whose big eyes
were looking all about her as she ran. The Con-
fectioner pushed her rapidly into his house and shut
the door upon her, then he, too, fell asleep in the
square like the other Wigs. This care which the
87
THE CITY CURIOUS
Confectioner took of Fritilla was by no means un-
necessary, as for several days she had been pursued
THIS CARE WHICH THE CONFECTIONER TOOK OF FRITILLA WAS
BY NO MEANS UNNECESSARY
by an enormous red Flying- Fish which declared that
she had stolen from it its seven hundred and eighty-
secondth feather. It declared that it had seen the
plume actually in her hands, and that when it had
THE CITY CURIOUS
gone home and counted its feathers over before
going to sleep that night it only possessed seven
hundred and eighty-one.
.*
The smaller Flying-Fish now flew into the His-
torian's room, using its own little hole. It hated using
this ; but it seemed an even greater humiliation to
use the big one, for that made the poor little Fish
feel smaller than ever. Thus it came about that
neither the big nor the little Flying-Fish ever used
the larger hole, which had become all overgrown
with delicate mosses and stonecrop, and even by a
fine yellow wallflower. The windows in this country,
if people did not look through
them often enough, became
almost opaque.
The little Flying -Fish
seated itself on its perch, and
called out :
" It's nearly half-past three.
We must rest. Everybody
must rest. Let's go to sleep."
And it, too, pulled down its
eyelids with its left paw, buried
its nose in a nightcap, and
wrapped its wings round its
head.
The Historian stretched out
a hand, took the six hard-boiled
eggs from the Hen dropped THE SMALLER FLYING-
them through a hole in his FISH
THE CITY CURIOUS
beak, put the hand of the clock back to zero, then
he, too, shut his eyes.
" He sleeps," murmured Smaly and Redy.
Smaly tiptoed across to the Historian.
> !,' ?': ' V ''."* . "'
'&x?$.i&?$
DROPPED THEM THROUGH A HOLE IN HIS BEAK
He was a curious sort of man, extremely thin,
his face dominated rather than adorned by an
immense beak, which apparently he could not open ;
and he had little twinkling eyes like an elephant's,
which twinkled even more when they were shut
than when they were open. He wore a sort of
wrapper, trimmed with fur round the neck, sleeves,
90
WAS SITTING WITH ONE ANKLE ACROSS THE KNEE OF HIS
OTHER LEG
THE CITY CURIOUS
and legs. Neither Redy nor Smaly could quite
decide what the Historian was made of, whether of
Manchester pudding, of pie-crust, or gingerbread,
and they did not dare try and taste him for fear of
waking him up.
The Historian was sitting with one ankle across
the knee of his other leg, and had rolled round his
thin calf the manuscript upon which he had been
working. This manuscript was trained to roll itself
up slowly round his leg whilst he wrote it.
Smaly looked carefully all round him. The Hen
was sleeping, the two Fish slept also, the Historian
slept profoundly without snoring. He had always
wanted to be able to snore ; but he could never
succeed because of his beak, and therefore he had
invented a sort of little suction-pump run by a motor,
which he kept beside him, and which snored quite
as well as a man.
Except Smaly and Redy every one was sleeping
in the house of the Historian. Outside in the sun-
baked square the Chief Contractor, the Confectioner,
Mistigris, the Young Stork, and the Crow slept
also, heaped one upon the other in a casual manner,
only the Despoiler, who was always afraid that some
one would find out that he was only made of card-
board, never slept in public. He always retired to
rest in a little room under the roof of his house.
When Smaly had made quite sure that there was
no one to see them, he took Redy by the hand
and began gently to unroll the Historian's manu-
script. Smaly and Redy began to read it to each
92
THE DESPOILER, WHO
WAS ALWAYS AFRAID
THAT SOME ONE WOULD
FIND OUT THAT HE WAS
ONLY MADE OF CARD-
BOARD, NEVER SLEPT IN
PUBLIC
THE CITY CURIOUS
other in low voices, word by word, like children
who go upstairs one leg at a time. This is what
they read :
" Thursday, half-past three.
" All buildings except the cherry-tart destroyed
in the market square.
" The Prisoner crossed the river while it was dry.
" Rolled across the park of chocolate-moulds,
crushing everything beneath him.
" He then rolled on over the great kitchen, which
was happily empty.
" (The two little people made of suet have been
shut in with me.)
" Up past the public square, and the two little
people tried to talk to him.
" The Rats worked hard at keeping the prison
together ; but there are cries everywhere.
" Every one is calling out * The Prisoner is
coming.'
" How annoying this is," said Redy, " we're
reading it backwards."
" Annoying," said a deep voice which came
from the closed beak of the Historian. He had for-
gotten that he was asleep, and lifting up his foot he
kicked the two inquisitive little people to the other
end of the room.
But the sight of the Flying-Fish and the Hen sleep-
ing reminded him that he, too, was not really awake,
so he closed his eyes and did not move again.
Smaly was able to go on unrolling the whole of
the manuscript.
94
CHAPTER VIII
Redy and Smaly read of the childhood of the Prisoner.
THEY read as follows :
" THE STORY OF DJORAK
" This is what I, the Historian, have been able to
discover about the life of Djorak, called The Prisoner,
before he came to us. He told it to me himself
before he was placed in his prison of sugar-canes.
" He is a sailor.
" He has been tattooed.
" Nearly everything that has been tattooed upon
him is very terrible ; for instance, one can read upon
his shoulder-blade :
" ' Eat meat raw if you can't get it cooked.'
" Indeed, he has himself avowed to me that he
used to eat all sorts of animals, rabbits, sheep, and
even birds.
" On his other shoulder was written :
" ' Avoid water like poison.'
" He had also inscribed about his person :
* Drink your gin and whisky neat.'
" * Always have a hot drink in the evening.'
" ' Reverence the sun and each of the winds as
it blows.'
95
THE CITY CURIOUS
" On his breast he bore a heart cruelly transfixed
with arrows.
" I gathered that from his childhood he was
rough and disobedient. That when as a little boy
he used to go into the wood behind the house to
smoke, his mother always followed him and carefully
" INSTEAD OF CUTTING HIS TOE-NAILS AS WE DO WITH THE HELP OF A
LONG-HANDLED PAIR OF SCISSORS AND A TELESCOPE "
presented him with an ash-tray, yet he never made
use of the tray ; but kept it in his pocket and scattered
the ash all over the wood.
" Instead of cutting his toe-nails as we do with
the help of a long-handled pair of scissors and a
telescope, he preferred to take each nail off sepa-
rately, trim it, and put it back, although this in-
variably made his mother cry.
" He was so perverse that when any one asked
SOME OF THE DANCES WERE VERY COMPLICATED
Page 122
THE CITY CURIOUS
him what the time was he would always insist on
telling it by the barometer, although he knew per-
fectly well that the exact time is only to be found
on the clock.
" He always marked out the tennis-court with
green chalk, because he maintained that the white
looked too loud and left marks upon
the grass.
" Evidently from his earliest
youth he was of the stuff of which
criminals are made.
" When he grew up he married
and became the father of three
adorable little girls."
At the mention of the three little
girls Redy and Smaly stopped and
looked at each other.
" Those are the three little
daughters of the Prisoner/' whis-
pered Redy.
Smaly went on reading :
" When his wife died," Smaly
read, " he decided to give to his
daughters a good, if rather original
education.
" Every alternate week he dressed
them as boys, and during that week
they behaved as boys, and the next
week they would become girls
again. * That will accustom them
to anything/ he used to say. THE KING
G 97
THE CITY CURIOUS
* Nothing in life should be difficult
to them after that/
" Three young men fell in love
with them, but unfortunately called
on their father to demand them in
marriage one Monday morning when
the three girls were dressed as boys,
and considered as such by their
father.
" The three young men were thrown
out of the house with great violence
by the infuriated parent. One young
man lost his hat, the second lost his
arms and his walking-stick, and the
third lost one of his legs.
" Certainly Djorak's love for his
daughters was very intense.
" It was this love which was his
ruin.
" One day in the presence of the
King of his country he boasted of
being the father of the three
most beautiful young girls in his
country.
" What an imprudence ! The King
himself possessed a daughter whose beauty, to
say the least of it, was not remarkable, and the
King, who was very intelligent, was perfectly
well aware of the fact. He was furious when he
heard Djorak's boast. He had him arrested and
tried before the high court, who decided that the
THE KING'S
DAUGHTER
THE CITY CURIOUS
punishment of death was barely sufficient for such
an audacious criminal.
The punishment of death in Djorak's country
is by beheading with the sword ; a criminal's head is
only cut off once but it is once and for all."
99
CHAPTER IX
The elder Flying Fish loses one eye, and the Hen finds it : The
Historian wakes up, and Smaly and Redy run out of the house :
The Healer mends the paw of the Confectioner.
THE Flying-Fish upon their perches now began
to shake their wings and then their paws,
and last of all their heads.
" Are we really awake ? " asked the elder Flying-
Fish of the younger.
" It seems to me that we are more or less shaken
up," replied the little Flying-Fish.
The two Fish prepared themselves to fly forthwith
once more upon their arduous duties, for the Flying-
Fish in this country act as sentinels and look-out
men, and also cry the hours publicly.
Just as they were about to set off the little Flying-
Fish noticed that the other had lost an eye.
" That must have been when I shook my head,"
exclaimed the elder Flying-Fish with conviction, and
both flew down on to the floor to look for the missing
eye. The Hen joined them in their search, and as
she fluttered down she managed to upset a glass
retort from which an opalescent vapour began to
escape.
Soon the whole laboratory was filled with this
100
THE CITY CURIOUS
vapour in layer upon layer of different colours,
from deep rose at the base up through violet and
pale green to a layer of no colour at all, which was
succeeded by a layer of blue.
Through the vapour Smaly and Redy could hear
that the Fish and the Hen were continuing their
search for the lost eye. Sometimes they were quite
near the two little people, although no one could
see any one else.
It was the Hen who finally discovered the lost
eye.
" Why, it's still shut," said the younger Fish to
the elder.
" Doubtless it must have fallen out before I had
really shaken myself awake," replied the elder.
Taking the eye from the hands of the Hen, the
Fish held it in its cupped paws to shake it, as one
shakes a coin, to see whether it will come down
heads or tails. When it had been well shaken the
eye was open.
The little Fish took the eye and replaced it in
the elder Fish's head ; then they both flew out, making
a buzzing noise like gigantic bluebottles.
The layers of coloured vapour now began to
twirl about and mix like wreaths of steam, and once
again various objects in the room became visible.
The Hen saw that the big toes of the Historian had
begun to move, and knowing that these signs of
wakefulness would presently mount as far as his
101
THE CITY CURIOUS
head, she hastened back to her little pots of white
and yellow paste.
Indeed, the Historian was already almost awake ;
he had put down his hand and stopped the little
snoring machine.
Smaly and Redy joined hands and ran out of the
door.
Directly they appeared in the square the Wigs
seized hold of them and ran them into the kitchen
once more, which by now had been built up again.
Smaly and Redy began to hope that the evening
was not far off, for they were becoming more and
more anxious to see the three girls. They opened
their mouths and began their little chant :
We wish to have three girls,
Fine, sweet
But at this moment Redy noticed that the sun
had not moved during all the hours of the siesta.
Nobody had explained to them that since all the
Wigs had been asleep the sun had naturally thought
it would be ill-mannered to continue his advance.
Redy and Smaly stood alone in the kitchen
wondering what to do, when the door opened and
a middle-sized man walked in, saying in a severe
voice :
" Where the dickens have those idiots got to ? "
Smaly hid himself behind Redy, and Redy hid
102
THE HEALER
THE CITY CURIOUS
herself behind a large plant,
which grew in one of the
ornamental vases at the side
of the Chief Contractor's
throne.
The man who came in
had evidently been born
with the idea of one day
being a very big man. But
he had been destined by
his parents to become a
great Healer, and as soon
as he had discovered this it
occurred to him that it
would be better to be
merely of medium height,
so that he did not have to
make his back ache bending
over the beds of sick people.
Therefore he at once left
off growing, excepting in
girth ; and since he always
wished to ride about the
country it was obvious that
he did not want his legs to
be too strong, therefore he
had small legs, enormous
shoulders, a hump both
back and front, and a large
stomach.
The Healer was accom-
104
THE CITY CURIOUS
panied by a page made in the shape of a drum.
This drum, besides having the head of a page and
two solid little legs mounted upon roller-skates, was
hung about with an immense number of instruments,
with tubes of gum, sealing-wax, and candles. In
one of his hands he carried a funnel made of fish-
glue, down which he poured medicine into the
mouths of sick people.
In the other he had a corkscrew for pulling out
bad teeth.
" It's simply freezing in this horrible kitchen,"
said the Healer, looking about him. " Where on
earth have they got to ? ' Then turning to the page
he added : " Fetch my cloak out of the right-hand
pannier."
He gave a shove to the drum, which skated off
to the door where two donkeys stood side by side.
One donkey could certainly never have supported
the Healer, therefore he had to have two, and between
them was fastened a comfortable arm-chair. The
page came back trailing a large cloak behind him,
made of the leaves of aromatic herbs.
When the Healer had put it on he looked like
a mound entirely covered with ivy. The bag which
he carried slung on his right-hand side was almost
hidden by his cloak, so was that on his left.
Upon one of these, which contained little bottles
and boxes, one could just read the word " Medicines,"
and upon the other " Rewards to be taken after
medicine."
105
THE CITY CURIOUS
The Healer continued to call out " Where are
they, where are they ? " gazing everywhere through
BETWEEN THEM WAS FASTENED A COMFORTABLE ARM-CHAIR
his large single eyeglass, which was so big he could
look through it with both eyes at once.
He drew near to the plant behind which Smaly
and Redy were hiding, and just as it seemed as
106
THE CITY CURIOUS
though he must discover them, they managed to
hide themselves beneath the folds of his cloak. They
were only just in time.
The Chief Contractor, the Crow, and the De-
spoiler, followed by several Wigs, now came in.
" Where are they ? " cried the Healer, turning
towards them.
" Here is the first of them," answered the Chief
Contractor, pointing to the Confectioner, who was
being supported by Mistigris and Papylick; and
Smaly and Redy, peeping out from beneath the
cloak, began to understand that the Healer was not
searching for them, but for sick people.
" Dear me. It's his paw that's hurt," said the
Healer, and indeed this was not difficult to see, for
the Stork had already laid down upon the table the
broken paw of the Confectioner.
The Healer lit a candle, took his sealing-wax,
and set to work.
. . .
Outside an agitated crowd had assembled.
Every one seemed to be crying and wailing.
Already in the crowd there were newsboys selling
accounts of the latest disaster to the Wigs. ,
In the great square hundreds of frenzied people,
at the risk of losing their shoes or their heads, danced
frantically round and round.
" What misery, what misery," murmured every
one in the kitchen, gazing at the mask called
107
THE CITY CURIOUS
' Supreme Sorrow," which the Chief Contractor
had placed over his face.
THERE WERE NEWSBOYS SELLING ACCOUNTS OF THE LATEST
DISASTER TO THE WIGS
" Who on earth will rebuild the market square ? "
muttered the Young Stork, gently closing up with
his nail some little holes which he had discovered
in the back of the Despoiler.
108
THE HEALER HAD FINISHED HIS MENDING
THE CITY CURIOUS
" Well, in the first place, who is going to draw
the plans ? " asked the Despoiler.
" We don't need any plans," answered Papylick.
" They will draw the plans after they have put
up the building," -remarked the Crow in a low voice
to Smaly, whom he had discovered under the Healer's
cloak.
" If they have any plans they can quite well
build up all the tarts and puddings in the square
again."
" The plans have all been burnt," announced
the Chief Contractor.
" But in the first place no one knows whether
the plans or the buildings were made first," objected
the Crow.
No one had anything to say to this, so every one
remained silent, sunk in the deepest perplexity.
Papylick at last suggested that they should ask the
advice of the Mother of the Crow.
By this time the Healer had finished his mending.
The Confectioner, placing his hand against his
mother-of-pearl forehead, murmured, " I have a
pain there."
: That must be the fever," said the Despoiler.
" Fever ? " demanded the Healer sharply. " How
can there be fever when I have glued his paw on
again? He hasn't got fever at all. It's worrying
that's given him a headache. What Wig worthy of
the name is not worrying at this moment when such
a grave and terrible problem lies before us."
no
CHAPTER X
The Wigs all imagine they suffer from headache : The Rats come
to the Healer to be cured of the ravages of hot Soy : The Chief
Contractor has to make himself ill eating the musical instruments.
D
IRECTLY he heard the word ' problem ):
the Chief Contractor put on the mask of
the " Mathematician."
"It is indeed atrocious, this problem that
confronts us," continued the Healer, " and who can
there be amongst us who is not full of distress when
he considers that in the whole of our country there
is no one who can tell us whether we should begin
by making the plans or the buildings. I trust
for the sake of your honour that you all have
headache," and
towards the pair
"I, too, hope
Chief Contrac-
slipping on
called "Mi-
" I, too, hope
wife, who had
You, gentle
on another page
lady, who was
and dressed very
so saying
the
a
Healer walked
of donkeys,
so," said the
tor, hastily
the mask
graine.
" said
his
MATHEMATICIAN
SO,
just come in.
reader, will find
a portrait of this
extremely vain
extravagantly,
in
MIGRAINE
THE CITY CURIOUS
She bore a great resemblance
to a butterfly.
" We all hope so," said every
one in the kitchen, and the crowd
in the square took up the remark,
so that all over the town the
Wigs were sighing and placing
their right hands upon their fore-
heads.
Soon they felt so bad that
they all wetted their handkerchiefs in the fountain
of rose-water and wrapped them round their heads.
There was a great silence. . . .
" I hope so, too," piped the Crow, a little late
because he had only just succeeded in putting on
his spectacles.
The Stork re-en-
tered, pushing the
Mother of the Crow in
her oyster - shell, and
followed by the Healer.
At once the Stork be-
gan to pull out all the
fish-bones which dur-
ing his absence ill-
natured persons had
stuck in the back of the
Despoiler.
But all thought of
the grave problem to
112
WRAPPED THEIR HANDKERCHIEFS ROUND
THEIR HEADS
r i a?^c/5^M>
" I, TOO, HOPE SO," SAID HIS WlFE, WHO HAD JUST COME IN
H
THE CITY CURIOUS
be discussed was forgotten, for at this moment there
entered many more victims of the travelling prison.
(Smaly, who up to now had not been so very, very
astonished at anything he had seen or heard since
he had passed through the chocolate door, really
was a little surprised when he saw these victims.)
The chief sufferers seemed to have been the Rats,
whose business it was to keep the sugar-cane forest
well watered. Nearly all had one leg which was
much longer than the other, or a very long arm, or
an elongated nose, or a tail that went on for ever.
" They must have been walking upon hot Soy/'
whispered a Wig to Smaly.
This Wig was a Dwarf with a very large head,
and he carried a watering-can, out of which he
perpetually drank a few drops.
Smaly and Redy, their eyes round with curiosity,
questioned him eagerly.
" The Prisoner wanted to cripple us all for the
rest of our days/' said the Dwarf, drinking a little
more water, for he suffered from a continual thirst.
" If you know what a match is," observed the
Crow, settling his spectacles, " you will very soon
understand what has happened."
" Yes," continued the Dwarf, looking anxiously
into the bottom of his watering-can. " When the
prison had crossed the square the Architect made
an attempt to save the plans."
" By the Architect he means the Confectioner,"
whispered Redy to Smaly.
" He rushed after the Prisoner, crying out to
114
NEARLY ALL HAD ONE LEG WHICH WAS MUCH LONGER THAN THE
OTHER, OR A VERY LONG ARM
THE CITY CURIOUS
him to stop ; but the Prisoner only looked at him
with his big eyes and, ceasing for a second to break
the sugar-canes, seized hold of a little wax vesta.
His ELONGATED TAIL WAS TIED TO THE QUEUE OF HIS WIG
He stared at the Architect with eyes full of hate,
and cried, * I think no more of you than I do of this
match.' "
" No, no," interrupted one of the Rats, " that's
116
THE CITY CURIOUS
not how it happened at
all." He carried one long
leg on a crutch, and his
elongated tail was tied to the
queue of his wig. " That's
how it happened at all," he
peated.
" Do you mean to tell me he
did not show the match ? " asked
the Dwarf.
" Certainly not," replied the
Rat.
Smaly asked the Rat what the
Prisoner had really done.
The Rat, with fear in his eyes at
the mere memory, made answer :
" He struck his match on a little
box so that it sprang into flame, and
offered it to the Architect through
the sugar-canes. The Architect, of
course, ran away, and in running he
broke his leg."
"Ah! I'd forgotten that
detail," said the Dwarf.
" A detail ! " cried several
of the Rats. " A detail ! But
only look at our arms and legs."
" The Architect knew quite
well," explained the first Rat,
" that if the match fell on the
liquid Soy it would become
117
THE CITY CURIOUS
hot immediately and everything would start to grow
and only look at our legs and arms ! '
Smaly began to understand why it was that the
Confectioner walked about on high pattens, and
why the Rats wore boots. He saw that though all
these people owed their pleasant life to Soy because
it made everything grow with-
out any trouble, yet they
feared it, feared it even more
than they feared the flies
which used to come when
they were asleep and eat the
sugar of which their faces and
hands were composed.
EVEN MORE TH E Y FEARED
a pair of boots without any
soles, and placed a large pot of flowers on his
head, and he now began to imitate the Rats watering
the ground, affecting an extreme fear of wetting his
feet, for it was because their "boots had melted in
the hot Soy that the Rats' paws had grown so
long.
This imitation on the part of the Dwarf was
interrupted by the sound of trumpets, for the Rats
and the Wigs had already begun to recover from
their emotion under the care of the Healer, and
seizing hold of little trumpets of chocolate and sugar
they had begun to blow upon them.
Some seized drums and violins and even bag-
118
REWARDS
THE CITY CURIOUS
pipes, and it was impossible to say whether any one
was speaking or not, the noise was so loud.
1 Take away the mouthpieces and the violin
strings/' commanded the Chief Contractor.
1 There aren't any," cried the Rats and the Wigs,
hastily eating them all.
Then they continued to play their instruments ;
but these no longer made any noise.
THE DWARF HAD PULLED ON
A PAIR OF BOOTS
The Healer was by now at-
tending to the last of the victims.
He had poured cordial into their
mouths from the page's funnel,
and they had all become abso-
lutely drunk. Then he peeled
off from their legs the strips of
leather which had re-
mained stuck to them,
and cooled their little
paws with pistachio-nut
ice. When he had
finished he took out
from the sack labelled
Rewards " a little trum-
pet, a punchinello, a
drum, and a paper
- windmill, and handed
them round.
The Chief Con-
tractor, however, re-
120
THE CITY CURIOUS
fused to allow the noise to begin again, and placing
over his face a mask called " Calming Influences/'
he followed the Healer, and every time when the
latter gave as a reward an instrument of music, the
Chief Contractor ate it himself.
That night the Chief Contractor had a bad attack
of indigestion, and it was the poor Confectioner,
with his mended leg, who had to make the distribu-
tion of provisions.
121
CHAPTER XI
The young girls dance for the Rats, then play a curious game of
tennis : They fail to understand Smaly's point of view.
THE convalescent Rats all sat in a row upon
a circular bench, still holding between their
fingers the musical instruments which now
lacked mouthpieces.
To distract their thoughts some charming young
girls of the country, dressed in fine and beautifully
embroidered stuffs, began to dance and juggle for
their amusement.
Some of the dances were very complicated and
elaborate ; but some, on the other hand, were so
simple that the performers had no need to exert
themselves at all. They merely seated themselves
upon the ground and sniffed luxuriously at jasmine
and heliotrope blossoms. This dance was so simple
that it was not necessary for there to be any dancers.
After several of these simple and extremely
comfortable dances the Rats begged the young girls
to play a game of tennis.
Accordingly eight of the most accomplished
players arranged themselves about the court, and
at each corner they placed two teacups to hold the
balls.
122
THE CITY CURIOUS
Thus there were eight teacups.
The court was divided by a rose-coloured ribbon.
Four players arranged themselves on either side
of the ribbon, each standing behind the other.
The two leaders in each group held rackets made
THE ACCORDION -PLAYERS BEGAN
of vermicelli, while the two couples standing behind
held rackets made of stretched parchment.
The game was about to begin.
Two accordion-players began to play a quadrille.
The Rats licked their chops and, pulling at their
moustaches, strutted about full of joy.
Two chariots, filled with a pearly and transparent
paste, were brought up, and several dancers taking
long pipes began rapidly to make balls of it, and to
blow them at the rackets ; the paste seemed to be
123
THE CITY CURIOUS
of some sugary substance, and if they blew too hard
the balls exploded without leaving so much as a
trace.
TENNIS
Several balls vanished in this way.
Then a pretty blue ball, spangled with gold, hit
one of the vermicelli rackets. The ball went right
124
THE CITY CURIOUS
through the racket ; but since it had lost velocity,
it hung motionless in mid-air.
While the ball was hanging thus, the two players
THE BALL HUNG UP THUS
who had the rackets of parchment tossed up to
decide which of the two should send the ball back.
This fell to the part of the fair girl, who advanced
with the stately steps of a quadrille, while the ball
125
THE CITY CURIOUS
hung awaiting her, and with one short stroke she
hit it towards one of the teacups.
The ball rushed forward undeviatingly ; but, as
it neared the cup, its speed slackened so as not to
break it. Finally it crept in as gently as a baby is
put in a cradle.
" For you, Vera, for you," cried the fair girl
who had hit the ball.
" Thank you, my love," replied she who had
been called Vera.
And thus the game went on ; whenever a girl
hit one of the balls hanging in mid-air she cried out
the name of the friend to whom she offered it.
By this ingenious method, without disputes or
complications, the eight cups received each its ball,
and when the game was over Vera took her ball,
Dorothea hers, Simonetta hers, and so on, until each
girl had her ball.
They then all embraced, and twining their arms
about each other began to go back along the road
down which they had arrived.
When they passed by Smaly, who was still
standing at the door of the kitchen, he demanded :
" But who won ? '
The young girls were quite unable to understand
what this question meant. They smiled divinely at
him with their delicately curved mouths, then each
one. showed him her ball made of pearly sugar.
126
CHAPTER XII
The Mother of the Crow tells of the life and death of Djorak in
his own country.
ALL this time Smaly and Redy had remained in
the great kitchen. Suddenly they heard a
voice say :
" It's confoundedly cold in this disgusting kitchen."
" Hullo, who is that ? " asked Smaly and Redy
together.
" It's I," replied the Mother of the Crow.
Peering about them they discovered her where
she had been left forgotten under the table, still
sitting in her oyster-shell.
"I'm cold," she said again.
" What can we do for you ? " exclaimed Redy
pityingly.
; Yes, how can we help ? " asked Smaly.
" Take me back to my tree of coral."
" They won't let us go out of here," exclaimed
Redy and Smaly.
" Then put the Tea-Cosy over me," suggested
the poor old Mother of the Crow, whose teeth were
chattering in her beak.
And so it was done.
There was no longer anything to see but a Tea-
127
THE CITY CURIOUS
Cosy. The Mother of the Crow was completely
hidden.
" Now I'm nice and warm," said the Mother of
the Crow.
It was really quite a new experience for Smaly
and Redy to hold a conversation with a Tea-Cosy.
The Mother of the Crow was a great chatterbox,
and she knew a thing or two, and several things more
after that.
" What are you doing here ? " asked the Tea-Cosy.
Redy and Smaly folded their hands, and began :
We wish to have three girls,
Fine, sweet
" I know, I know," interrupted the Tea-Cosy,
" but I meant what are you doing here in the great
kitchen ? '
" We're waiting for the sun to go down," was
the response.
" And you can't leave till then,"
replied the Tea-Cosy. " Then tell
me a story, a nice long story.
I love long stories," added the
Tea-Cosy with enthusiasm.
" Are you equally fond of
telling long stories ? ' asked
Redy and Smaly, both seized
with the same idea.
" I like it even better than
gooseberry-fool and candy-
TEA-COSY sugar caterpillars," replied
128
KISIKA IN HER SEDAN-CHAIR
Page 165
" WE'RE WAITING FOR THE SUN TO GO DOWN "
THE CITY CURIOUS
the Tea-Cosy in a voice that trembled with ex-
citement.
" Then," said Smaly, " tell us the whole history
of the Prisoner."
" Ah," replied the Tea-Cosy, " the Historian has
the monopoly of the local chronicles. We others
can't even remember what happens in this country.
But I can tell you what the Prisoner's life was like
before he came here and was put in his sugar-cane
prison."
" We know that they cut off his head," inter-
rupted Smaly.
" Of course if you know all about it it's not
worth while my telling you the story, it will be so
short," said the Tea-Cosy huffily.
Smaly managed to soothe the Tea-Cosy, which
then told them the following story :
" THE STORY OF DJORAK
" My story begins on a Saturday, which was
also market-day. There was a great crowd in all
the streets. The chariot where Djorak was seated
with the Executioner could barely force a way
through the mass of people. Every one who had
the leisure to do so followed the chariot of the con-
demned; others, who had not, took the time out of
their work, or their luncheon hour. Servants out
shopping followed it with their laden baskets on
their arms. Great ladies sent away their sedan-
chairs so that they might fight their way on foot,
130
THE CITY CURIOUS
where no vehicles, however small, could have passed,
so dense was the crowd.
" When he arrived at the scaffold Djorak sat
down. He was a little
pale, which is not to
be wondered at, for it
was enough to put any
man out.
" The Executioner
vested himself in his
red robe, and taking
out of his chariot a
small grindstone he began
to sharpen the pair of scis-
sors with which he was
going to cut off Djorak 's
head.
" The Prisoner, for his
part, was so upset when he
saw the scissors being
sharpened that he neglected
to respond to the farewell
salutes of his friends, which
they wafted to him across
the barrier of policemen that surrounded the scaffold.
" It seemed to Djorak that he must be in a
dream.
" Quite little things of no importance from every
period of his life passed before the eyes of his
imagination.
SERVANTS OUT SHOPPING
FOLLOWED IT WITH THEIR
LADEN BASKETS ON THEIR
ARMS
THE CITY CURIOUS
"He found himself thinking of a hen that his
parents had possessed when he was a very little
boy. This hen had been extremely intelligent.
" One day she had found herself unable to break
the shell of a snail, so she had gone to the stock-
pot and taken out a lettuce-leaf. She came back,
her bright eyes twinkling, laid the leaf down before
the snail and hid herself.
" Presently the snail began to shoot out his
horns.
" Then his head.
" Then his whole body.
" It was exactly what the hen had wished to
see.
"
The hen gazed at it.
The hen laughed.
The hen opened her beak.
The hen gobbled the snail up.
" This and equally ridiculous
happenings passed through the
Prisoner's brain. He remembered
his mother, and how she used
thoughtfully to put an ash-
tray in his pocket when - '
" We know all about the
ash-tray, " said Smaly and Redy
together.
" Very well, very well, I'll
leave out the ash-tray," said
HE THRUST HIS FACE INTO * he Tea-Cosy. "But do you
ROSES COVERED WITH DEW know also how when he wanted
132
THE CITY CURIOUS
his mother to do anything in
particular for him, he thrust
his face into roses covered
with dew ? '
" No, we don't know that."
" Well," continued the
Tea-Cosy, " when he with-
drew his face it would be
covered with dew from the
roses, and he would say to
his mother :
" c Only look how I am
crying. . . .'
" Djorak thought of this
and of a thousand other
things. He had an excellent
memory.
" Meanwhile the moment
of his death was approach-
ing.
' The Executioner bandaged his eyes, then turned
towards the crowd and, according to custom, de-
manded :
" ' Has any one in this town any objection to
the way in which I am about to employ this magnifi-
cent pair of scissors ? '
1 The Chief of Police answered, also according
to custom : * Have the scissors been sharpened
according to rule ? '
c The crowd merely cried out, * Can they cut ? '
" The Executioner thereupon took several old
133
THE EXECUTIONER BANDAGED
HIS EYES
THE CITY CURIOUS
newspapers and, holding them out before the crowd,
began to cut them into fine strips. Next he took
some old cardboard boxes, which he treated in the
same way. Finally he cut up whole logs of wood
into thin circles. In order that every one might see,
he did these things in front of him, behind him, to
the right and to the left.
" These experiments seemed to satisfy the crowd ;
but the Chief of Police still hesitated. Finally he
approached the Executioner and, leaning forward,
said in his ear :
" ' Excuse me, I beg of you, my dear friend, if I
seem indiscreet ; but I am merely doing my duty.
The King has particularly commanded that all the
rules shall be observed. Therefore you will under-
stand that I am bound to ask you three, questions to
assure myself that you really have the strength to
use these scissors successfully.
" ' i. Have you eaten three hard-boiled eggs this
morning ?
" * 2. Have you eaten three rashers of bacon this
morning ?
" ' 3. Have you played a game of football this
morning ? '
" To each question the Executioner replied with
a nod of the head.
" ' Then get on with it,' said the Chief of
Police.
" The Executioner raised the scissors towards the
sky, turning himself about to all points of the
compass. Then w r ith a brisk movement he lowered
NEXT HE TOOK SOME OLD CARDBOARD BOXES
THE CITY CURIOUS
the scissors, opened them and shut them again, and
the head of Djorak tumbled to the ground."
" But that's the same Djorak who is
here in the prison of the sugar-canes,"
interrupted Smaly, who in
spite of his habit of being
astounded at nothing could
not help showing a little as-
tonishment.
" Don't be so impatient,"
replied the Mother of the
Crowimperturbably. " You'll
understand in a moment or
two. Now I have already
told you that Djorak had a
very good memory. At the
moment when his head was falling he remembered
that he had always heard one doesn't die imme-
diately when one's head is cut off.
" It was extremely fortunate for him that he
remembered this detail.
" He hastened to pick up his head, and he jumped
off the scaffold holding it under his arm."
" Dear me," said Smaly and Redy.
The Mother of the Crow continued her story
imperturbably :
" When the crowd saw this man in such a peculiar
condition they began to fly in all directions. An
indescribable panic followed. The square rapidly
emptied. Soon there was no one left saving a few
people who had been knocked down. The crowd
136
OPENED THEM AND SHUT
THEM AGAIN
THE CITY CURIOUS
ran and ran ; but the beheaded Prisoner ran harder
still. Soon he was running by himself ; all the
townspeople had taken shelter.
" Djorak and his head had a very precise end
in view in running thus. It was important both
for the head and for Djorak to arrive as soon as
possible at the house of a certain Magician whom
he knew.
" He arrived, rushed in and banged the door
behind him. The Magician, unfortu-
nately, was out, only his young son
was there, and although this youth
understood perfectly how urgent it
was that Djorak's head should be
fastened on again as soon as possible,
he could do nothing to help him.
" ' Let's consult the Brindled Rab-
bit,' suggested the Head.
" The Brindled Rabbit being ques-
tioned played several strains on a
harp of silver and crystal, then he
withdrew into an old comfit-box and
shut the lid down on himself.
" After a few seconds he opened
the lid again, his eye became visible,
and his little paw shoved a folded
slip of paper through the opening.
" The Son of the Magician read
as follows :
" i Three.
2 Three.
His YOUNG SON
WAS THERE
THE CITY CURIOUS
3 Three.
He at once tore up to the third story of the
THE BRINDLED RABBIT
house. There he counted three shelves, and from
the third shelf he took the third little bottle and
ran downstairs again.
" * What must he do with it ? ' asked the youth,
138
His LITTLE PAW SHOVED A FOLDED SLIP OF PAPER THROUGH
THE OPENING
THE CITY CURIOUS
of the Rabbit ; but the box remained shut ; there
was no answer.
" * I must drink it,' replied the Head.
THEN THEY SANG A COMIC DUET
" ' But you've no stomach,' cried the Son of the
Magician.
" * Put my head back on my neck,' suggested
Djorak, * then there will at least be a stomach beneath
my head.'
140
THE CITY CURIOUS
' The Son of the Ma-
gician at once placed Djorak's
head back in its proper place
with one hand, while with the
other he tipped the little bottle
between its lips.
" The effect was imme-
diate.
" Directly the liquor
trickled down his throat
Djorak felt himself as well
as ever. He danced about
with joy. He even played a
game of leapfrog with the
Son of the Magician, then
they sang a comic duet, of
which I cannot remember
THEN THEY QUESTIONED A
BLACK TOAD
the words. The first lines went something like this :
Every one who has lost his head,
Must have had a jolly bad memory.
" But Djorak had a good memory, and so he had
kept his head.
" During their song the Brindled Rabbit crept
out of his comfit-box. He could not stay in it for
laughing at the comic song.
" Djorak and the Son of the Magician begged
him to advise them what to do next ; but the Rabbit
only held its sides with laughter, and made no
reply.
1 Then they questioned a Black Toad who came
141
THE CITY CURIOUS
crawling out of a pot of treacle where he lived,
and began to lick himself dry with a fine, forked
tongue.
" The Rabbit hopped up to him wishing to share
in the treacle ; but the Black Toad flew into a rage.
It was a worse rage than even that of the Chief
Contractor when we have not placed ourselves
symmetrically," added the Mother of the Crow,
remembering that Smaly and Redy had seen the
Contractor in a temper.
Then," she continued, " the
of the Magician asked the
Black Toad in what coun-
try Djorak should take re-
fuge, making the sugges-
tion that they should send
him to a green country
where the clouds were all
white and the trees mauve.
" The Black Toad shot
forward to within an inch
of the Rabbit's nose ; but
without advancing a step,
for his legs suddenly ex-
panded to allow him to do
so.
" * I hate mauve and
white,' he snapped, and
shot back again.
AND FISH IN THE LITTLE RIVER IN " J^f ^bit replied
THE AFTERNOON peacefully, How about a
142
THE THIN LONG ARM OF THE HISTORIAN
THE CITY CURIOUS
rose-coloured country, where the people dance as
they bake the bread ? '
" c I would like that,' said Djorak.
" ' I don't doubt it,' said the Brindled Rabbit.
* Or would you like a country where they hunt
butterflies all the morning, and fish in the little
river in the afternoon ? ' asked the Rabbit.
" * Yes, yes, that will do,' replied Djorak, who
was anxious to get away.
" * He is a misanthrope,' declared the Toad,
retreating towards its pot of treacle.
" ' Oh, kind Toad, do tell me where I ought to
go,' begged Djorak.
" ' Get into this little glass tube,' replied the Toad.
" Djorak obeyed.
" This tube* was no bigger than a penholder ;
when Djorak was comfortably settled inside of it
the Black Toad put one end of it into his mouth
and blew.
" He blew so hard that Djorak was shot right
into our country. Then "
But here Redy interrupted the Mother of the
Crow. She gave a little shake to the Tea-Cosy and
whispered rapidly what she had noticed taking place
on the other side of the public square.
This is what she had seen.
From one of the holes made for the Flying-Fish
Redy perceived the thin long arm of the Historian
sticking out, the finger pointing accusingly towards
the door of the kitchen, where Smaly, Redy, and the
Mother of the Crow were seated.
144
THE CITY CURIOUS
The Mother of the Crow understood the signifi-
cance of this at once. It meant she would not be
permitted to carry her story any further. The
monopoly of the chronicles of the country belonged
to the Historian.
The Mother of the Crow had to hold her tongue.
145
CHAPTER XIII
Smaly and Redy are taken to see the Fleet : The Prisoner arrives
and the Wigs fly in terror : Smaly and Redy at last have speech
with the Prisoner.
AT this momet a crowd of Wigs ran in at the
door crying :
" The fleet has arrived, the fleet has arrived."
" The fleet ? " asked Smaly. " I haven't seen
any sea."
" There isn't any sea, or any water in the river,"
replied the Mother of the Crow.
' Do you imagine," demanded the Young Stork,
" that a nation like ours is going to deprive itself
of the splendid luxury of a fleet simply because
chance has decreed that the ocean should not come
as far as its frontiers ? '
" Besides, a fleet's so ornamental," said the
Mother of the Crow.
" Oh, you're there, are you ? " said the Young
Stork. " I have been asked to beg you to assist
at the grand inauguration ceremony of the fleet."
Smaly and Redy begged the Young Stork to
allow them to accompany him.
The Stork, who was always charitably employed
at the task of extracting fish-bones from the back
of the Despoiler, and so was accustomed to doing
146
THE CITY CURIOUS
kindnesses, promised to beg for this favour for them
from the Chief Contractor. Then the Stork departed,
EXTRACTING FISH-BONES FROM THE BACK OF THE DESPOILER
taking with him the Mother of the Crow, huddled
up in her oyster-shell.
After a quarter of an hour four more Wigs
arrived in the kitchen; dangling from a long stick,
they bore a large copper cauldron.
THEY BORE A LARGE COPPER CAULDRON
THE CITY CURIOUS
"It is permitted that you should assist at the
ceremony," they announced to Smaly and Redy.
" Get into the pot."
Smaly and Redy climbed in, full of joy, and
Smaly whispered low to his little wife, " They are
still afraid that the sun will melt us, and that we
shall cover their beautiful w
lawn with grease."
"Take this umbrella,"
continued the Wig who
was the spokesman,
offering them a mushroom.
" This will protect you from
the hot rays of the sun ; and
whatever you do don't lean
over the edge of the caul-
dron."
Then they set off.
The fleet was already
arranged upon a long plat-
form painted blue.
The vessels were
made of pink and
white marzipan, and
all had two masts of
cane and little silken
flags. A funnel of
gilt paper was placed
in the middle of each
ship.
THE ADMIRAL WAS A TRITON
149
THE CITY CURIOUS
" But there's no smoke coming out of the
funnels/' objected Smaly.
" I know, I know," replied the
Chief Contractor impatiently, and
turning he ordered : " Admiral,
put the smoke in place," and the
Admiral at once arranged a charm-
ing little puff of smoke made of
cotton-wool at the top of each of
the forty funnels.
The Admiral was a Triton,
whom the Wigs had made
themselves. They had set
their heart on possessing this
little animal ; but since they
had no sea from which to
catch one, they had done their
best to model one from an
authentic picture.
The Triton was made of
and almond
paste.
The other personages who had arrived with the
fleet were the White Dolphin with pink eyes, and a
young but very despondent Syren, a black Sea-Dog,
and a large Sea-Horse, which seemed almost mad ;
also an extremely curious fish, which brought its
own food in a glass jar.
All these creatures had asked nothing better
than to leave the sea, which had become unbearable
150
THE WHITE DOLPHIN WITH i _i
PINKEYES barley-sugar
.THE CITY CURIOUS
for them during the past few years because of the
submarines. All of them were very happy at the
chance of obtaining employment in a country as
solid and sweet as that of the Wigs. Their business
here would be to look after the fleet. Already they
knew all the ships quite well by sight, and that was
all that was needed.
The Chief Contractor placed over his face the
"Master-Mask," and held out his hand, which held
one of the long bamboo spoons.
He announced in a solemn voice :
" We, the Chief Contractor and the Wigs, declare
the fleet of our country to consist of forty ships, here
drawn up in line, and the Triton is declared by
us to be Admiral, Painter, Rope-
maker, and Sugar-repairer. So be
t."
' So be it, and long live the
marzipan fleet," cried all the citi-
zens, who had never seen the sea.
" Is there really no water any-
where ? " asked Smaly a little
indiscreetly.
The Chief Contractor leant
towards Smaly, who was still sitting
in his cauldron, and whispered
low in his ear :
" Tell the truth, do you really
think that that fleet needs any ^ E^E^Y CURIOUS
water ? " FISH
THE CITY CURIOUS
" I am certain of it," replied Smaly imperturb-
ably, -leaning over the edge of the cauldron towards
the Chief Contractor, whereupon the Stork gently
pushed him back again.
The Chief Contractor was in a great state of
consternation and stood gazing from one to the other
of the important officials of the Wig Republic as
though for assistance, while even the crowd began
uneasily to feel the effect of his dismay.
Suddenly the Chief Contractor noticed that the
eye slung round the neck of the Crow was winking
at him to approach. He accordingly went towards
the Mother of the Crow, who spoke into his ear.
Beneath his mask the Chief Contractor's mouth
began to smile. Quickly putting on the mask of
" Good-Humour/' he announced :
" A band of our Rats will each morning copiously
water our fleet, for, believe me, no fleet is quite
complete without water."
Here the Crow took two steps towards the Chief
Contractor, and putting on his ebony spectacles,
whispered a few words to him. The Chief Con-
tractor thereupon added in a loud voice :
" They will not use the water of Soy."
Suddenly he perceived it was necessary to change
the mask of " Good-Humour " for that of " Anger,"
for several audacious Wigs were busy writing their
names upon the hulls of the white ships ; but he
had no time to give vent to his just indignation, for
upon all sides the well-known cry arose :
" The prison is coming, the prison is coming."
" A BAND OF OUR RATS WILL EACH MORNING COPIOUSLY WATER OUR FLEET "
THE CITY CURIO^US
There was no doubt about it ; the Prisoner must
have heard the enthusiastic shouts of the crowd, and
in his mad rage was now bearing down upon the
fleet. Some of the bravest Wigs managed to save
a few ships, many more were weeping ; but the
largest number did not
wait to see what was
happening, but took to
their heels.
Soon Smaly and
Redy were almost alone
in their cauldron. The
forest of sugar-canes was
arriving, preceded by the
little army of Rats with
watering-cans.
When the Prisoner
was near enough to hear
them, Smaly and Redy
cried out :
" Djorak, Djorak, stop a minute."
When he heard real voices, human voices, Djorak
paused. His rage fell from him like a cloak.
" Djorak, Djorak."
" Who calls my name ? " asked the Prisoner in
a husky voice, a voice which had not been used for
many years.
" It's Smaly and Redy who call you. We want
to help you," added Redy.
When he heard a woman's voice Djorak's thoughts
flew to the three daughters he had lost, and his
154
WlGS WERE BUSY WRITING THEIR NAMES
THE CITY CURIOUS
front
him,
Rats
madness fell away from him. He
drew nearer to the two little people
by breaking the sugar-canes in
of him. They could now see
and he could see them. The
lay down to rest, so no new sugar-
canes sprang up to bar the way.
" Will you save me ? ' de-
manded Djorak.
" It will be the first thing
we shall think of when we are
allowed out of this cauldron/'
" Cauldron ? " repeated the
Prisoner. " Cauldron ? And
when will you be allowed out
of it ? "
" When the sun goes down/'
cried Redy ; " and we will give you
back your daughters."
In his profound joy Djorak all
but lost consciousness.
" But while we're waiting,"
remarked Smaly, " tell us how came it about that
you were put in this prison."
But Redy interrupted to say, " First let's agree
on a place where we can all meet, and what sign we
shall tell it by."
So they arranged that the Prisoner should turn
his prison in the direction of a red flag, which
Smaly would tie to a tree near the frontier.
A RED FLAG
155
THE CITY CURIOUS
THE PRISONER'S STORY
" I was hurled into this country," said the
Prisoner, " by the powerful breath of a Black Toad.
At first I was not at all badly received. I was able
to render several services to the Wigs, and was
especially useful to them in building their walls of
gingerbread.
" Unfortunately, however, the Chief Contractor
is a fool. Without his idiotic conceit this country
would be happy and prosperous, but you have
undoubtedly seen for yourself what a ridiculous
creature he is. Only to give you one instance, I will
tell you what happened that made him put me in
this prison of sugar-canes.
" One day some feather-headed person or other
began describing a bridge to him. The Chief Con-
tractor insisted on having the nature of a bridge
fully explained to him, and next day he caused a
canal to be dug right across the middle of the
country ; but all the water that they poured into
it disappeared at once, for it soaked away through the
soil of sugar and flour.
" However, in spite of the fact that there was
no water in the canal, he caused the bridge of nougat
to be built across it ; the bridge which I have
destroyed a hundred times passing over it in my
prison.
" It was forbidden under the most heavy penalties
to cross the canal, although it was dry, by any other
156
" I HAVE DESTROYED A HUNDRED TIMES PASSING OVER IT IN~MY PRISON "
THE CITY CURIOUS
means than by way of the bridge. I had to conform
to this stupid law, in spite of the fact that the nougat
> ' v -'--* i' "" t-' --<"- * '''- VA ,'*'->-*.'
" I WAS CAUGHT STEPPING RIGHT OVER THEIR SILLY OLD DRY CANAL
WITH ONE STRIDE "
cracked beneath my feet each time I crossed the
bridge.
" However, one evening I was caught stepping
right over their silly old dry canal with one stride.
158
THE MANUFACTURER OF CARDBOARD BOXES
THE CITY CURIOUS
" The Despoiler's rage, although he hid it from
me, was deep and terrible. Doubtless that very
evening my doom was agreed upon, for the next
morning when I awoke I was surrounded by this
barrier of sugar-canes," and the Prisoner wrung his
hands and seemed in an impotent rage. He went
on jumping up and down, and gesticulating, for his
madness had caught him again.
Once more he began to break the sugar-canes in
his frenzy.
At that moment Smaly and Redy saw the De-
spoiler pass by, followed by the Young Stork, carry-
ing a pair of nippers.
They were on their way to a secret meeting with
the Manufacturer of Cardboard Boxes.
The Despoiler seemed to be literally shaking
with anger. The Young Stork had been forced to
tell him that he stood in urgent need of certain
repairs to his back, and the Despoiler, therefore,
found himself in the humiliating situation of having
to make a purchase from the Manufacturer of Card-
board Boxes.
It added to the Despoiler's vexation to have been
seen by the two little humans. He stopped and
looked at the sun, of which only a small piece of the
rim was visible.
The Despoiler turned towards the Rats and,
pointing to the cauldron, called out angrily :
" Take that and run with it to the frontier and
empty it out there."
And thus it was done.
1 60
THE PICNIC WHICH FOLLOWED WAS AN
UNFORGETTABLE REPAST
Page 177
CHAPTER XIV
The three daughters of the Prisoner are installed in their gardens.
SO Smaly and Redy found themselves on the
frontier of the Wigs' country. They were s6
tired from having seen and done so many things
during the day that hardly had they arrived than they
fell sound asleep amid the myrtle-bushes which grew
between the rocks.
When they awoke they perceived just within the
frontier (which was indicated by boundary stones
made of sugar-candy) the three gardens that had
been prepared for the daughters of the Prisoner.
" The Wigs keep their word anyway," said Smaly
and Redy to each other, as they rubbed their eyes ;
then they looked at each other and saw that their
beaks had disappeared.
You may imagine how happy this made them !
Never would they have dared to return to their own
village with those enormous beaks stuck in the middle
of their faces, even though they were invisible to all
save the birds and each other.
They stood up and held hands, and to attract
the attention of the Wigs began to chant :
We wish to have three girls,
Fine, sweet, pink, and good
But a sentinel who looked like a dragon-fly, and
L 161
THE CITY CURIOUS
carried a lantern and a megaphone, shouted to them
to be silent.
The Confectioner, who was busy giving the final
directions to the gardeners, struck an attitude and
recited :
" Here plays the grasshoppers' band,
Here for days together shines the sun,
Here the birds wear hats and spurs,
And the worms spectacles and swords.
Here we don't know bricks,
Or wood, or stone, or steel,
Here we eat plates and saucers,
Here we "
" We know all about that," said Smaly and Redy
together.
" What do you know ? " asked the Confectioner
suspiciously.
" How funny you all are," answered Smaly.
" At least we are not made of grease and suet,"
retorted the Confectioner in a tone of mingled pride
and disgust.
The gardens .were arranged after the same prin-
ciple as the windows in the house of the Historian.
They were not really separated by walls ; but since
one speaks with one's mouth and sees with one's
eyes, there was at about the height where the young
girls' faces would be a plank of nougat separating
the gardens, and since it was certain that sometimes
the girls would sit down, there was another plank
a little lower.
There were altogether four planks, for as the
162
THE CITY CURIOUS
three girls were of different ages and heights, the
planks which would have prevented one girl from
seeing her neighbour would not have prevented the
next.
How ingenious this was ! It was as well thought
out as the two openings for the Flying-Fish in the
ceiling of the Historian's
house, a big one for the
big fish, and a smaller one
for the smaller fish !
In these gardens the
lawns were made of an-
gelica, and the flower-
beds of jam tarts, and at
the end of each garden
there was a little house
to sleep in at night, or
in the heat of the after-
noon.
When all was ready
the three daughters of
the Prisoner were led in.
The ceremony was ex-
tremely simple. Mistigris
was the first to arrive,
and touching his lips with
his ring, he thus ad-
dressed the two little peo-
ple perched upon their
__
You are now about
A SENTINEL WHO LOOKED LIKE A
DRAGON-FLY
163
THE CITY CURIOUS
to see the three girls ; but whatever you do don't
forget they are ignorant of the history of their
father, our prisoner. They were sent here by
THE GARDENS WERE ARRANGED AFTER THE SAME PRINCIPLE AS THE
WINDOWS IN THE HOUSE OF THE HISTORIAN
a certain Black Toad, the same creature who
blew Djorak into our country. This Toad made
out that it was doing a very charitable action, and
upon a label round the neck of each young girl he
164
THE CITY CURIOUS
had written their names and tastes. On the first
label was : ' Number I, Kisika Djorak. Blue eyes,
amiable disposition, fond of marrowfat peas and of
getting up late.' On the second label was : c Number
II, Laptitza Djorak. Brown eyes, devoted to cherry
tartlets and cheese souffle. Gazes at the stars and
dreams about a Prince Charming.' And on the third
label : ' Number III, Fritilla Djorak. Green eyes,
adores fruit, particularly tangerine oranges and necta-
rines. Dreams as much as Number II ; but has
very modern notions as well.'
When Mistigris had finished reading out the
labels a large sedan-chair appeared, carried by
several Wigs, among them Papylick and the Young
Stork. The door of the chair opened and Kisika
stepped into the first garden.
Kisika certainly had beautiful blue eyes, soft hair,
and a pink-and-white skin. She was so beautiful
that one would have taken her for a picture rather
than for a real girl.
The next person to arrive was the Despoiler, who
wished to make sure for himself that the planks were
at the right height before he permitted Papylick to
approach with the second sedan-chair.
The young girls had not lived in these chairs,
they were simply carried from place to place in
them.
Kisika had lived in the house of the Crow.
Laptitza, who was now brought into the second
165
THE CITY CURIOUS
garden, had lived in the house of Papylick. Lap-
titza also was very beautiful, with a pale skin and
eyes like a deer.
A LITTLE RED FEATHER, WHICH SHE HAD PICKED UP IN THE
MARKET-PLACE
Every one now awaited the arrival of Fritilla, the
third daughter ; but when she stepped out of her
sedan-chair she beckoned to the Flying-Fish, who
166
THE CITY CURIOUS
had been pursuing her for some days past, and
handed it a little red feather, which she had picked
up in the market-place. This feather was of
great importance to the Flying-Fish, which thanked
Fritilla many times and swore to serve her always.
Then Fritilla was led into the garden. She had
yellow hair and green eyes, and her beauty seemed
at first a little sad and cold ; but on looking into her
eyes you saw that they were at once tender and
ardent.
When the three girls were installed in their
gardens of angelica and jam tarts the Wigs arranged
themselves in a long line. Then the little door that
led into Kisika's garden was opened, and the Chief
Contractor, placing over his face the mask called
" Stoic Melancholy," approached her and said :
Kisika, farewell. I beg you
this large pot of Soy in memory
There's enough to last you all your
Next the Despoiler approached,
by the Young Stork.
" Farewell, Kisika," he
said. " I make you a pre-
sent of this ring, which will
enable your voice to carry
to great distances, and will
also stop all tiresome and
needless voices of others."
The Confectioner next
came forward and said,
to accept
of me .
life."
followed
NEXT THE DESPOILER
APPROACHED
167
THE CITY CURIOUS
" Farewell, Kisika, my present is two bamboo spoons
and two knives. Be happy in your garden ; it's made
of the best confectionery."
The Crow, putting on his spectacles, said, " Fare-
well, Kisika, I beg that you will accept these spec-
tacle-lenses in memory of me. They are made of
solid ebony, and some day when you have reflected
enough on life you will have them mounted on glass
rims and will always put them on before you speak.
Farewell."
The Historian's gift consisted of six hard-boiled
eggs, which he handed to Kisika, saying, " Accept
my humble offering, Kisika. These eggs are home-
made. Myself, I never eat anything else."
Mistigris said, " Farewell, Kisika, take this little
bow and arrow made of fish-bones. Perhaps it will
amuse you to play with them."
And the Young Stork added quickly, " Adieu,
Kisika, take this pair of pincers to pluck from your
heart the darts which may lodge in it."
The wife of the Chief Contractor presented Kisika
with a beautiful fan made of paper lace ; and the
Healer gave her a little sugar trumpet, of which the
mouthpiece was this time intact.
The Dwarf with the big head gave her a little
watering-can to drink out of during the summer.
All the crews of the marzipan fleet, and the
Rats, came in their turn to offer each a little
souvenir.
Presently there was such an immense crowd that it
seemed as though the ceremony must go on for days,
168
THE CITY CURIOUS
since the same things
had to be
repeated
three
t i m e s ,
once be-
fore each
garden.
Every one was there.
The Grasshoppers.
The Birds with hats.
The Worms with specta-
cles.
The Sponges with shining
eyes.
The Pigs from the great
kitchen.
The Flying-Fish and
Lizards.
The Dancers who had
played at tennis.
The Accordion-Players.
In the end it would
have needed pantechnicons to move all the presents.
When the ceremony was over the Wigs departed in
a long procession, singing in their sweet voices :
"jHere plays the grasshoppers' band,
Here for days together shines the sun. . . ."
THE WIFE OF THE CHIEF CONTRACTOR
PRESENTED KlSIKA WITH A BEAUTIFUL
FAN MADE OF PAPER LACE
169
CHAPTER XV
Smaly and Redy effect the rescue of the three young girls :
Djorak joins them and they all partake of a delightful picnic :
Smaly blows the Soy powder over the country of the Wigs :
Then the six friends go home.
SMALY and Redy had been watching with all
their eyes, and they observed that two sen-
tinels, instead of taking their departure with
the crowd, stayed behind to guard the three
sides of the garden which were in the country of the
Wigs. The fourth side gave upon the frontier and
was marked off by a long ridge of rock, several feet
in height. It was from this rock that Smaly and
Redy sat looking into the gardens. They could have
already spoken to the three girls, but Smaly advised
that they should wait until the time of the next
siesta had arrived.
From their rock Smaly and Redy could see quite
clearly the roof of the Historian's house. Directly
they saw the Flying-Fish enter to announce the time
for siesta Smaly meant to speak to the young girls.
" Let us hang our red flag up there," said Redy
to Smaly, pointing to an old tree.
" Are you managing affairs or am I ? " demanded
170
DIRECTLY THEY SAW THE FLYING-FISH ENTER
THE CITY CURIOUS
Smaly severely. " Never-
theless," he added more
kindly, " I will consider
any advice you have to
give, and may follow
it ... if it is good.
Now the Flying-Fish
began to fly low over the
THEIR Two LITTLE HEADS town, and two of them
APPEARED SIDE BY SIDE entered the house of the
Historian.
The whole country slept. It was evident that
even the two sentinels slept heavily.
When Smaly and Redy were sure that all was safe,
they crept forward to the edge of the rock. Their
two little heads appeared side by side before the
astonished eyes of the three young girls, and since
their beaks had disappeared for good and all, the
two little people were certain they would make a
good impression. And, indeed, the three young
girls saw at once that these were the heads of human
beings, real human beings, not creatures made of
sugar and cake.
When they heard these two human beings speak,
the young girls were seized with intense emotion.
Smaly and Redy whispered :
" We've come to save you."
Kisika, Laptitza, and Fritilla held up their arms
towards them, while the tears ran down their cheeks
for joy. They all began to speak at once ; but Smaly
172
THE CITY CURIOUS
and Redy each placed a finger on their lips with a
mysterious air, to command silence.
" We are going to take you away with us,"
whispered Redy.
" Silence," said Smaly, standing on the point of
his toes to appear taller. And he continued, " No one
must speak until Kisika, Laptitza, and Fritilla have
each made a little stairway by which they can climb
up to where we are."
" What a splendid idea," cried Redy.
Smaly took no notice of her ; but
said, with an air of great importance,
" Let the young girls begin at once
to make the stairways."
So during three days the young
girls were busy making the stairs by
which they would mount to freedom.
During the siesta on the third day
Smaly and Redy made trial of these
stairs and found them perfectly firm.
It was then that Smaly climbed into
the dead tree^which Redy had pointed
out to him, and tied to it the big red
handkerchief which was to be the
signal to Djorak.
Smaly and Redy were both of them
certain that Djorak was in his right
mind once more, for during the three
days the sugar-cane prison had not
THE CITY CURIOUS
budged ; but stayed still as if awaiting their signal,
and directly the red flag fluttered in the breeze Redy
cried out :
" Look, look, the prison is coming."
" Of course it is," said Smaly, as though he had
never had any doubts.
And indeed the prison was rushing furiously
towards them.
Smaly stayed up in the tree to watch, but Redy
had her attention distracted by the Red Flying-Fish,
which was sitting watching her.
Suddenly the fish flew away ; but it soon re-
appeared followed by a great flock of other fish.
Each fish carried something good, tarts or cakes or
fruits. The Red Flying-Fish carried a large hat
and mantle in its claws. The fish all deposited their
offerings at the feet of Redy, and from his tree Smaly
looked on with great pleasure.
Towards evening the forest of sugar-canes came
crashing into the three little gardens. Kisika, Lap-
titza, and Fritilla ran up their stairways and fell into
Redy's arms ; but Smaly was not going to waste
any time on sentiment, to which he felt he could
give way later. He ran down the centre staircase,
seized one of the boxes of Soy which the Chief
Contractor had given to the young girls, presented
the other two to Djorak, and then, without waiting
to listen to the Prisoner's exclamations of joy, bade
him follow him.
m^m. ;$&
H ill
So DURING THREE DAYS THE YOUNG GIRLS WERE BUSY MAKING
THE STAIRS
THE CITY CURIOUS
He sat the Prisoner down on a rock and drew
out of his pocket a pair of scissors and cut his wild
and streaming hair, and then proceeded to shave his
THE RED FLYING-FISH CARRIED A LARGE HAT AND MANTLE
IN ITS^CLAWS
beard, which was no less long. Then both of them,
carrying as many of the presents as they could,
joined Redy and the three young girls.
THE CITY CURIOUS
The emotion of this father on meeting once again
his three daughters was a very moving spectacle.
Djorak, who had such a good memory, could not
forget that he had been beheaded, and that without
his own great presence of mind and the wise counsels
of the Brindled Rabbit, he would never have seen
his daughters any more.
The picnic which followed was an unforgettable
repast. Djorak looked very presentable in the hat
and cloak brought by the grateful Flying-Fish.
In the first place every one was filled with joy,
and in the second the three young girls had been
brought up in the Wig country thoroughly to ap-
preciate the most delicious pastries ever made. They
soon discovered that the Soy
powder was no longer of any
use to them, for its magic
properties failed once it was
over the borders of the Wig
country, in the same way
that the Wigs themselves
would have melted away
directly they passed the fron-
tier. Therefore the six happy
people seated amidst the
fragrant heather and myrtle
began to ask what use Smaly
meant to make of the three Canma u jum Of
Dig boxes OI Soy. PRESENTS AS THEY COULD
M 177
THE CITY CURIOUS
" Patience/' was all Smaly would reply
when he was questioned, and they had to
have patience until the evening, when a
south-east wind sprang up.
Smaly took the first box and threw the
contents into the air. The wind took the
powder and blew it over the town of the
Wigs ; and this Smaly did with the other
two boxes as well.
" What is going to happen next ? " asked
Redy.
Smaly pointed to some clouds which
were piling up, and replied senten-
tiously, " Rain."
And indeed the rain began to
fall. The Soy powder mingling with
WIGS THEMSELVES WOULD the water had a magical effect, the
TTAVP 1 TV/IPT TFTI A\VAY T^IUFOTTLY /T* 1 f~^ i i ^^ t ^ i /*
THEY PASSED THE FRONTIER t f * Smal Y && hoped for J
the whole country began to sprout,
trees, houses, grass, walls, lawns, everything began
to grow and grow, just as the sugar-cane prison
had done when the Rats watered it with the liquid
from the reservoir of Soy.
As the six happy friends started out on their
journey they could see, by looking behind them, the
houses and plants growing and growing. The Wigs
were evidently in a terrible state of alarm. They
called frantically to each other, they hung out of
THE CITY CURIOUS
the windows, they descended by long ropes into the
streets. It was the most tremendous day in the
history of the Wig country ; but there were no
casualties, and when the Confectioner had built
another flight to their staircases, they were just as
happy in their tall houses as they had
been when they lived in those of two
stories. It was a little more tiring for
them to have to climb so high, but then
what a splendid view they had into each
other's attics !
As to Smaly and Redy, once more
returned to the world of men and
women like ourselves, they installed
Kisika, Laptitza, and Fritilla in the
three little bedrooms prepared for
them before ever the quest began.
Djorak, completely cured of his
madness, slept in a delightful little
pavilion in the garden, but took his meals
with the family.
And they all lived happily ever after.
I myself can quite well remember meet-
ing them last spring, taking their morning
walk in the park of their town.
And what a charming sight they
were to be sure !
THEY HUNG
OUT OF THE
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