Blade-O'-Grass. Golden Grain. and Bread and Cheese and Kisses.Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
General
Blade-O'-Grass. Golden Grain. and Bread and Cheese and Kisses.
Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
Christmas stories; Fiction
'--Something that'll make 'em look at the figs, and the currants, and
the raisins--something new and spicy'--(Ben laughs at this joke, and
repeats it)--'something new and spicy, perhaps it'll wake 'em up, and
bring 'em in here instead of going to another shop. For they want
waking up, Tottie, they want waking up badly.'
Solemn nods from Tottie proclaim the serious consideration she has
given to the general sleepiness and indifference of Ben Sparrow's
customers.
Ben Sparrow picks up a fat currant and contemplates it with as much
interest as a geologist would contemplate a new fossil. Tottie's eyes
follow his movements; she sits like Patience on a monument, and
another sigh escapes her as Ben Sparrow (again abstractedly) puts the
currant in his mouth, and swallows it. Draw a veil mercifully over
Tottie's feelings.
'It was in the middle of the night,' says Ben Sparrow with all the
impressiveness demanded by the historical fact, 'that I first thought
of making ME, and putting ME in the window to attract custom. I was a
good deal puzzled about my legs, and my stomach got into my head, and
I couldn't get it out; but little by little all my limbs and every
other part of me came to me until the idea was complete. And now we'll
try it--now we'll set to work and make a MAN! And if you're a good
girl, and'll sit still, you shall see ME made.'
Tottie's experience in literature is very limited--extending no
farther, indeed, than b-a-t bat, c-a-t cat, r-a-t rat, d-i-g dig,
f-i-g fig, p-i-g pig--and she knows nothing of the terrible story of
Frankenstein; therefore, she is not at all frightened at the idea of
seeing a man made, nor has she any fear that it will turn out to be a
monster. On the contrary, if Ben Sparrow's thoughts would only take a
benevolent turn in the shape of a fig for Tottie, or a few plums for
Tottie, or some candied sugar for Tottie, she would be prepared to
enjoy the feat which Ben is about to perform as much as if it were the
best bit of fun in the world.
'Now, then,' commences Ben, with a whimsical glance at Tottie, who
smiles back at him like a true diplomatist, 'I don't know what part is
generally made first, but perhaps it'll be as well to commence with
the stomach. Here it is--here's my stomach.'
He takes one of the halves of the candied lemon-peel, and places it
before him, round side up.
'There's a little too much sugar in me,' he says, with a more
whimsical glance than the first; 'it'll make me rather too heavy, I'm
afraid. And besides, Tottie, it ain't true to nature. My inside ain't
got such a coating as this.'
He breaks a piece of candied sugar from the inside of his stomach,
looks at Tottie, notices her wistful eyes, and gives it to her. She
eats it eagerly, and so quickly as to cause amazement to Ben Sparrow,
who says,
'You shouldn't eat so fast, Tottie. Good little girls don't eat so
fast as that.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account