Davy and the Goblin: What Followed Reading 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'Carryl, Charles E. (Charles Edward)
Science
Davy and the Goblin: What Followed Reading 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'
Carryl, Charles E. (Charles Edward)
Fantasy literature
"Of course they are," said the Goblin. "But the best of it is, they
can't run till they get warm, and they can't get warm without running,
you see. But the worst of it is that _we_ can't stop without sticking
fast," he added, anxiously. "We must keep it up until we get to the
Amuserum."
"What's that?" said Davy.
"It's a place they have to amuse themselves with," said the
Goblin,--"curiosities, and all that sort of thing, you know. By the
way, how much money have you? We have to pay to get in."
[Illustration: "BELLS WERE PEALING IN ALL DIRECTIONS."]
Davy began to feel in his pockets (which is a very difficult thing to do
when you're running fast), and found, to his astonishment, that they
were completely filled with a most extraordinary lot of rubbish. First
he pulled out what seemed to be an iron ball; but it proved to be a
hard-boiled egg, without the shell, stuck full of small tacks. Then came
two slices of toast, firmly tied together with a green cord. Then came a
curious little glass jar, filled with large flies. As Davy took this out
of his pocket, the cork came out with a loud "pop!" and the flies flew
away in all directions. Then came, one after another, a tart filled with
gravel, two chicken-bones, a bird's nest with some pieces of brown soap
in it, some mustard in a pill-box, and a cake of beeswax stuck full of
caraway seeds. Davy remembered afterward that, as he threw these things
away, they arranged themselves in a long row on the curb-stone of the
street. The Goblin looked on with great interest as Davy fished them up
out of his pockets, and finally said, enviously, "That's a splendid
collection; where did they all come from?"
"I'm sure _I_ don't know," said Davy, in great bewilderment.
"And I'm sure _I_ don't know," repeated the Goblin. "What else is
there?"
Davy felt about in his pockets again, and found what seemed to be a
piece of money. On taking it out, however, he was mortified to find that
it was nothing but an old button; but the Goblin exclaimed, in a tone of
great satisfaction, "Ah! hold on to that!" and ran on faster than ever.
The sound of the distant voices had grown fainter and fainter still, and
Davy was just hoping that their long run was almost over, when the
street came abruptly to an end at a brick wall, over the top of which he
could see the branches of trees. There was a small round hole in the
wall, with the words "PAY HERE" printed above it, and the Goblin
whispered to Davy to hand in the button through this hole. Davy did so,
feeling very much ashamed of himself, when, to his surprise, instead of
receiving tickets in return, he heard a loud exclamation behind the
wall, followed by a confused sound of scuffling, and the hole suddenly
disappeared. The next moment a little bell tinkled, and the wall rose
slowly before them like a curtain, carrying the trees with it
apparently, and he and the Goblin were left standing in a large open
space paved with stone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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