So he decided that he would become a great traveler and go round the
world. He made careful preparations for the trip. In secret, he filled a
bundle with nourishing food, which he put on his back and hung a bottle
of water from his neck. On his feet he put heavy shoes, made from strong
caterpillar leather, belted his sword around his waist and, as soon as
his Godmother had left in the morning, started on his journey round the
world.
He looked forward to his Godmother's surprise on his return, when he
would tell her all that had happened to him and thereby gain great fame.
He walked down from the box that held his castle and crossed the press
straight to his Godmother's bed. He judged that the window through which
the light was streaming, was in the East and that, therefore, he was
going directly to the North.
When the Godmother returned to her room in the evening she was greatly
surprised that Little Tom was not there to welcome her. She called and
looked for him everywhere, but could not find him. She feared that he
had crawled to some place where he had fallen down and died miserably.
She swept the floor most carefully, but in vain. Sadly, she went to the
hearth to get some wood to replenish the fire, for it was a cold Spring
day. As she took out some pieces, there she found Tom asleep with a tiny
bundle upon his back. He was sleeping so soundly, that he did not stir
when she called to him, so she took him up carefully and placed him
under the tree on her handkerchief. She feared that something had
happened to him. Many times during the night she got up to look at him,
but Little Tom slept quietly until the morning.
When he finally awoke, he did not at first know where he was. When he
remembered, he avoided telling his Godmother where he had been the day
before; but he begged her forgiveness and promised that he would never
again crawl down from the linen press. She did not insist on an
explanation, for she thought that he had been curious and had run around
the room and thus become lost. When she went away, he started diligently
to write in his diary. This was what he wrote:
_Castle Easter Egg,
The 114th day of my life._
When I was one hundred and twelve days old, believing it to be the duty
of a man to accomplish great deeds, I decided that I would be a traveler
and go round the earth--Godmother having told me that it is round--so
that I could see for myself the wonders she has described. I made my
preparations in secret. In the morning, when Godmother had gone away, I
started for the hills on the northern horizon, stretching across the
plain on which my castle stands.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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