Martin Pippin in the Apple OrchardFarjeon, Eleanor
General
Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard
Farjeon, Eleanor
Fairy tales; Minstrels -- Fiction
"Yes, thank you, Martin!" cried they. And ran away to change. But the
only change possible was to take the kerchiefs off their white necks,
and the shoes and stockings off their little feet, and let down their
pretty hair. So they did these things, and made wreaths for one
another, and posies for their yellow dresses. And it is time for you to
know that Jennifer's dress was primrose and Jane's cowslip yellow, and
that Joyce looked like buttercups and Jessica like marigolds; and
Joscelyn's was the glory of the kingcups that rise like magic golden
isles above the Amberley floods in May. But little Joan had not been
able to decide between the two yellows that go to make wild daffodils,
so she had them both. Under their flowerlike skirts their white ankles
and rosy heels moved as lightly as windflowers swaying in the grass.
And just when they were ready they heard Martin Pippin's lute under the
apple-tree, so they came to the party dancing. Round and round the tree
they danced in the moonlight till they were out of breath. But when
they could dance no more they stood stock still and stared without
speaking; for spread under the trees was such a feast as they had not
seen for months and months.
In the middle was a great heap of apples, red and brown and green and
gold; but besides these was a dish of roasted apples and another of
apple dumplings, and between them a bowl of brown sugar and a full
pitcher of cream. The cream had spilled, and you could see where Martin
had run his finger up the round of the pitcher to its lip, where one
drip lingered still. Near these there was a plum-cake of the sort our
grannies make. It is of these cakes we say that twenty men could not
put their arms round them. There were nuts in it too, and spices. And
there was a big basin of curds and whey, and a bigger one of fruit
salad, and another of custard; and plates of jam tarts and lemon
cheesecakes and cheesestraws and macaroons; and gingerbread in cakes
and also in figures of girls and boys with caraway comfits for eyes,
and a unicorn and a lion with gilded horn and crown; and pots of honey
and quince jelly and treacle; and mushrooms and pickled walnuts and
green salads. Even Mr. Ringdaly did not provide a bigger feast when he
married Mrs. Ringdaly. For there were also all the best sorts of sweets
in the world: sugar-candy on a string, and twisted barley-sticks, and
bulls'-eyes, and peardrops, and licorice shoe-strings, and Turkish
Delight, and pink and white sugar mice; besides these there was
sherbet, not to drink of course, but to dip your finger in. There were
a good many other things, but these were what the milkmaids took in at
a glance.
"OH!" cried six voices at once. "Where did they come from?"
"Through the gap," said Martin.
"But who brought them?"
"Don't ask me," said Martin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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