More Tales of the RidingsMoorman, F. W. (Frederic William)
General
More Tales of the Ridings
Moorman, F. W. (Frederic William)
Yorkshire (England) -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
"'Nay,' I said, 'I reckon I'll take it to t' Flower Show an' get first
prize.'
"'Thou mun do nowt o' t' sort,' said t' lad; 'thou mun bury it.'
"'Bury it! What for sud I bury it, I'd like to know?'
"'Thou mon bury it i' t' grund an' see what it grows intul.'
"Well, I reckoned there might be some sense in what t' lad said, for if
I could raise a seck o' seed potates like yon I'd sooin' mak my fortune.
But then I bethowt me o' t' time o' t' yeer, and I said:
"'But wheer's t' sense o' settin' a potate at t' back-end?'
"'Thou'll not have to wait so lang to see what cooms on 't,' he replied,
and then he turned on his heel an' left me standin' theer.
"Well, I reckoned it were a fooil's trick, but all t' same I put t'
potate back into t' grund, an' went home. That neet it started rainin'
an' it kept at it off an' on for well-nigh a week, an' I couldn't get
down to my 'lotment nohow. But all t' time I couldn't tak my mind off o'
t' lad that had made me bury my potate. He'd green eyes, an' I could
niver get shut o' them eyes choose what I were doin'. Well, after a
while it faired up, and I set off for my garden. When I gat nigh I were
fair capped. I'd set t' potate at t' top-side o' t' 'lotment, and theer,
just wheer I'd set it, were a pig-sty, wi' a pig inside it fit to kill.
I were that flustered you could ha' knocked me down wi' a feather. I
looked at t' sty, and then at t' pig, an' then I felt t' pig, an' he
were reight fat. An' when I'd felt t' pig I turned round to see if t'
'lotment were fairly mine, and theer stood t' lad that had telled me to
bury t' potate.
"'Well,' he says, 'is owt wrang wi' t' pig?'
"'Nay, there's nowt wrang wi' t' pig, but how did he get here?'
"'He'll happen have coom out o' that potate thou set i' t' grund last
week,' and he looked at me wi' them green eyes an' started girnin'. 'But
thou mun bury t' pig same as thou buried t' potate.'
"'Bury t' pig!' I said. 'I'd sooiner bury t' missus ony day. We've bin
short o' ham an' collops o' bacon all t' summer, an' if there's one
thing I like better nor another it's a bit o' fried ham to my tea.'
"'Nay, thou mun bury t' pig, an' do without thy bit o' bacon,' he says,
and there was summat i' t' way he gave his orders that fair bet me. I
went all o' a dither, while I hardly knew if I were standin' on my heels
or my heead. But t' lad were as cool as a cucumber all t' while; he
folded his arms an' looked at me wi' his green eyes, an' just said nowt.
Eh! but 'twere gey hard to mak' up my mind what to do. I looked at t'
pig, an' if iver I've seen a pig axin' to have his life spared it were
yon; but then I looked at t' lad, an' his eyes were as hard as two
grunstones; there was no gettin' round t' lad, I could see. So at lang
length I gav' in. I killed t' pig and I buried him same as I'd buried t'
potate.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account