Children's stories, American; Fairy tales -- United States; Fantasy literature; Short stories
Then came Pick Ups. Always it happened Pick Ups asked questions and
wished to know. And so this is how the questions and answers ran when
the Potato Face filled the ears of Pick Ups with explanations.
"What is the piece you are playing on the keys of your accordion so
fast sometimes, so slow sometimes, so sad some of the moments, so glad
some of the moments?"
"It is the song the mama flummywisters sing when they button loose the
winter underwear of the baby flummywisters and sing:
"Fly, you little flummies,
Sing, you little wisters."
"And why do you have a little thimble on the top button of your coat?"
"That is for the dimes to be put in. Some people see it and say, 'Oh,
I must put in a whole thimbleful of dimes.'"
"And the tin copper cup?"
"That is for the base ball players to stand off ten feet and throw in
nickels and pennies. The one who throws the most into the cup will be
the most lucky."
"And the wooden mug?"
"There is a hole in the bottom of it. The hole is as big as the
bottom. The nickel goes in and comes out again. It is for the very
poor people who wish to give me a nickel and yet get the nickel back."
"The aluminum dishpan and the galvanized iron washtub--what are they
doing by the side of you on both sides on the sidewalk?"
"Sometime maybe it will happen everybody who goes into the postoffice
and comes out will stop and pour out all their money, because they
might get afraid their money is no good any more. If such a happening
ever happens then it will be nice for the people to have some place to
pour their money. Such is the explanation why you see the aluminum
dishpan and galvanized iron tub."
"Explain your sign--why is it, 'I Am Blind _Too_.'"
"Oh, I am sorry to explain to you, Pick Ups, why this is so which.
Some of the people who pass by here going into the postoffice and
coming out, they have eyes--but they see nothing with their eyes. They
look where they are going and they get where they wish to get, but
they forget why they came and they do not know how to come away. They
are my blind brothers. It is for them I have the sign that reads, 'I
Am Blind _Too_.'"
"I have my ears full of explanations and I thank you," said Pick Ups.
"Good-by," said the Potato Face Blind Man as he began drawing long
breathings like lingering leaves out of the accordion--along with the
song the mama flummywisters sing when they button loose the winter
underwear of the baby flummywisters.
[Illustration]
Poker Face the Baboon and Hot Dog
the Tiger
When the moon has a green rim with red meat inside and black seeds on
the red meat, then in the Rootabaga Country they call it a Watermelon
Moon and look for anything to happen.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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