Children's stories, American; Fairy tales -- United States; Fantasy literature; Short stories
Well, the children ran out and dug a big pail of hat ashes with the
hat ashes shovel. And they made two hats for Snoo Foo. One was a
crooked hat. The other was a straight hat. And they put the crooked
hat on crooked and the straight hat on straight. And there stood Snoo
Foo in the front yard and everybody who came by on the street, he
would take off his hat to them, the crooked hat with his arm crooked
and the straight hat with his arm straight. That was the end of the
fuss between the Sniggers children and it was Jink, the littlest one
of the biggest, and Junk, the littlest one of the littlest, who
settled the fuss by looking clean into each other's eyes and laughing.
If you ever get into a fuss try this way of settling it.
[Illustration]
Three Boys With Jugs of Molasses and
Secret Ambitions
In the Village of Liver-and-Onions, if _one_ boy goes to the grocery
for a jug of molasses it is just like always. And if _two_ boys go to
the grocery for a jug of molasses together it is just like always. But
if _three_ boys go to the grocery for a jug of molasses each and all
together then it is not like always at all, at all.
Eeta Peeca Pie grew up with wishes and wishes working inside him. And
for every wish inside him he had a freckle outside on his face.
Whenever he smiled the smile ran way back into the far side of his
face and got lost in the wishing freckles.
Meeny Miney grew up with suspicions and suspicions working inside him.
And after a while some of the suspicions got fastened on his eyes and
some of the suspicions got fastened on his mouth. So when he looked at
other people straight in the face they used to say, "Meeny Miney looks
so sad-like I wonder if he'll get by."
Miney Mo was different. He wasn't sad-like and suspicious like Meeny
Miney. Nor was he full of wishes inside and freckles outside like Eeta
Peeca Pie. He was all mixed up inside with wishes and suspicions. So
he had a few freckles and a few suspicions on his face. When he looked
other people straight in the face they used to say, "I don't know
whether to laugh or cry."
So here we have 'em, three boys growing up with wishes, suspicions and
mixed-up wishes and suspicions. They all looked different from each
other. Each one, however, had a secret ambition. And all three had the
same secret ambition.
An ambition is a little creeper that creeps and creeps in your heart
night and day, singing a little song, "Come and find me, come and find
me."
The secret ambition in the heart of Eeta Peeca Pie, Meeney Miney, and
Miney Mo was an ambition to go railroading, to ride on railroad cars
night and day, year after year. The whistles and the wheels of
railroad trains were music to them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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