Christmas stories, English; Holidays -- Fiction; Short stories
So he learned with that boy about Jupiter and Juno, and the Greeks and
the Romans, and I don’t know what, and learned more than I could tell—or
he either, for he soon forgot a great deal of it. But, they were not
always learning; they had the merriest games that ever were played. They
rowed upon the river in summer, and skated on the ice in winter; they
were active afoot, and active on horseback; at cricket, and all games at
ball; at prisoner’s base, hare and hounds, follow my leader, and more
sports than I can think of; nobody could beat them. They had holidays
too, and Twelfth cakes, and parties where they danced till midnight, and
real Theatres where they saw palaces of real gold and silver rise out of
the real earth, and saw all the wonders of the world at once. As to
friends, they had such dear friends and so many of them, that I want the
time to reckon them up. They were all young, like the handsome boy, and
were never to be strange to one another all their lives through.
Still, one day, in the midst of all these pleasures, the traveller lost
the boy as he had lost the child, and, after calling to him in vain, went
on upon his journey. So he went on for a little while without seeing
anything, until at last he came to a young man. So, he said to the young
man, “What do you do here?” And the young man said, “I am always in
love. Come and love with me.”
So, he went away with that young man, and presently they came to one of
the prettiest girls that ever was seen—just like Fanny in the corner
there—and she had eyes like Fanny, and hair like Fanny, and dimples like
Fanny’s, and she laughed and coloured just as Fanny does while I am
talking about her. So, the young man fell in love directly—just as
Somebody I won’t mention, the first time he came here, did with Fanny.
Well! he was teased sometimes—just as Somebody used to be by Fanny; and
they quarrelled sometimes—just as Somebody and Fanny used to quarrel; and
they made it up, and sat in the dark, and wrote letters every day, and
never were happy asunder, and were always looking out for one another and
pretending not to, and were engaged at Christmas-time, and sat close to
one another by the fire, and were going to be married very soon—all
exactly like Somebody I won’t mention, and Fanny!
But, the traveller lost them one day, as he had lost the rest of his
friends, and, after calling to them to come back, which they never did,
went on upon his journey. So, he went on for a little while without
seeing anything, until at last he came to a middle-aged gentleman. So,
he said to the gentleman, “What are you doing here?” And his answer was,
“I am always busy. Come and be busy with me!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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