"Surly Tim": A Lancashire StoryBurnett, Frances Hodgson
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"Surly Tim": A Lancashire Story
Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Manners and customs -- Fiction; Short stories
“At th' eend o' th' first year th' child wur born, th' little lad here,”
touching the turf with his hand, “'Wee Wattie' his mother ca'd him,
an' he wur a fine, lightsome little chap. He filled th' whole house wi'
music day in an' day out, crowin' an' crowin'--an' cryin' too sometime.
But if ever yo're a feyther, Mester, yo'll find out 'at a baby's cry's
music often enough, an' yo'll find, too, if yo' ever lose one, 'at yo'd
give all yo'd getten just to hear even th' worst o' cryin'. Rosanna she
couldna find i' her heart to set th' little un out o' her arms a minnit,
an' she'd go about th' room wi' her eyes aw leeted up, an' her face
bloomin' like a slip o' a girl's, an' if she laid him i' th' cradle
her head 'ud be turnt o'er har shoulder aw th' time lookin' at him an'
singin' bits o' sweet-soundin' foolish woman-folks' songs. I thowt then
'at them old nursery songs wur th' happiest music I ever heard, an' when
'Sanna sung 'em they minded me o' hymn-tunes.
“Well, Mester, before th' spring wur out Wee Wat was toddlin' round
holdin' to his mother's gown, an' by th' middle o' th' next he was
cooin' like a dove, an' prattlin' words i' a voice like hers. His eyes
wur big an' brown an' straightforrad like hers, an' his mouth was like
hers, an' his curls wur the color o' a brown bee's back. Happen we set
too much store by him, or happen it wur on'y th' Teacher again teachin'
us his way, but hows'ever that wur, I came home one sunny mornin' fro'
th' factory, an' my dear lass met me at th' door, all white an' cold,
but tryin' hard to be brave an' help me to bear what she had to tell.
“'Tim,' said she, 'th' Lord ha' sent us a trouble; but we can bear it
together, conna we, dear lad?'
“That wur aw, but I knew what it meant, though th' poor little lamb had
been well enough when I kissed him last.
“I went in an' saw him lyin' theer on his pillows strugglin' an' gaspin'
in hard convulsions, an' I seed aw was over. An' in half an hour, just
as th' sun crept across th' room an' touched his curls th' pretty little
chap opens his eyes aw at once.
“'Daddy!' he crows out. 'Sithee Dad--! an' he lift' hissen up, catches
at th' floatin' sun shine, laughs at it, and fa's back--dead, Mester.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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