E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Josephine Paolucci, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries (http://www.archive.org/details/americana) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original lovely illustrations, many of which are in color. See 32406-h.htm or 32406-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/32406/pg32406-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/32406/32406-h.zip) Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive/American Libraries. See http://www.archive.org/details/citycurious00boscrich THE CITY CURIOUS [Illustration: FRITILLA AND THE RED FLYING-FISH _Frontispiece_] THE CITY CURIOUS by JEAN de BOSSCHÈRE [Illustration] Illustrated by the Author and Retold in English by F. Tennyson Jesse [Illustration] New York: Dodd, Mead and Company London: William Heinemann 1920 Printed in Great Britain CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I Smaly and his wife Redy set forth in search of three little girls: They are bewitched so that their noses turn into beaks: Smaly eats the latch of a door and Redy eats the hinge: Redy's fingers weep tears: They meet with a Confectioner who resembles a Kangaroo 1 CHAPTER II Smaly installs himself upon one of the Kangaroo's paws: The two little people see some of the inhabitants of this peculiar country: They meet some sugar horses, and they see also a fish which flies and some sponges which walk: The Wigs imagine that Smaly is made of suet: The ebony and crystal spectacles: The Mother of the Crow 15 CHAPTER III The Short-Legged Man with the musical voice: Smaly and Redy again declare they are travelling to find three little girls: Papylick puts Smaly and Redy in two boats made out of nutshells 34 CHAPTER IV Smaly and Redy are not well received: They are thought to be made of painted cardboard: How the Despoiler fell into the water and left a foot behind him: Mistigris sticks a fish-bone into the back of the Despoiler: Judgment is passed on the two strangers: They will be banished at nightfall: The walls of the three gardens are discussed 38 CHAPTER V Redy and Smaly watch the review of the troops: Smaly and the Mother of the Crow discourse about soldiers: The Chief Contractor distributes the food, and the Wigs pass through a curious little door: The Soy powder makes the provisions grow 59 CHAPTER VI