The Junior Classics, Volume 5: Stories that never grow old
General
The Junior Classics, Volume 5: Stories that never grow old
Children's literature
I answered as loud as I could in several languages, and he often
laid his ear within two yards of me; but all in vain, for we were
wholly unintelligible to each other. He then sent his servants to
their work, and taking his handkerchief out of his pocket, he
doubled and spread it on his left hand, which he placed flat on
the ground with the palm upward, making me a sign to step into it,
as I could easily do, for it was not above a foot in thickness. I
thought it my part to obey, and, for fear of falling, laid myself
at full length upon the handkerchief, with the remainder of which
he lapped me up to the head for further security, and in this
manner carried me home to his house. There he called his wife, and
showed me to her; but she screamed and ran back, as women in
England do at the sight of a toad or a spider. However, when she
had awhile seen my behavior, and how well I observed the signs her
husband made, she was soon reconciled, and by degrees grew
extremely tender of me. It was about twelve at noon and a servant
brought in dinner. It was only one substantial dish of meat (fit
for the plain condition of a husbandman), in a dish of about
four-and-twenty feet in diameter. The company were, the farmer and
his wife, three children, and an old grandmother. When they were
sat down, the farmer placed me at some distance from him on the
table, which was thirty feet high from the floor. I was in a
terrible fright, and kept as far as I could from the edge, for
fear of falling. The wife minced a bit of meat, then crumbled some
bread on a trencher, and placed it before me. I made her a low
bow, took out my knife and fork, and fell to eat, which gave them
exceeding delight. The mistress sent her maid for a small dram
cup, which held about two gallons, and filled it with drink; I
took up the vessel with much difficulty in both hands, and in a
most respectful manner drank to her ladyship's health, expressing
the words as loud as I could in English, which made the company
laugh so heartily that I was almost deafened with the noise. This
liquor tasted like a small cider, and was not unpleasant. Then the
master made me a sign to come to his trencher side; but as I
walked on the table, being at great surprise all the time, as the
indulgent reader will easily conceive and excuse, I happened to
stumble against a crust, and fell flat on my face, but received no
hurt. I got up immediately, and observing the good people to be in
much concern, I took my hat (which I held under my arm out of good
manners), and waving it over my head, gave three huzzas, to show I
had got no mischief by my fall. But advancing forward toward my
master, (as I shall henceforth call him), his youngest son, who
sat next to him, an arch boy of about ten years old, took me up by
the legs, and held me so high in the air that I trembled in every
limb; but his father snatched me from him, and at the same time
gave him such a box on the left ear as would have felled an
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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