England -- Juvenile fiction; Fantasy literature; Siblings -- Juvenile fiction; Wishes -- Juvenile fiction
“Everything you can think of,” he replied to Anthea’s glance of
inquiry. “Kicked up the most frightful shine in there. Said those
necklaces and earrings and things in the glass cases were all
hers—would have them out of the cases. Tried to break the glass—she did
break one bit! Everybody in the place has been at her. No good. I only
got her out by telling her that was the place where they cut queens’
heads off.”
“Oh, Bobs, what a whacker!”
“You’d have told a whackinger one to get her out. Besides, it wasn’t. I
meant _mummy_ queens. How do you know they don’t cut off mummies’ heads
to see how the embalming is done? What I want to say is, can’t you get
her to go with you quietly?”
“I’ll try,” said Anthea, and went up to the Queen.
“Do come home,” she said; “the learned gentleman in our house has a
much nicer necklace than anything they’ve got here. Come and see it.”
The Queen nodded.
“You see,” said the nastiest gentleman, “she does understand English.”
“I was talking Babylonian, I think,” said Anthea bashfully.
“My good child,” said the nice gentleman, “what you’re talking is not
Babylonian, but nonsense. You just go home _at once_, and tell your
parents exactly what has happened.”
Anthea took the Queen’s hand and gently pulled her away. The other
children followed, and the black crowd of angry gentlemen stood on the
steps watching them. It was when the little party of disgraced
children, with the Queen who had disgraced them, had reached the middle
of the courtyard that her eyes fell on the bag where the Psammead was.
She stopped short.
“I wish,” she said, very loud and clear, “that all those Babylonian
things would come out to me here—slowly, so that those dogs and slaves
can see the working of the great Queen’s magic.”
“Oh, you _are_ a tiresome woman,” said the Psammead in its bag, but it
puffed itself out.
Next moment there was a crash. The glass swing doors and all their
framework were smashed suddenly and completely. The crowd of angry
gentlemen sprang aside when they saw what had done this. But the
nastiest of them was not quick enough, and he was roughly pushed out of
the way by an enormous stone bull that was floating steadily through
the door. It came and stood beside the Queen in the middle of the
courtyard.
It was followed by more stone images, by great slabs of carved stone,
bricks, helmets, tools, weapons, fetters, wine-jars, bowls, bottles,
vases, jugs, saucers, seals, and the round long things, something like
rolling pins with marks on them like the print of little bird-feet,
necklaces, collars, rings, armlets, earrings—heaps and heaps and heaps
of things, far more than anyone had time to count, or even to see
distinctly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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