Historical fiction, American; New England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Short stories
Here we see the very same wolf—do not go near him, Annie!—the selfsame
wolf that devoured little Red Riding-Hood and her grandmother. In the
next cage a hyena from Egypt who has doubtless howled around the
pyramids and a black bear from our own forests are fellow-prisoners and
most excellent friends. Are there any two living creatures who have so
few sympathies that they cannot possibly be friends? Here sits a great
white bear whom common observers would call a very stupid beast, though
I perceive him to be only absorbed in contemplation; he is thinking of
his voyages on an iceberg, and of his comfortable home in the vicinity
of the north pole, and of the little cubs whom he left rolling in the
eternal snows. In fact, he is a bear of sentiment. But oh those
unsentimental monkeys! The ugly, grinning, aping, chattering,
ill-natured, mischievous and queer little brutes! Annie does not love
the monkeys; their ugliness shocks her pure, instinctive delicacy of
taste and makes her mind unquiet because it bears a wild and dark
resemblance to humanity. But here is a little pony just big enough for
Annie to ride, and round and round he gallops in a circle, keeping time
with his trampling hoofs to a band of music. And here, with a laced
coat and a cocked hat, and a riding-whip in his hand—here comes a
little gentleman small enough to be king of the fairies and ugly enough
to be king of the gnomes, and takes a flying leap into the saddle.
Merrily, merrily plays the music, and merrily gallops the pony, and
merrily rides the little old gentleman.—Come, Annie, into the street
again; perchance we may see monkeys on horseback there.
Mercy on us! What a noisy world we quiet people live in! Did Annie ever
read the cries of London city? With what lusty lungs doth yonder man
proclaim that his wheelbarrow is full of lobsters! Here comes another,
mounted on a cart and blowing a hoarse and dreadful blast from a tin
horn, as much as to say, “Fresh fish!” And hark! a voice on high, like
that of a muezzin from the summit of a mosque, announcing that some
chimney-sweeper has emerged from smoke and soot and darksome caverns
into the upper air. What cares the world for that? But, well-a-day, we
hear a shrill voice of affliction—the scream of a little child, rising
louder with every repetition of that smart, sharp, slapping sound
produced by an open hand on tender flesh. Annie sympathizes, though
without experience of such direful woe.
Lo! the town-crier again, with some new secret for the public ear. Will
he tell us of an auction, or of a lost pocket-book or a show of
beautiful wax figures, or of some monstrous beast more horrible than
any in the caravan? I guess the latter. See how he uplifts the bell in
his right hand and shakes it slowly at first, then with a hurried
motion, till the clapper seems to strike both sides at once, and the
sounds are scattered forth in quick succession far and near.
Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account