Part 2

“They ate until they could eat no more” 296

365 Bedtime Stories

JANUARY 1: A New Year’s Party

“Just because it was the first day of the year,” commenced daddy, “and because parties were about the nicest things in the world to the mind of a little girl named Ella, her mother decided to give her one.

“‘It certainly does seem like the first of the year, or the first of something,’ said Ella. ‘It’s a new day, a new year and we have new toys and new games. We are even going to have supper out of new dishes.’

“For among the presents Santa Claus had brought to Ella was a fine set of dishes. They were pink and white and there were six cups and saucers, six little plates, a teapot, sugar bowl and cream jug. It was really a very complete set.

“They had thin bread and butter, hot chocolate with whipped cream and a cake which Ella’s mother called a New Year’s cake. It was pink and white on the top with pink sugared trimmings on the white frosting.

“In the center of the cake was one pink candle, for Ella’s mother said it would be quite impossible to have a candle for the number of years there had been, and too, it would be nice to have a new way and just consider the year a day old.

“After the cake had been almost entirely eaten they played house. Each little girl took a corner of the room as her house and fixed it up with some of Ella’s things. They all had their own dolls and many of their other toys so they really felt quite at home.

“Then they began calling on each other, dressing up in shawls and old hats which Ella’s mother let them use. After a while they heard a flutter, flutter against the window pane, and then another little flapping sound.

“‘It’s a little bird,’ said Ella, as she looked out of the window. ‘It’s right on the sill, and I am dreadfully afraid it has hurt its wings. Poor little dear.’

“They opened the window and Ella took the little bird in her hands. Oh, how cold the little bird’s feathers were!

“‘We’ll take care of you,’ said Ella. They gave the little bird some bread-crumbs and some water. Then he had a delicious piece of lettuce from the seeds which Ella had started in a box in her room.

“Pretty soon the bird began to grow much better and hopped and chirped about the room, and then they let him out for he had simply been very hungry.

“‘We’ll put some suet in that tree over there,’ said Ella.

“‘Let’s put some bread-crumbs,’ said her friends, and then one of them added,

“‘And let’s give some of the New Year cake crumbs too.’

“So the little bird was given a regular New Year’s feast, and Ella and her friends were among other children who decided to look after the feathered people through the cold months of the winter and to give them bread-crumbs and suet which they love so well.”

JANUARY 2: The Rhyming Years

“Well,” said the Old Year, “I am going to make up a poem about myself. I feel quite poetical.”

“And,” said the New Year, “I will, too.” For the New Year didn’t want to have the Old Year think that he was unable to do anything like that, even though he was young. But he felt very much pleased when the Old Year said: “Though I have lived twelve whole months, I have not become a poet.”

“I think age should be given the right to speak first,” said the New Year.

The Old Year shook his white hair and smiled so that the wrinkles in his face all ran in together.

This is what he said:

“Yes, it is true I was feeling old, Yes, it is true I was also cold, Yes, it is true I heard them cheer, Welcoming in the glad New Year.”

Then New Year recited this verse:

“Of course, you see I was out for fun, My life has only just begun, They said ‘He is young and full of vim, No one can help but welcome him.’

“You mustn’t think I am conceited,” he added. “I say a lot to make my rhyme come out right.”

“Of course,” said the Old Year, “for I do too. Well. I will give my second verse. Don’t believe it all, though!” Then the Old Year took an old harp he had and he began to play and sing, and this was what he sang:

“And Poor Old Year—he almost wept As he packed up his things and left. But as he turned to say good-by, Something in him made him cry: ‘Though my work is mostly done, I, have, too, had lots of fun, And ’ere I go upon my way, This I certainly would say: ‘Happy New Year, big and small, Happy New Year, short and tall, Happy New Year, every one! May you all have lots of fun!’”

JANUARY 3: Naughty Wind

“The Clothes-Pins on the line,” said daddy, “were having a very jolly time.

“‘I’ll blow those clothes away,’ said the North Wind.

“‘Oh, no you won’t,’ said the Clothes-Pins in chorus.

“‘You are only little wooden things,’ said the Wind. ‘I am strong and powerful and can do just exactly as I like.’

“Now the Fairies saw that the Clothes-Pins were doing their work so well that they thought they would like to help them, so they all perched on the line and began to sing:

‘Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, Let the North Wind blow, The Clothes-Pins and we, Will certainly see, That the clothes will stay here. The day’s nice and clear, The sun’s good and strong, And the wind is quite wrong. To try such a trick, But the Clothes-Pins will stick.’

“The Clothes-Pins did stick to the line and the Fairies helped them, singing all the time. The Wind kept on blowing and tried his hardest to get the better of the Fairies, but he had no luck at all and the Clothes-Pins won!”

JANUARY 4: The Selfish Oyster Crabs

“You know, I think oyster-crabs are perhaps the most selfish of all the sea animals,” began daddy. “The oyster-crabs really belong to the crab family. They are called oyster-crabs, however, because above all things they love the juice of an oyster and absolutely live on it. And what I am going to tell you about now is the way they get it.

“First of all, the oyster-crab hovers around the oysters and then picks out a nice, fat, juicy looking oyster, saying to himself: ‘You look as if you could feed me well without any effort. I think I will crawl into your shell.’ So then he crawls right inside the oyster’s shell and proceeds to enjoy himself. He prefers just to ‘sponge’ on others, as the expression goes!”

JANUARY 5: Brownie’s Toothache

Going to the dentist’s always frightened Evelyn. “Dear me,” said daddy, “I think I will have to tell you about the brownie’s trip to the dentist, for I think his case was very similar to yours.

“This little brownie had had a toothache which had bothered him for some time, but he dreaded to go to the dentist’s, just the way you do.

“One day, though, it got awfully painful and he felt he could stand it no longer. He went right off to see the brownie dentist. He was a very clever dentist and very kind and gentle. He got a pair of pullers, and after a moment or two Dr. Brownie said:

“‘Well, here’s the old toothache.’

“‘What, my tooth already out?’ said the little brownie. ‘And to think of all I’ve suffered before I came to you.’”

JANUARY 6: The Pink Cockatoo

“On the morning of the birthday of a little girl named Natalie,” said daddy, “a pink cockatoo was ready to greet her when she awoke. Well, you can imagine how happy Natalie was. And she kept saying over and over again:

“‘Oh, how lovely you are.’ The cockatoo would raise up his pink crest on the top of his head at that—just as some people raise up their foreheads—only his crest went way, way higher. He did that whenever he felt like it, and he always felt like it when he was being talked to.

“And after a very short time the cockatoo was just as tame as could be and he seemed to grow more beautiful every day.

“Before long he began to talk just as a parrot will and follow Natalie around the house. He had his food out of special little pink dishes Natalie had given him to match his pink feathers, and every morning he took his bath in a pink soup bowl which he thought was very fine indeed.

“Maybe you will think he got spoiled by so much fussing and attention, but he just became tamer and tamer every day. He learned many tricks and would often perform them for Natalie’s friends.

“And when it came time for Natalie’s next birthday she gave a party. On the invitation it said the party was being given by Natalie and the pink cockatoo. And in one corner was a little colored drawing Natalie had made of her cockatoo. When the cockatoo saw it he put his crest way up in the air, and said in a funny voice:

“‘Goodie, Natalie,’ which was his pet name for his Mistress.

“And this is a truly true story, you know.”

JANUARY 7: The Pet Monkey

“Once there was an old lady,” said daddy, “who lived all alone. One day, though, she went to town and bought a pet monkey. She named him Niles. He was only seven inches long and had a curly tail. He was a very dark gray color. He proved to be a most expensive pet, for he liked all the most delicious fruits and would only eat his bread and rice when plenty of rich cream was poured over it. What fascinated him above all was the old lady’s rings.

“When the old lady saw how fond Niles was of jewels she took out her jewel box. Niles had the most glorious time playing with its contents. He decorated himself with all the beads and chains and bangles and looked at himself in the mirror. He shook all over, for he liked the noise as well as the glitter of the jewels.

“So the old lady was very, very happy with her pet monkey. Niles was delighted with his new home and his new mistress, for he had never had jewels to play with in the animal shop.”

JANUARY 8: The Bravery Medal

“Two children,” said daddy, “were skating on a pond. It was a blustery, snowy afternoon, and they were the only ones on the ice.

“A big dog was taking a good run on this cold winter’s day when he spied the children on the pond.

“He went down to the pond and ran across it a little way, but the ice had a bad way of creaking, and he was sure it was not so very firm. He decided that he had better stay around to see that nothing happened to the children.

“He had been there but a moment or two when a terrific crack in the ice sounded. It gave way, and the two children fell through. The sheet of ice broke rapidly, and the water was soon clear for some distance around them.

“Quickly the dog went to the rescue of the children and swam to the shore with them. He saw some people drive by in a sleigh on the road above, and he barked so frantically that they stopped to see what the trouble was. Then, of course, they drove the two children to their home. The big dog went along too. The hero simply said ‘Bow-wow!’ when later they fastened a medal on his collar. He wanted to tell them that he thought they were being very good to him, and he thanked them, but at the same time he was so modest that he didn’t think he had been so brave. He felt any other dog would have done just the same, as he adored children.”

JANUARY 9: The Jack-knife

“This evening,” said daddy, “I am going to tell you about the little boy who was given a jack-knife as a birthday present. He did so many things with his knife that I think it might give you some ideas and suggestions of things you might make with the help of the knife. He set up a little carpentry shop in his room with a workstand.

“He made little bird-houses, little squirrel houses, chairs, stands, boats, an express cart, and, oh, countless other things! In fact, he just made all the things that boys like.

“Before he had his jack-knife he was not at all interested in carpentry. But his knife helped so much. It was far more useful to him than his other tools.”

JANUARY 10: The Brave Little Sister

“There was once a little boy who had a sister just about Evelyn’s age,” said daddy. “He was much disappointed that his sister didn’t care more for long walks and boys’ games and that animals seemed to frighten her.

“He used to scold her about it instead of helping her to get over her fear. One day these two children were taking a walk. They went into the country along a quiet road. They passed a little house in which lived an old woman who had a great many cats. She was very queer and her cats seemed to be queer too. Anyway, it was said that they hated strangers.

“The little boy didn’t believe this, and when his sister tried to hurry by he laughed at her.

“‘Oh, come and see this nice cat!’ he said. And he tried to pick the cat up.

“The cat objected to strangers, as all the people had said, and he started to scratch the little boy. With a cry his sister rushed to him. She grabbed the back of the cat and got him off. Then she cried ‘Shoo!’ to the cat, which made him go right home, for he didn’t care about hurting the little boy. He only would not be played with.

“‘I shall never make fun of you again, sister,’ he said. ‘You saved me by taking off that cat, of which you were afraid. I have not been at all a nice brother to you, and I don’t deserve such a good sister, for it was love for me that made you forget about your fear. But you may be quite sure I will never make fun of you in the future, for really you are the brave one.’”

JANUARY 11: Baby Bears

“In the winter, at the start of the new year,” said daddy, “when Mother Bear was sleeping and dozing and dreaming in her home back in the hole of a big rock, the little bears arrived. She taught them about the berries they must eat and about the things which would make them feel well and strong. She also told them of the bad things they must not touch—the things which would make their little tummies feel very miserable indeed and which would make them quite, quite sick.

“And when, at last, they went out of the cave, and saw the real world, the trees and the forest paths, they wanted to start off at once for adventures, for the world looked so mysterious and wondrous.

“‘Do you want to leave your old mother?’ the black bear asked.

“‘We love you, mother, but we want to see the world,’ they said.

“‘Bang,’ suddenly went a gun, and Mother Bear received a slight wound.

“The baby bears were around her in a flash, but mother bear was safe, for the man with the gun had hurriedly gone when he had seen how near the old bear was. And he had seen her teeth and had almost been able to feel them!

“And the babies knew their teeth would never have done. They, too, had had a glimpse of their mother’s anger and their mother’s strength.

“And as they licked the wound they said,

“‘We won’t leave you, Mother Bear. We don’t know the world as yet.’

“And Mother Black Bear groaned with the hurt from the slight wound in her shoulder, but still more she grunted with pleasure, for her babies had seen that they still needed their mother.”

JANUARY 12: The Snow House

“At night after the children had gone to bed and it had grown colder and colder Old Man Snow came around to see what the children had been doing,” said daddy.

“‘Well, well, well,’ he said as he saw a snow house and a snow fort and a snow man, ‘this is fine. They appreciate me. They know what handsome things I can make. This is really gorgeous.’

“‘Look, Prince Icicle, isn’t this fine?’

“Prince Icicle appeared with a number of the other princes and princesses who hung down from the roof of the snow house and the top of the snow fort and from the shoulders of the snow man. Prince Icicle himself took a very fine place over the doorway of the snow house.

“‘Isn’t this handsome?’ asked Old Man Snow. ‘Our fine king will be delighted and his royal majesty will be honored.’

“As Old Man Snow said these words along came King Snow. He wore a most beautiful crown of snow and he showed the Icicle family the compliment of wearing icicles from his beard and his crown and his locks of snow and from his hanging snowy sleeves.

“‘They stopped me as I went by the brook,’ said King Snow, ‘and begged me to have some of their jeweled icicles. Don’t they sparkle beautifully? Yes, they asked me to have them, and the brook, which was beginning to freeze around the edges, begged me to listen to its story.’

“‘It had so much to tell of its travels, how it ran down a long and winding hill and how it couldn’t help trickling and laughing all the time with the jokes and merry tales it kept hearing.’

“So Old Man Snow, King Snow, Prince Icicle and the other princes and princesses talked all through the night and told wonderful stories as they sat in the children’s snow house.”

JANUARY 13: Peter Goblin’s Trip

“To think,” and Peter Goblin looked as if he were going to cry, “to think,” he repeated, “that children shouldn’t like us. Why, children are the nicest creatures in all the world, and I love them, I do. That’s why I am so unhappy when they talk about me.”

The Fairy Queen had been listening to this talk and she felt sorry that so many untrue stories had gone around the children’s world about Peter Goblin and the goblin brothers.

“I’ll tell you what I’d do, Peter,” she said.

“Keep on trying to tell as many children as you can how much you like them. Tell them that in years gone by people were far more nervous than they are now. They were afraid of the dark and things like that.

“Tell them that you never jump out at them in the dark, and that you only come to them when they are asleep. Explain as much and as often as you can that you never carry them far away from home, but that you simply sit on their bedposts and talk to them. I’ll help you too, Peter.”

“Thank you,” said Peter Goblin, as he hopped and jumped away, for he felt far more cheerful now.

He went to call on his friends, the children. He had a very hard time with one little girl. “Good evening,” said Peter, as he perched himself on the edge of the right bedpost of her bed.

She drew the clothes over her head. “Oh, don’t do that,” screamed Peter. “It will make you have bad dreams and maybe you’ll smother.”

“Oh, dear,” thought Peter, “she will dream I’m horrid indeed if she does that.” But after a moment she poked her head out again and looked at Peter.

She couldn’t help laughing at him, for he looked so funny and yet so sad. But still she was frightened, until after she had looked again (for between looks she hid her face), when she saw two big tears rolling down Peter Goblin’s funny little face.

“What’s the matter, little sir?” she asked. She wanted to be polite when he felt so badly and yet he seemed so small and tiny to be called just Sir.

“I’m blue and sad,” said Peter, “‘cause children think I’m bad. They think I hide in the dark to catch them. And I love them, and want to tell them stories. Not a single goblin has ever hurt a child—no, no, no! Why, we would disown a bad goblin, we would.” And the little girl promised Peter she’d let all her friends know this.

JANUARY 14: The Words

The words Beautiful, Gorgeous, Glorious and Wonderful were talking. “You see,” said Beautiful, “we’ve all been feeling rather sad that no one used us. We’re always trying to live up to our names. We’re always trying to be beautiful and gorgeous and glorious.

“We don’t try to be mean or horrid or ugly. We haven’t been jealous of you, Wonderful.”

“Ah,” said Wonderful, “I understand. You’ve never gone back on your names. You’ve always meant the same things. You’ve been fine to keep your names and to be beautiful and gorgeous and glorious.

“But you needn’t feel sad because you haven’t been given much attention and because you haven’t been used much lately. People have got into the habit of saying everything is wonderful.

“Really and truly I’ve been worked to death. I don’t like to be worked so hard. I really and truly don’t. I get tired, and yet I have to be ready when they want me. I’m just jumping from one to another and sometimes I’m half with one and half with another at the same time.

“But you keep on being Beautiful and Gorgeous and Glorious, for you are three lovely words and Wonderful couldn’t get along without you.”

“Ah, Wonderful,” said Beautiful, “you do cheer us up. Yes, you are Wonderful.”

And they all laughed as they saw what a useful, fitting, wonderful word it really was!

JANUARY 15: The Medicine Bottle

“If you think my life is a pleasant one,” said the Medicine Bottle, “I’ll tell you from the start that it isn’t.

“In the first place I was in the doctor’s office. I saw the people quake and shake when they were told they had to take some bitter medicine. I don’t suppose they really shook as much as I thought they did, but I was standing quite still at the time and they seemed to make a great deal of fuss.

“Then I heard some one say,

“‘Doctors give us horrible stuff, When we think we’re sick enough, But after all they make us well, And this fact, too, I think we should tell.’

“Then some one else said,

“‘I wonder if the doctor has taken From the medicine bottle which must be shaken. It’s hard to swallow it and be held by the nose While we get down the horrible dose.’

“Such are the things I’ve heard,” said the Medicine Bottle.

“Did all the people speak like that?” asked the little White Pills.

“They didn’t speak in rhyme like that,” said the Medicine Bottle, “but those were the things they said which I’ve changed into rhymes.

“A medicine bottle must have something to cheer it up at times.

“Yes, I’ll tell you my life is not a pleasant one. I’m never greeted with a smile. Fancy that, White Pills! I’m never greeted with a smile.

“Here I sit on the mantelpiece and three times a day I am taken down and shaken as though they’d like to kill me, I do believe, and then with groans or tears or complaints I’m swallowed. Or rather, some of the medicine from me is swallowed. It’s a terrible life that I lead!”

JANUARY 16: A Loaf of Bread

“One day in a baker’s shop,” said daddy, “appeared a very small-sized loaf of bread.

“A little girl named Lucy was shopping with her grandmother.

“‘Oh, look,’ said Lucy, ‘look at the tiny loaf of bread.’

“Now the loaf of bread would have smiled, only loaves of bread can’t smile and if they should laugh they would crumble, so the loaf of bread kept a perfectly straight face.

“‘I thought I’d be noticed by a child,’ said the small loaf of bread.

“‘You won’t last as long as we will,’ said a larger loaf of bread.

“‘Oh, who cares about the size,’ said the small loaf.

“‘Of course you don’t,’ said another larger loaf.

“‘Now, now,’ said the small loaf, ‘don’t be mean and unkind to your little friend and relative, the small loaf of bread. I’m the only small one here, though I heard the baker say if folks liked me the size I am and if mothers bought me for their children he’d make a lot like me.’

“‘We didn’t mean to be unkind or mean,’ said the larger loaves, ‘only we are a little envious. We’ve been the same size always. We have to follow our relatives who are baked ahead of us and are sold ahead of us. We always have to follow their example.

“‘But you have been made differently. You have been made a small size. You’re cunning and different. You are just like us in taste and shape and kind, but smaller in size and that makes you very interesting.’

“‘Hush,’ said the small loaf of bread, ‘I am being bought. Hush!’

“And off went the little tiny loaf, in a paper bag, carried by Lucy. Just as soon as it got home, having been carried all the way, for Lucy knew it couldn’t walk or run home, a nice fat crust was cut off and Lucy ate it with joy.

“‘My nice little baby loaf of bread,’ she said, ‘you are so cunning and so good to eat!’ And the loaf of bread was glad it had been made so tiny and cunning and yet so good.”

JANUARY 17: The Tame Canary Bird

Daddy had heard that afternoon the story of a very tame canary bird. The little girl who owned the bird, and who was a friend of Jack and Evelyn, had told daddy about her little pet. So when daddy got home in the evening he was ready at once to tell the story of the little bird.