THE SLEEPY GIANT
“Poor Giant,” said little Peggy, climbing up the hedge to look down at
his round, good-tempered face, and wide-open mouth. “Sometimes he talks
so grandly, but he’s not a bit grand really. I’ll let him stay asleep
for a nice long time whilst I pick a huge, big bunch to send Mummie,”
and she jumped down into the field again.
“I’ve only two wishes left now,” she thought to herself, as she ran
in and out amongst the daisies. “Or really only one that’s any good,
for I suppose I must use the last to get me home. I really think,” she
went on, as she sat down to tie a bit of grass round a bunch of scarlet
daisies, “that the Giant ought to get me home himself without making me
waste a wish on it! I’m sure that’s always done in books. I’ll speak to
him about it when he wakes.”
The running about in the hot sun had made Peggy quite thirsty, and
after some searching she found a dear little stream running right
through the field, at which a lot of butterflies were drinking. It was
a beautiful golden colour, and when she tasted it she found it was the
most delicious lemonade, and it had crystallised rose leaves floating
here and there upon it. The butterflies flew round her in hundreds and
allowed her to stroke their soft red and blue and yellow wings, and
when she suggested a game of hide-and-seek they were all delighted, and
fluttered round in such quantities that she could scarcely breathe.
It turned out a failure in the end, as not one butterfly could be
induced to remain hidden long enough for the others to find him, but
was always flitting in and out of his hiding-place, which, as everyone
knows, completely spoils hide-and-seek.
However, they had a lovely romp, and it was quite a pretty sight to see
several hundreds of them chasing Peggy back to “Home” (which was the
Giant’s boot) after she had hidden.
“Oh, do let’s wake the Giant!” said Peggy, as they stopped for breath,
“and make him play too! I know he’d love it!”
They all gathered round the sleeping Giant, who was lying just as
Peggy had left him, snoring loudly, with his head comfortably pillowed
amongst the spreading roots of a fallen tree.
But do you think they could wake him? Not they!
Peggy climbed the hedge and tickled his face with a branch. Then she
tried to shake his arm, but of course couldn’t move it at all. Then
she begged the butterflies to help, and they all flew round him with a
great swishing of wings, making as much noise as they possibly could;
but still the Giant lay there snoring, for he was not used to being up
a whole night long, and was very, very tired.
A large blue and gold butterfly suggested pouring lemonade on to his
face, and they fetched a good deal between them all, but that wasn’t
the least good, and only slid on to his beard and made it very wet and
sticky.
[Illustration: This is the picture Peggy drew of the Second Adventure.
It was a very difficult one to do. The Butterflies are just coming up
in hundreds and hundreds to try and wake the Giant. Mother showed Peggy
how to draw the butterflies, but she did nearly all the rest quite by
herself. The Giant sometimes wore that red hat, and sometimes a green
pointed one. The Butterflies and Daisies were the most fun to paint. I
hope you see the Ring.]
“Oh, what _am_ I to do?” cried Peggy. “It’s not fair! I never heard of
such a thing happening in any Fairy Book! Nannie always lifts me out of
bed when I won’t wake up. I only wish she was here to do it to him!”
And then she could have bitten her tongue out, for the butterflies
suddenly wheeled round and flew away in a great cloud, and “He _is_ a
heavy weight, Miss Peggy,” said Nurse, appearing on the other side of
the hedge, her face very red and hot. “But I’ll manage it in a moment.
Now then, up with you! _There_ he is, great heavy thing! He ought to be
ashamed of himself, the big baby!”
Peggy felt dreadfully disappointed, and also rather angry, for though
she didn’t mind getting annoyed with the Giant herself, it was a
different thing hearing Nurse call him names. And now she’d wasted
another wish entirely by accident, and must use her last up as quick
as lightning, for Nurse was already beginning to look very puzzled and
suspicious.
“I wish we were back in the nursery,” she whispered to the Giant, who
was sitting up on the hedge, rubbing his eyes and staring at Nurse....
“And I’m very, very angry with you!” she added, as she found herself on
the nursery window-seat again. But she was only answered by a rattle of
raindrops on the panes.
* * * * *
“You’ve dropped your nice book on the floor,” said Nurse, coming in
with a pile of aired linen in her arms and a deep frown on her face.
“You’ll have to go back to rag-books again if you serve _Mary’s Meadow_
like that!”
“Oh dear, I _quite_ forgot the bunch of daisies!” said Peggy, aghast.
“Now _what_ daisies, Miss Peggy?” asked Nurse. “I can’t have you
talking nonsense instead of attending to what I say. Pick that book
up immediately. And you’ve got that Ring on your thumb again, I do
declare! Mother wouldn’t like it at all, nasty common thing.”
“Oh, mayn’t I wear it _sometimes_, Nannie?” Peggy pleaded. “I _know_
Mummie wouldn’t mind. She always lets me wear the bead necklaces I
make.”
“No arguing!” said Nurse. “I’m going to put it in this cup on the
bookshelf, and you can ask your mother when she comes back. Time enough
to wear it then if she’ll let you.”
She _did_ seem cross. No wonder, for, though she didn’t know it, she
had just travelled very many million miles in about three seconds, and
that’s very upsetting to the temper if you’re not used to it.
And Peggy looked sadly at the cup, for it was far out of her reach even
if she stood on a chair.
“If I’d only had time to explain to the Giant!” she thought. “_He_
couldn’t help sleeping so soundly, poor thing. Now perhaps I shall
never see him again.” And she was very subdued indeed for the rest of
the day.
But she needn’t have worried. You see she kept on forgetting it was a
_Fairy_ Ring.