_How Opal Comforted Aphrodite, and how the Fairies Comforted Opal
when there Was Much Sadness at School._
Aphrodite has got a nice blue ribbon all her very own, to wear when
we go walking down the lane and to services in the cathedral. The
man that wears gray neckties and is kind to mice did give to Sadie
McKibben the money to buy it last time she went to the mill town.
That was on the afternoon of the day before yesterday. On yesterday,
when I was coming my way home from school, I did meet with Sadie
McKibben. It was nice to see her freckles and the smiles in her eyes.
She did have me to shut my eyes, and she did lay in my hand the new
blue ribbon for Aphrodite that the man that wears gray neckties and
is kind to mice did have her to get. I felt glad feels all over. I
gave her all our thanks. I did have knowing all my animal friends
would be glad for the remembers of the needs of Aphrodite, for a
blue ribbon.
I did have beginnings of hurry feels to go to the pig-pen. I have
thinks Sadie McKibben saw the hurrys in my eyes. She said she would
like to go hurrys to the pig-pen too, but she was on her way to the
house of Mrs. Limberger. She did kiss me good-bye--two on the cheeks
and one on the nose. I run a quick run to the pig-pen to show it to
Aphrodite. I gave her little pats on the nose and long rubs on the
ears, and I did tell her all about it. I did hold it close to her
eyes so she could have well seeing of its beautiful blues like the
blues of the sky. She did grunt thank grunts, and she had wants to
go for a walk right away. I did make invest tag ashuns where there
used to be a weak place in the pig-pen. It was not any more. I did
look close looks at it. I made pulls, but nothing made little slips.
Before it was not like that. I have thinks that chore boy is giving
too much at ten chuns to the fence of this pig-pen that Aphrodite
has living in all of the time I am not taking her on walks. I did
feel some sad feels when I could not take her walking down the lane
with her nice new blue ribbon on. While I did feel the sad feels so,
I did carry bracken ferns to make her a nice bed. It brought her
feels of where we were going for walks where the bracken ferns grew.
When I did have her a nice bed of bracken fern and some more all
about her, I went goes to get the other folks. Back with me came
Brave Horatius and Lars Porsena of Clusium and Thomas Chatterton
Jupiter Zeus and Lucian Horace Ovid Virgil and Felix Mendelssohn
and Louis II, le Grand Condé. When we were all come, I did climb
into the pig-pen and I did tie on Aphrodite’s new ribbon so they all
might have seeing of its blues like the sky. I sang a little thank
song, and we had prayers, and I gave Aphrodite little scratches on
the back with a little stick, like she does so like to have me do.
That was to make up for her not getting to go for a walk where the
bracken ferns grow.
Now teacher is looking very straight looks at me. She says, “Opal,
put that away.” I so do.
* * * * *
To-day it is I do sit here at my desk while the children are out
for play for recess-time. I sit here and I do print. I cannot have
goings to talk with the trees that I do mostly have talks with at
recess-time. I cannot have goings down to the rivière across the
road, like I do so go sometimes at recess-time. I sit here in my
seat. Teacher says I must stay in all this whole recess-time.
It was after some of our reading lessons this morning--it was then
teacher did ask questions of all the school. First she asked Jimmy
eight things at once. She did ask him what is a horse and a donkey
and a squirrel and a engine and a road and a snake and a store and a
rat. And he did tell her all. He did tell her in his way. They she
asked Big Jud some things, and he got up in a slow way and said, “I
don’t know,”--like he most always does,--and he sat down. Then she
asked Lola some things, and Lola did tell her all in one breath.
And teacher marked her a good mark in the book and she gave Lola a
smile. And Lola gave her nice red hair a smooth back and smiled a
smile back at teacher.
Then it was teacher did call my name. I stood up real quick. I did
have thinks it would be nice to get a smile from her like the smile
she did smile upon Lola. And teacher did ask me eight things at once.
She did ask me what is a pig and a mouse and a baby deer and a duck
and a turkey and a fish and a colt and a blackbird. And I did say
in a real quick way, “A pig is a _cochon_ and a mouse is a _mulot_
and a baby deer is a _daine_ and a duck is a _canard_ and a turkey
is a _dindon_ and a fish is a _poisson_ and a colt is a _poulain_
and a blackbird is a _merle_.” And after each one I did say, teacher
did shake her head and say, “It is not”; and I did say, “It is.”
When I was all through, she did say, “You have them all wrong. You
have not told what they are. They are not what you said they are.”
And when she said that I did just say, “They are--they are--they are.”
Teacher said, “Opal, you sit down.” I so did. But when I sat down
I said, “A pig is a cochon--a mouse is a mulot--a baby deer is
a daine--a duck is a canard--a turkey is a dindon--a fish is a
poisson--a colt is a poulain--a blackbird is a merle.” Teacher
says, “Opal, for that you are going to stay in next recess and both
recess-times to-morrow and the next day and the next day.” Then she
did look a look at all the school, and she did say as how my not
getting to go out for recess-times would be an egg sam pull for all
the other children in our school.
They are out at play. It is a most long recess, but I do know a pig
is a cochon, and a mouse is a mulot and a baby deer is a daine and
a duck is a canard and a turkey is a dindon and a fish is a poisson
and a colt is a poulain and a blackbird is a merle. So I do know,
for Angel Father always did call them so. He knows. He knows what
things are. But no one hereabouts does call things by the names Angel
Father did. Sometimes I do have thinks this world is a different
world to live in. I do have lonesome feels.
This is a most long recess. While here I do sit I do hear the
talkings of the more big girls outside the window most near unto my
desk. The children are playing Black Man and the ones more little
are playing tag. I have thinks as how nice it would be to be having
talks with Good King Edward I and lovely Queen Eleanor of Castile
and Peter Paul Rubens and Brave Horatius and Lars Porsena of Clusium
and Thomas Chatterton Jupiter Zeus and Aphrodite. And I do think
this is a most long recess.
I still do have hearings of the talkings of the girls outside the
windows. The more old girls are talking what they want. Martha says
she wants a bow. I don’t have seeings why she wants another one.
Both her braids were tied back this morningtime with a new bow, and
its color was the color of the blossoms of _camarine_. Lola says
she wants a white silk dress. She says her life will be complete
when she does have on a white silk dress--a white silk dress with a
little ruffle around the neck and one around each sleeve. She says
she will be a great lady then; and she says all the children will
gather around her and sing when she has her white silk dress on. And
while they sing and while she does have her white silk dress on, she
will stand up and stretch out her arms and bestow her blessing on
all the people like the deacon does in the church at the mill town.
Now teacher is come to the door. She does say, “Opal, you may eat
your lunch--at your desk.” I did have hungry feels and all this
is noon-time instead of short recess-time. It so has been a long
recess-time. I did have thinks when came noon-time of all the things
I would do down by the rivière.
* * * * *
Now I do gather seeds along the road and in the field. I lay in rows
side by side the seeds I gather. With them I do play _comparer_. I
look near looks at them. I do so to see how they look not like one
another. Some are big and some are not so. And some are more large
than others are large. And some do have wrinkles on them. And some
have little wings and some do have silken sails. Many so of all I
did see on my way coming home from school on this eventime, and too
I did see four gray squirrels and two chipmunks; and when I was
come near the meeting of the roads I saw a tramper coming down the
railroad track where the dinky engine comes with cars of lumbers
from the upper camps.
This tramper--he did have a big roll on his back and he walked
steps on the ties in a slow tired way. When I was come more near
to the track, I did have thinks he might have hungry feels. Most
trampers do. While I was having thinks about it, I took the lid off
my dinner-pail. There was just a half a piece of bread and butter
left. I was saving that. I was saving it to make divides between
Peter Paul Rubens and Aphrodite and Felix Mendelssohn and Louis II,
le Grand Condé, and the rest of us. I did look looks from that piece
of bread and butter in the dinner-pail to the tramper going down the
railroad track. I did have little feels of the big hungry feels he
might be having. I ran a quick run to catch up with him.
He was glad for it. He ate it in two bites, and I came a quick way
to our lane. I went along it. I made a stop by a hazel bush. I did
stop to watch a caterpillar making his cradle. He did not move about
while he did make it. He did roll himself up in a leaf. That almost
hid him. He did weave white silk about him. I think it must be an
interesting life to live a caterpillar life. Some days I do think I
would like to be a caterpillar and by-and-by make a silk cradle. The
silk a caterpillar makes its cradle from does come from its mouth.
I have seen it so. But not so have I seen come the silk the spider
does make its web of. This silk does come from the back part of
the back of the spider.
When I was come to the house we live in, I did do the works the mamma
did have for me to do. Then I made begins to fill the wood-box. When
I did have ten sticks piled on its top, I looked to the door where
the mamma was talking with Elsie. I did have sorry feels for the
mamma. I heard her say she lost ten minutes. I did have wants to
help her find them. I looked looks under the cupboard, and they were
not there. I looked looks in the cook-table drawers, and they were
not there. I looked looks into every machine-that-sews drawer, and
I did n’t find them. I crawled under the bed, but I had no seeing
of them. Then I did look looks in all the corners of the house that
we do live in. I looked looks all about. But I did n’t find them. I
have wonders where those ten minutes the mamma lost are gone. While
I did look more looks about for them, she did say for me to get out
of her way. I so did.
I went to look for the fairies. I went to the near woods. I hid
behind the trees and made little runs to big logs. I walked along
the logs and I went among the ferns. I did tiptoe among the ferns.
I looked looks about. I did touch fern-fronds and I did have feels
of their gentle movements. I came to a big root. I hid in it. I so
did to wait waits for the fairies that come among the big trees.
While I did wait waits, I did have thinks about that letter I did
write on the other day for more color pencils that I do have needs
of to print with. I thought I would go to the moss-box by the old
log. I thought I would have goes there to see if the fairies yet did
find my letter. I went. The letter--it was gone. Then I did have
joy feels all over. The color pencils--they were come. There was a
blue one and a green one and a yellow one. And there was a purple
one and a brown one and a red one. I did look looks at them a long
time. It was so nice, the quick way the fairies did bring them.
While I was looking more looks at them, some one did come near the
old root. It was my dear friend Peter Paul Rubens. I gave him four
pats and I showed him all the color pencils. Then I did make a start
to go to the mill by the far woods. Peter Paul Rubens went with me
and Brave Horatius came a-following after. All the way along I did
feel glad feels, and I had thinks how happy the man that wears gray
neckties and is kind to mice would be when he did see how quick the
fairies did answer my letter and bring the color pencils.
[Photograph: LUMBER-CAMP FOLK]
When we were come near the mill by the far woods, it was near
gray-light-time. The lumber men were on their home way. They did
whistle as they did go. Two went side by side, and three came after.
And one came after all. It was the man that wears gray neckties and
is kind to mice. Brave Horatius made a quick run to meet him, and I
did follow after. I did have him guess what it was the fairies did
bring this time. He guessed a sugar-lump for William Shakespeare
every day next week. I told him it was n’t a right guess. He guessed
some more. But he could n’t guess right, so I showed them all to him.
He was so surprised. He said he was so surprised the fairies did
bring them this soon. And he was so glad about it. He always is. He
and I--we do have knows the fairies walk often in these woods, and
when I do have needs of more color pencils to make more prints with,
I do write the fairies about it. I write to them a little letter on
leaves of trees and I do put it in the moss-box at the end of the
old log. Then, after they do come walking in the woods and find the
letter in the moss-box, they do bring the color pencils, and they
lay them in the moss-box. I find them there and I am happy.
No one does have knowing of that moss-box but one. He is the man
that wears gray neckties and is kind to mice. He has knowings of
the letters I do print on leaves and put there for the fairies. And
after he does ask me, and after I do tell him I have wrote to them
for color pencils that I have needs of--he does take a little fern
plant and make a fern wish with it that the fairies will bring to
me the color pencils I have needs of. Then we do plant the little
fern by the old log. And the time is not long until I do find the
color pencils in the moss-box by the old log. I am very happy.