Prince Waratah goes to the rescue of the Princess Frontispiece
The Arrival of the Shower Fairies 33
The Fairy City by Night 49
The Desert Fairies Kidnap the Princess 79
The Prince and Princess before the Recorder 85
The Mower and His Lady Meet the Queen 131
AUSTRALIAN FAIRY TALES AS TOLD TO
“BIDGYBAH,” “POLLYKIM,” and “PINKLES.”
Time of Telling: Sunday Evenings.
Place: Any old spot remote from the older members of the family.
Descriptive Characteristics of the Audience:
“Bidgybah”: Schoolboy; full of strange noises and a scornful contempt
for all things sisterly and feminine; but with such an unquenchable
thirst for stories as to be able to keep silence whilst one is being
told, and to forget for the nonce to pull his sister’s hair, pinch her
arm, or otherwise constitute himself a source of annoyance.
“Pollykim”: Schoolgirl; demure of manner, yet overflowing with the
ability to pointedly disregard all that a boy holds in esteem; but so
hungry for fairy tales as to forget her airs for the time being, to sit
still during the telling of the tale, and to refrain from giving other
offence.
“Pinkles”: Chubby male person, aged five, with fair flaxen curls, and a
complexion remarkable for the fact that pink carnations seem to be
forever chasing white piccotees up over his cheeks into the starry
depths of his grey-blue eyes. In addition, he possesses an immeasurable
love of stories about Fairies; and a red-gum faith of so sound a
quality, that the white ants of doubt and disbelief have hitherto
attacked it in vain!