EVERYMAN’S LIBRARY
EDITED BY ERNEST RHYS
FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
MOPSA THE FAIRY
BY JEAN INGELOW
THIS IS NO. =619= OF =_EVERYMAN’S
LIBRARY_=. THE PUBLISHERS WILL
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BIOGRAPHY
REFERENCE
ROMANCE
[Illustration]
IN FOUR STYLES OF BINDING: CLOTH,
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LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD.
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.
[Illustration:
THIS IS FAIRY GOLD, BOY; AND ’TWILL PROVE SO
SHAKESPEARE]
[Illustration:
MOPSA _The_ FAIRY BY JEAN INGELOW
EVERY MAN I WILL GO WITH THEE & BE THY GVIDE
IN THY MOST NEED TO GO BY THY SIDE
LONDON & TORONTO
PUBLISHED BY J·M·DENT
& SONS LTD & IN NEW YORK
BY E·P·DUTTON & CO]
FIRST ISSUE OF THIS EDITION 1912
REPRINTED 1919
THE
TEMPLE PRESS LETCHWORTH
ENGLAND
INTRODUCTION
Jean Ingelow may be said to have begun her study of the art of
writing child-rhymes and the tales that are akin to them under Jane
and Ann Taylor. A friendship had sprung up between the families at
Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex, where the Ingelow youngsters used to
stay; and “Greedy Dick” and “Mrs. Duck, the notorious glutton,” were
among their favourite characters. In her first book, however, Jean
Ingelow showed that she had a note and a child-fantasy of her own.
They are seen in her fairy-ballad of Mimie and of the forest where the
child-fairy lived:
“When the clouded sun goes in--
Waiting for the thunder,
We can hear their revel din
The moss’d greensward under.
“And I tell you, all the birds
On the branches singing
Utter to us human words
Like a silver ringing.”
Her earliest impressions are reflected in some lines found in _Mopsa_,
which tell of a ship coming up the river with a jolly gang of towing
men. She was born at Boston, Lincolnshire, on the 17th of March 1820;
the daughter of a banker who had married a Scottish wife, Jean Kilgour.
Her grandfather owned some of the ships that came up the Boston water;
and the scenery of that fen country entered into her inner mind. Her
fine ballad, “High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire,” was one outcome
of those early days. In middle life she came to live in London, and she
wrote of the city and its shifting and unending throng; but her best
pages are those, whether verse or prose, that reflect the things of the
seashore and waterside, the “empty sky,” the “world of heather,” which
she knew as a child in Lincolnshire and Essex. Ipswich, Filey Brig
in Yorkshire, and other places are to be counted in her own history;
and some of the memories that are a picture of her early days may be
found in her long story _Off the Skelligs_, where she sketches her
birthplace, and the house by the wharves, with a room in the rooftree
overlooking the ships and a long reach of the river.
Jean Ingelow died in Kensington in 1897; and a memorial brass is to be
seen bearing her name in the church of St. Barnabas there.
Her works include the following stories and volumes of poems:--
WORKS: A Rhyming Chronicle of Incidents and Feelings, 1850; Allerton
and Dreux, 1851; Tales of Orris, 1860; Poems, with 4th edition in same
year, 1863; illustrated by Pinwell, Poynter, and others, 1866; Studies
for Stories, 1864; 5th edition, 1868; Stories Told to a Child, 1865;
another edition, 1892; Home Thoughts and Home Scenes, 1865; Little Rie
and the Rosebuds, 1867; The Suspicious Jackdaw, and the Life of John
Smith, 1867; The Grandmother’s Shoe, 1867; The Golden Opportunity,
1867; Deborah’s Book, and The Lonely Rock, 1867; A Story of Doom,
and other Poems, 1867; The Moorish Gold and The One-Eyed Servant,
1867; The Minnows with Silver Tails, and Two Ways of Telling a Story,
1867; The Wild-Duck Shooter, and I Have a Right, 1867; A Sister’s
Bye-Hours, 1868; Mopsa the Fairy, 1869; another edition, 1871; The
Little Wonder-Horn, 1872; another edition, 1877; Off the Skelligs,
1872; 2nd edition, 1879; Fated to be Free, 1873; 2nd edition, 1875;
other editions, 1876, 1879; Poems, 2nd series, 1876; Poems, new
edition in 2 vols., Vol. I. from 23rd edition, Vol. II. from 6th
edition, 1879; Sarah de Berenger, 1879; other editions, 1880, 1886;
Don John: a story, 1881; another edition, 1881; High-Tide on the Coast
of Lincolnshire 1571, 1883; Poems of the Old Days and the New, 1885;
John Jerome, 1886; Lyrical and other Poems selected from the Writings
of J. I., 1886; The Little Wonder-Box, 1887; Very Young, and Quite
Another Story, 1890; Selections, edited by Mackenzie Bell (Poets and
Poetry of the Century), 1892; The Old Man’s Prayer, 1895; Poetical
Works of J. I., 1898; Laura Richmond, 1901; The Black Polyanthus,
and Widow Maclean, 1903; Poems (Muses’ Library), 1906; Poems, with
an Introduction by Alice Meynell (Red Letter Library), 1908; Poems,
selected and arranged by Andrew Lang (Longman’s Pocket Library), 1908.
LIFE: Short biography in Poets and Poetry of the Century edition of
Poems, by Mackenzie Bell, 1892; some Recollections of Jean Ingelow and
her Early Friends, 1901.
Dedicated
TO
MY DEAR LITTLE COUSIN
JANET HOLLWAY
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. ABOVE THE CLOUDS 1
II. CAPTAIN JACK 13
III. WINDING-UP TIME 22
IV. BEES AND OTHER FELLOW-CREATURES 37
V. THE PARROT IN HIS SHAWL 53
VI. THE TOWN WITH NOBODY IN IT 68
VII. HALF-A-CROWN 77
VIII. A STORY 93
IX. AFTER THE PARTY 105
X. MOPSA LEARNS HER LETTERS 115
XI. GOOD MORNING, SISTER 126
XII. THEY RUN AWAY FROM OLD MOTHER FATE 137
XIII. MELON SEEDS 149
XIV. REEDS AND RUSHES 161
XV. THE QUEEN’S WAND 171
XVI. FAILURE 187
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Headpiece 1
Thereupon a lantern became visible. 9
He saw the sun come rolling up among them. 12
Headpiece 13
“Those five grand ones with high prows ... were part of
the Spanish Armada and those open boats with the blue
sails belonged to the Romans.” 15
Tailpiece 21
“I’m willing to gee and I’m agreeable to wo.” 22
They would certainly have caught him if he had not been
very quick. 36
Headpiece 37
“What’ll you buy?--what’ll you buy, sir?” 43
Tailpiece 52
Headpiece 53
A great fight was still going on. 67
Headpiece 68
“Master, I will do my best,” answered the hound. 76
Clink-of-the-Hole. 77
The little brown man fell on his knees and said, “Oh,
a shilling and a penny.” 79
“Master, do you know what you have done?” 86
Tailpiece 92
Headpiece 93
“I should like vastly well to be her nurse,”
said the apple-woman. 104
Headpiece 105
And now her bright little head ... came as high as the
second button of his waistcoat. 114
The Craken 115
“The awful river-horses rose up and, with shrill screams,
fell upon them.” 120
“While crowds of the one-foot-one fairies looked on,
hanging from the boughs.” 125
Headpiece 126
“Well, you must know,” answered the apple-woman, “that
fairies cannot abide cold weather.” 133
“So she began to sing.” 136
Headpiece 137
“Yes, sir,” said the woman, “but where is it now?” 148
Headpiece 149
They spread out long filmy wings. 157
Tailpiece 160
Headpiece 161
He gave the plate a push with his elbow. 170
Headpiece 171
But still Mopsa walked on blindfold. 186
Headpiece 187
So she stooped forward as she stood on the step. 199
Tailpiece 208
[Illustration]
MOPSA THE FAIRY
CHAPTER I
ABOVE THE CLOUDS
“‘And can this be my own world?
’Tis all gold and snow,
Save where scarlet waves are hurled
Down yon gulf below.’
’Tis thy world, ’tis my world,
City, mead, and shore,
For he that hath his own world
Hath many worlds more.’”
A boy, whom I knew very well, was once going through a meadow, which
was full of buttercups. The nurse and his baby sister were with him;
and when they got to an old hawthorn, which grew in the hedge and was
covered with blossom, they all sat down in its shade, and the nurse
took out three slices of plum-cake, gave one to each of the children,
and kept one for herself.
While the boy was eating, he observed that this hedge was very high
and thick, and that there was a great hollow in the trunk of the old
thorn-tree, and he heard a twittering, as if there was a nest somewhere
inside; so he thrust his head in, twisted himself round, and looked up.
It was a very great thorn-tree, and the hollow was so large that two
or three boys could have stood upright in it; and when he got used to
the dim light in that brown, still place, he saw that a good way above
his head there was a nest--rather a curious one too, for it was as
large as a pair of blackbirds would have built--and yet it was made
of fine white wool and delicate bits of moss; in short, it was like a
goldfinch’s nest magnified three times.
Just then he thought he heard some little voices cry, “Jack! Jack!” His
baby sister was asleep, and the nurse was reading a story book, so it
could not have been either of them who called. “I must get in here,”
said the boy. “I wish this hole was larger.” So he began to wriggle
and twist himself through, and just as he pulled in his last foot, he
looked up, and three heads which had been peeping over the edge of the
nest suddenly popped down again.
“Those heads had no beaks, I am sure,” said Jack, and he stood on
tiptoe and poked in one of his fingers. “And the things have no
feathers,” he continued; so, the hollow being rather rugged, he managed
to climb up and look in.
His eyes were not used yet to the dim light; but he was sure those
things were not birds--no. He poked them, and they took no notice; but
when he snatched one of them out of the nest, it gave a loud squeak,
and said, “O don’t, Jack!” as plainly as possible, upon which he was
so frightened that he lost his footing, dropped the thing, and slipped
down himself. Luckily, he was not hurt, nor the thing either; he could
see it quite plainly now: it was creeping about like rather an old
baby, and had on a little frock and pinafore.
“It’s a fairy!” exclaimed Jack to himself. “How curious! and this must
be a fairy’s nest. Oh, how angry the old mother will be if this little
thing creeps away and gets out of the hole!” So he looked down. “Oh,
the hole is on the other side,” he said; and he turned round, but the
hole was not on the other side; it was not on any side; it must have
closed up all on a sudden, while he was looking into the nest, for,
look whichever way he would, there was no hole at all, excepting
a very little one high up over the nest, which let in a very small
sunbeam.
Jack was very much astonished, but he went on eating his cake, and was
so delighted to see the young fairy climb up the side of the hollow and
scramble again into her nest, that he laughed heartily; upon which all
the nestlings popped up their heads, and, showing their pretty white
teeth, pointed at the slice of cake.
“Well,” said Jack, “I may have to stay inside here for a long time,
and I have nothing to eat but this cake; however, your mouths are very
small, so you shall have a piece;” and he broke off a small piece, and
put it into the nest, climbing up to see them eat it.
These young fairies were a long time dividing and munching the cake,
and before they had finished, it began to be rather dark, for a black
cloud came over and covered the little sunbeam. At the same time the
wind rose, and rocked the boughs, and made the old tree creak and
tremble. Then there was thunder and rain, and the little fairies were
so frightened that they got out of the nest and crept into Jack’s
pockets. One got into each waistcoat pocket, and the other two were
very comfortable, for he took out his handkerchief and made room for
them in the pocket of his jacket.
It got darker and darker, till at last Jack could only just see the
hole, and it seemed to be a very long way off. Every time he looked at
it, it was farther off, and at last he saw a thin crescent moon shining
through it.
“I am sure it cannot be night yet,” he said; and he took out one of the
fattest of the young fairies, and held it up towards the hole.
“Look at that,” said he; “what is to be done now? the hole is so far
off that it’s night up there, and down here I haven’t done eating my
lunch.”
“Well,” answered the young fairy, “then why don’t you whistle?”
Jack was surprised to hear her speak in this sensible manner, and in
the light of the moon he looked at her very attentively.
“When first I saw you in the nest,” said he, “you had a pinafore on,
and now you have a smart little apron, with lace round it.”
“That is because I am much older now,” said the fairy; “we never take
such a long time to grow up as you do.”
“But your pinafore?” said Jack.
“Turned into an apron, of course,” replied the fairy, “just as your
velvet jacket will turn into a tail-coat when you are old enough.”
“It won’t,” said Jack.
“Yes, it will,” answered the fairy, with an air of superior wisdom.
“Don’t argue with me; I am older now than you are--nearly grown up in
fact. Put me into your pocket again, and whistle as loudly as you can.”
Jack laughed, put her in, and pulled out another. “Worse and worse,”
he said; “why, this was a boy fairy, and now he has a moustache and a
sword, and looks as fierce as possible!”
“I think I heard my sister tell you to whistle?” said this fairy, very
sternly.
“Yes, she did,” said Jack. “Well, I suppose I had better do it.” So he
whistled very loudly indeed.
“Why did you leave off so soon?” said another of them, peeping out.
“Why, if you wish to know,” answered Jack, “it was because I thought
something took hold of my legs.”
“Ridiculous child!” cried the last of the four, “how do you think you
are ever to get out, if she doesn’t take hold of your legs?”
Jack thought he would rather have done a long-division sum than have
been obliged to whistle; but he could not help doing it when they told
him, and he felt something take hold of his legs again, and then give
him a jerk, which hoisted him on to its back, where he sat astride, and
wondered whether the thing was a pony; but it was not, for he presently
observed that it had a very slender neck, and then that it was covered
with feathers. It was a large bird, and he presently found that they
were rising towards the hole, which had become so very far off, and in
a few minutes she dashed through the hole, with Jack on her back and
all the fairies in his pockets.
It was so dark that he could see nothing, and he twined his arms round
the bird’s neck, to hold on, upon which this agreeable fowl told him
not to be afraid, and said she hoped he was comfortable.
“I should be more comfortable,” replied Jack, “if I knew how I could
get home again. I don’t wish to go home just yet, for I want to see
where we are flying to, but papa and mamma will be frightened if I
never do.”
“Oh no,” replied the albatross (for she was an albatross), “you need
not be at all afraid about that. When boys go to Fairyland, their
parents never are uneasy about them.”
“Really?” exclaimed Jack.
“Quite true,” replied the albatross.
“And so we are going to Fairyland?” exclaimed Jack; “how delightful!”
“Yes,” said the albatross; “the back way, mind; we are only going the
back way. You could go in two minutes by the usual route; but these
young fairies want to go before they are summoned, and therefore you
and I are taking them.” And she continued to fly on in the dark sky for
a very long time.
“They seem to be all fast asleep,” said Jack.
“Perhaps they will sleep till we come to the wonderful river,” replied
the albatross; and just then she flew with a great bump against
something that met her in the air.
“What craft is this that hangs out no light?” said a gruff voice.
“I might ask the same question of you,” answered the albatross sullenly.
“I’m only a poor Will-o’-the-wisp,” replied the voice, “and you know
very well that I have but a lantern to show.” Thereupon a lantern
became visible, and Jack saw by the light of it a man, who looked old
and tired, and he was so transparent that you could see through him,
lantern and all.
“I hope I have not hurt you, William,” said the albatross; “I will
light up immediately. Good night.”
“Good night,” answered the Will-o’-the-wisp. “I am going down as fast
as I can; the storm blew me up, and I am never easy excepting in my
native swamps.”
Jack might have taken more notice of Will, if the albatross had not
begun to light up. She did it in this way. First, one of her eyes began
to gleam with a beautiful green light, which cast its rays far and
near, and then, when it was as bright as a lamp, the other eye began to
shine, and the light of that eye was red. In short, she was lighted up
just like a vessel at sea.
[Illustration: THEREUPON A LANTERN BECAME VISIBLE.]
Jack was so happy that he hardly knew which to look at first, there
really were so many remarkable things.
“They snore,” said the albatross, “they are very fast asleep, and
before they wake I should like to talk to you a little.”
She meant that the fairies snored, and so they did, in Jack’s pockets.
“My name,” continued the albatross, “is Jenny. Do you think you shall
remember that? because when you are in Fairyland and want some one to
take you home again, and call ‘Jenny,’ I shall be able to come to you;
and I shall come with pleasure, for I like boys better than fairies.”
“Thank you,” said Jack. “Oh yes, I shall remember your name, it is such
a very easy one.”
“If it is in the night that you want me, just look up,” continued the
albatross, “and you will see a green and a red spark moving in the air;
you will then call Jenny, and I will come; but remember that I cannot
come unless you do call me.”
“Very well,” said Jack; but he was not attending, because there was so
much to be seen.
In the first place, all the stars excepting a few large ones were
gone, and they looked frightened; and as it got lighter, one after the
other seemed to give a little start in the blue sky and go out. And
then Jack looked down and saw, as he thought, a great country covered
with very jagged snow mountains with astonishingly sharp peaks. Here
and there he saw a very deep lake--at least he thought it was a lake;
but while he was admiring the mountains, there came an enormous crack
between two of the largest, and he saw the sun come rolling up among
them, and it seemed to be almost smothered.
“Why, those are clouds!” exclaimed Jack; “and O how rosy they have all
turned! I thought they were mountains.”
“Yes, they are clouds,” said the albatross; and then they turned gold
colour; and next they began to plunge and tumble, and every one of the
peaks put on a glittering crown; and next they broke themselves to
pieces, and began to drift away. In fact, Jack had been out all night,
and now it was morning.
[Illustration: He saw the sun come rolling up among them.]