When the Curtain opens, you again see the kitchen, but it looks a
good deal different, because the chairs that Grandmother and
Grandfather used to sit in have been moved out; so has the small table
on which Mother washed the dishes in the First Scene; and now in front
of the fire-place is the great big table that Mother Goose told you
about. The table cloth on it is so big that it hangs all the way down
to the floor. At one end of the table sits Father; then next to him,
back of the table facing you, is Grandfather, then Gertrude, then
Walter, then Grandmother and at the other end of the table, next to
Grandmother, Mother is seated. The children have on those
bright-colored paper caps that the house-fairies made. MOTHER, who
is helping the pudding, is the first to speak and this is what she
says:
There's the first plateful of our Christmas pudding, and that goes to
Gertrude, of course. She hands it to Grandmother, who passes it on to
Walter.
Um! says WALTER, holding it for a moment under his nose. That
smells good! He passes it to Gertrude.
GERTRUDE asks, Shall I wait till everybody else is served, before I
begin?
No, not today, says FATHER. Begin at once. We all want to know how
it tastes.
Gertrude tastes it. Oh, it is good, she says.
Mother meanwhile has helped another plateful, and passed it to
GRANDMOTHER, who says, Walter, here is yours. And she hands it to
him. He tastes it.
Is it good, Walter? asks GRANDFATHER.
WALTER with his mouth very full can only say, Um!
Pass this down to Father, says MOTHER, and she starts to hand
another plateful of pudding to Grandmother.
Oh, Mother, exclaims GERTRUDE, aren't you younger than Father?
Yes, just by two months, answers MOTHER, keeping the plateful of
pudding in her hand. You think I ought to be helped next? All right;
we'll keep strictly to the rules, and I'll set this aside for myself,
while I help the others. She helps another plateful. This is for you
James, she says to Father, and passes it along. And Grandmother,
she says, this is for you. She hands a plateful of pudding to
Grandmother.
Grandfather, here is yours last of all, because you are the oldest of
us, MOTHER says, and starts the last plateful of pudding on its way
to Grandfather.
Suddenly FATHER, who has been eating some of his pudding,
exclaims, Here's something new. You never put nuts in the plum
pudding before, Mary.
Nuts? says MOTHER, very much surprised, There aren't any nuts in
the pudding.
But, indeed there are, FATHER insists, I've just eaten one.
And so have I, adds GRANDMOTHER.
And here is another one, declares GRANDFATHER, and he holds it up
in his spoon. It's a hazel nut, he says, and puts it into his
mouth.
Why, I don't understand it all, exclaims MOTHER. I didn't put any
hazel nuts in the plum pudding. Who ever heard of such a thing!
Children, have you found any in yours?
Yes, says GERTRUDE.
I've had two, says WALTER.
Mother has been looking carefully at the pudding on her plate. I
declare, you're right, she says. Here's one in mine. She eats it.
They are very good nuts, too; but how they ever got into the pudding
is a mystery.
During this last speech the lid of the wood box has been pushed up,
showing the two brownies, sitting up in the box, and also the top of
the clothes basket, showing the fairies, looking out from the basket.
Walter happens to catch sight of the brownies in the wood box. He
starts up from his chair, and, pointing toward the wood box, cries,
There they are!
What? asks FATHER, looking in the direction to which Walter
points.
The brownies, cries WALTER. See! In the wood box.
I don't see anything, says FATHER, except that someone has left the
lid of the wood box open.
Oh, and the fairies, cries GERTRUDE, pointing toward the clothes
basket. There they are. I see them.
MOTHER turns around to look, and then says to Gertrude. There's
nothing there, my dear.
Oh, but there is, GERTRUDE declares. They are in the basket.
Everybody stands up. Gertrude and Walter come around from behind the
table, and look at the fairies and brownies, but they don't go very
close to them, because they are just a little bit scared. At the same
time, Father begins to act rather queerly, looking down at the floor,
and keeping himself up by holding onto the table. Now he goes down on
his hands and knees near the end of the table.
Why, James, exclaims MOTHER, what are you doing? How queerly you are
acting.
FATHER gets up again, as though by a great effort. I don't know what
is the matter, he says: But I have the funniest sort of feeling. It
seems as though I should just have to get down on the floor and crawl
under the table.
Well, that's queer, says MOTHER. Do you know, I begin to feel the
same way myself.
So do I, says GRANDMOTHER.
So do I, says GRANDFATHER.
It's perfectly absurd the way I seem to want to crawl under the table,
FATHER says, and his knees keep bending under him.
But you're surely not going to do it, cries MOTHER.
Oh, no FATHER answers, I'm not going to do it. But all the same
he goes down on his knees again.
But you are doing it, cries MOTHER.
Well, I can't help it, shouts FATHER. Here goes. Watch me come out
at the other end.
If he goes, I've got to follow, says MOTHER, and she gets down on
her hands and knees behind him.
So have I, says GRANDFATHER, and he kneels down behind Mother.
And I, says GRANDMOTHER, and she kneels behind Grandfather.
Then, close behind one another, they go under the table, and when
they come out at the other end, Father and Grandfather have turned
into little boys, and Mother and Grandmother have turned into little
girls. While this is happening the brownies and fairies come out of
the box and basket.
Oh, Jolly! cries WALTER. Is this you, grandfather? He takes hold of
hands with the little boy that Grandfather has turned into, and swings
him around in a circle.
Oh, mother, cries GERTRUDE to one of the little girls, hugging
her, how darling you are. Isn't this fun?
Let's all play some game together, proposes WALTER.
"London Bridge," shall we play that? GERTRUDE suggests. The others
all clap their hands; so she goes on. She says, Walter, you and I
will be the bridge. What shall we choose? They whisper together.
Then the game is played in the usual way. Each captive is offered a
choice between "plum pudding" (that is Gertrude's side) and "ice
cream" (that is Walter's side). At the very moment when the tug-of-war
is about to begin, the outside door opens, and in comes Santa Claus.
At once, they all leave their games, and gather around him.
Oh, Santa Claus, cries WALTER, have you come to play with us?
How can I play with you? answers SANTA CLAUS. I'm far too big, and
far, far too old. One of the fairies has gone to the table, and
gotten a plate of plum pudding, which she now offers to Santa Claus.
What's this? he asks. Plum pudding? Well, I never could resist that.
He begins to eat it. This surely is a first-class pudding. He takes
another spoonful. Why, what's this? A nut in the pudding? A
hazel-nut! He stops short, and holds the plate away from him. A
hazel nut! he exclaims again. I declare, I'd clean forgotten all
about that. And now I've gone and eaten one. Goodness! Is it going to
work, I wonder. He puts the plate down on the table. Yes, I feel it
coming. Yes, it's come. I've just got to crawl under that table. Get
out of the way there. I've got to do it. It's no use trying not to.
The children, the brownies, and the fairies are all delighted, and
laugh, and dance up and down, and clap their hands.
WALTER cries out, Go on, Santa. You'll make a jolly boy.
Down goes Santa Claus on his hands and knees, and crawls under the
table. When he comes out on the other end, he is a little roley poley
boy, smaller and fatter than any of the others, and dressed in white
with red trimmings. All the others join hands with him in a circle,
and they swing around gleefully.
Now for a game of "Follow my leader," shouts WALTER. I'll be leader;
come after me.
Off Walter starts around the room, the others following, first
Gertrude, then the brownies and the fairies, then the others, with
Santa Claus bringing up the rear. They go over the wood box, onto a
chair and down again, and at last Walter dives under the table, in the
opposite direction to that in which the magic change was made. The
children, the brownies, and the fairies go through without any change,
of course, but the other five all come out in their original form.
They stand up straightening their clothes, Mother and Grandmother
setting their hair to rights. Meantime, while the children are
occupied watching the transformations of their parents and
grandparents, the brownies and fairies go back into the box and
basket, and pull the lids down after them.
I'm all out of breath, exclaims FATHER, panting.
So am I, says GRANDMOTHER; but what fun it was.