The City Curious Part 5

But Smaly and Redy, instead of admiring these landscapes, soon discovered they were painted with delicious sweetstuffs such as they had seen in the jars and pots of the Confectioner.

So they licked off the landscapes.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER IV

Smaly and Redy are not well received: They are thought to be made of painted cardboard: How the Despoiler fell into the water and left a foot behind him: Mistigris sticks a fish-bone into the back of the Despoiler: Judgment is pa.s.sed on the two strangers: They will be banished at nightfall: The walls of the three gardens are discussed.

The two rulers of this country were the Chief Contractor and the Despoiler. On arriving at the town where the rulers lived, Redy and Smaly could hear a hundred bells ringing out crystal chimes. These bells were made of coloured sugar and were hung in campaniles of barley-sugar, whose domes were made of gilded crusts.

When the bells left off ringing, a beautiful song arose, and each person who sang it had a voice as sweet as that of the Short-Legged Man or of Papylick.

"We must have arrived for the midday prayer of the Wigs," said Smaly and Redy to themselves in their nuts.

Before very long Papylick and the Short-Legged Man arrived at the house where the Chief Contractor lived and went into the great kitchen.

"Well," said the Chief Contractor, coming forward to meet them, "what have you brought me?"

[Ill.u.s.tration: OPENING THE NUTS AND DISPLAYING THE TWO LITTLE PEOPLE]

"A mere nothing," replied Papylick, opening the nuts and displaying the two little people, who, jumping out, became their normal size once more.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LEADING BY THE HAND THE CHOCOLATE GRUB]

"They are two suet-eaters," said the Short-Legged Man apologetically, as he made Smaly and Redy sit down upon two charming seats made of painted wax.

There were more than a hundred of these seats round the enormous kitchen, each occupied by some noted Wig.

Smaly and Redy soon recognized the Crow, and the next moment they saw the Confectioner come in, apparently having quite got over his trouble and leading by the hand the Chocolate Grub who was the doorkeeper.

The Chief Contractor and the Despoiler gazed attentively at Smaly and his wife; but as at this moment dinner was brought in, the two little humans were forgotten in the graver interest of the banquet. The eating in this country was a serious affair attended with many rites.

The banquet began. This solemn feast took place every day. As soon as the guests had taken their seats, each picked up a little slate, which hung by the side of his chair, a slate made of chocolate framed in well-cooked pastry, and each began to write his menu upon his slate. No matter what he wrote, whether it were eggs or roast larks, or whatever it were, the thing at once appeared: the birds with their legs encased in cutlet frills, and the eggs running along on two little feet, and carrying a spoon and salt-cellar in either hand.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BIRDS WITH THEIR LEGS ENCASED IN CUTLET FRILLS]

Redy and Smaly could not help thinking that all this was rather alarming; they were not used to seeing slices of toast arrive running like big spiders.

Careering busily about the kitchen were little pigs made of marzipan.

They were gentle and pretty pigs, who smelt deliciously of aromatic herbs, and each had a knife and fork stuck in his back.

When each guest had cut as much marzipan as he wanted he replaced the knife and fork, and the little pig at once ran merrily on to the next guest without turning so much as one of its marzipan hairs.

As to the tarts, they arrived flying like sparrows or miniature aeroplanes.

Redy also was presented with a slate, and she copied upon it the signs which she saw the Chief Contractor make upon his. By this means she partook of plum tart, oranges, and marzipan, all of which she shared with Smaly, who was not so quick as she was at copying the writing of the next-door neighbour.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE EGGS RUNNING ALONG]

Certainly it was a most splendid feast; and as to the service, as one sees, it was conducted in a very novel fashion. Such was a banquet in this country, though on more ordinary occasions the Wigs had to go to their provisions instead of the provisions coming to them.

The feast over, the Wigs dipped their hands in finger-bowls, which consisted of the halves of melons scooped out and filled with rose-water. The Wigs all appeared very happy, their cheeks were flushed, their little amethyst-coloured eyes shone with satisfaction, the air was filled with a delicious scent of fruit.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THEY WERE GENTLE AND PRETTY PIGS]

"It seems to me there is an extraordinary smell of suet here," said the Chief Contractor, suddenly darting an unpleasant look at Smaly and his wife.

"For my part," said the Despoiler, whose whole person from his nose to his feet, which were flatter than pancakes, expressed extreme suspicion--"for my part, what I smell is painted and varnished cardboard." And he, too, fixed Smaly and Redy with his eyes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A MOST SPLENDID FEAST]

All the Wigs began to laugh, their large, amiable frogs' mouths expanded, and they crossed their fingers under their chins, which is in this country a great sign of mirth. They laughed because they all knew quite well that the Despoiler himself was only made of cardboard. He was certainly very well covered with jams and sweetmeats; but he was cardboard underneath for all that.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE DESPOILER]

There was a story that one day the Despoiler had found himself beside a pool which lay between his house and the great kitchen of the Chief Contractor. The Despoiler had wanted to capture a flying-fish made of red marzipan, which was feeding upon a laurel-tree beside the pool. He leaned forward too far towards the tree and fell into the water, which was none the less wet for being scented with orange flowers. The birds which lived at the bottom of the pool brought him up to the surface once more. He was saved; but a terrible thing had happened to him. Not one spot of jam remained upon his cardboard.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WHICH IS IN THIS COUNTRY A GREAT SIGN OF MIRTH]

He fled hastily.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HE FLED HASTILY]

He had left one of his feet behind him in the water, and the Crow, taking off his spectacles, fished it up. Two kindly Wigs ran after the Despoiler with his cardboard foot.

The Despoiler, although he was very clever, was also very vain, and pretended that it was not his foot at all; but only the sole of one of his shoes; but all the Wigs knew perfectly well that it was really his foot.

While the Wigs were still laughing at the expense of the Despoiler, Smaly saw Mistigris, a Wig who moved with an extremely cat-like tread, strike the Despoiler from behind with a long fish-bone, and transfix his insensible cardboard back.

The Chief Contractor, who saw what had happened, rattled the castanets which he wore on his left knee, and a young Stork dressed in the uniform of a fireman ran up behind the Despoiler, and by the aid of long pincers withdrew the fish-bone. This was evidently quite a usual occurrence.

The Chief Contractor picked up one of the masks that hung round his neck, a mask which was called "Dignity," and placed it over his face.

When he had worn this for a minute he let it swing like a monocle, and put in its place a mask called "Severity."

"Let every one take his place," he cried in a stern voice.