“And as he looked, the little black holes turned into bright black eyes; the bits of stems were changed to legs and arms and feet and sprawling little bodies, that rolled and twisted, and skipped and jumped, and twinkled and whirled in endless reels and jigs; in short, he saw a whole village of jolly little fairy folk at their revels.
“The King bought most of the ship’s cargo, and invited the Captain to dinner, which was no sooner served than out rushed a great number of rats and mice, and ate it up. “Oh!” said the Captain, “we’ll soon stop this!” and proceeded to the ship to fetch Pussy, while another dinner was being prepared. When the second meal was served, Pussy soon put an end to the troublesome visitors. This so pleased the King, that he sent Dick a chest of gold and jewels in exchange for the cat.
. . . Dick had to sleep in the garret, which was overrun with rats and mice; so, one day, as he was going on an errand for his young mistress he met a girl with a cat under her arm, and he gave her a penny for it.
All the servants were one day called into the office of the Merchant, and were told their master was going to send a ship out to the East, and that he would allow each to have a venture therein.
Each servant sent something, but poor Dick had only a cat, which was sent.
When the vessel had been some time out at sea, the Captain steered her on to the coast of Barbary.
The King bought most of the ship’s cargo, and invited the Captain to dinner, which was no sooner served than out rushed a great number of rats and mice, and ate it up. “Oh!” said the Captain, “we’ll soon stop this!” and proceeded to the ship to fetch Pussy, while another dinner was being prepared. When the second meal was served, Pussy soon put an end to the troublesome visitors. This so pleased the King, that he sent Dick a chest of gold and jewels in exchange for the cat.
From the story “Dick Whittington.”
Dot’s Picture Book
Illustrations by: F. M. Barton, E. Heatly, N. Westrup & S. Carter.
. . . Then the funny little lady went to the funny little cupboard and brought out some funny little cups and funny little saucers and a funny little tea-pot. Then she set to work and made funny tea.
The Funny Little Book.
Story and Illustrations by Johnny Gruelle.
P. F. Volland Company: New York, Chicago and Toronto. 1918.
“It looked so intolerably absurd to see hogs on cushioned thrones.” Circe’s Palace Tanglewood Tales Nathaniel Hawthorne Illustrated By: Milo Winter Rand McNally & Company: Chicago & New York. 1913
Whatever little fault they might find with the dishes, they sat at dinner a prodigiously long while; and it would really have made you ashamed to see how they swilled down the liquor and gobbled up the food. They sat on golden thrones, to be sure; but they behaved like pigs in a sty; and, if they had had their wits about them, they might have guessed that this was the opinion of their beautiful hostess and her maidens. It brings a blush to my face to rekcon up, in my own mind, what mountains of meat and pudding, and what gallons of wine, these two and twenty guzzlers and gormandizers ate and drank. They forgot all about their homes, and their wives and children, and all about Ulysses, and everything else, except this banquet, at which they wanted to keep feasting forever. But at length they began to give over, from mere incapacity to hold any more.
“That last bit of fat is too much for me,” said one.
“And I have not room for another morsel,” said his next neighbor, heaving a sigh. “What a pity! My appetite is as sharp as ever.”
In short, they all left off eating, and leaned back on their thrones, with such a stupid and helpless aspect as made them ridiculous to behold. When their hostess saw this, she laughed aloud; so did her four damsels; so did the two and twenty serving men that bore dishes, and their two and twenty fellows who poured out the wine. And the louder they laughed, the more stupid and helpless did the two and twenty gormandizers look. Then the beautiful woman took her stand in the middle of the saloon, and stretching out a slender rod (it had been all the while in her hand, although they never noticed it till this moment), she turned it from one guest to another, until each had felt it pointed at himself. Beautiful as her face was, and though there was a smile on it, it looked just as wicked and mischievous as the ugliest serpent that ever was seen; and fat-witted as the voyagers had made themselves, they began to suspect that they had fallen into the power of an evil-minded enchantress.
“Wretches,” cried she, “you have abused a lady’s hospitality; and in this princely saloon your behavior has been suited to a hog-pen. You are already swine in everything but human form, which you disgrace, and which I myself should be ashamed to keep a moment longer, were you to share it with me. But it will require only the slightest exercise of magic to make the exterior conform to the hoggish disposition. Assume your proper shapes, gormandizers, and be gone to the sty!”
Uttering these last words, she waved her wand; and stamping her foot imperiously, each of the guests was struck aghast at beholding, instead of his comrades in human shape, one and twenty hogs sitting on the same number of golden thrones. Each man (as he still supposed himself to be) essayed to give a cry of surprise, but found that he could merely grunt, and that, in a word, he was just such another beast as his companions. It looked so intolerably absurd to see hogs on cushioned thrones, that they made haste to wallow down upon all fours, like other swine. They tried to groan and beg for mercy, but forthwith emitted the most awful grunting and squealing that ever came out of swinish throats. They would have wrung their hands in despair, but, attempting to do so, grew all the more desperate for seeing themselves squatted on their hams, and pawing the air with their fore trotters. Dear me! What pendulous ears they had! What little red eyes, half buried in fat! And what long snouts instead of Grecian noses!
But brutes as they certainly were, they yet had enough human nature in them to be shocked at their own hideousness; and still intending to groan, they uttered a viler grunt and squeal than before. So harsh and ear-piercing it was, that you would have fancied a butcher was sticking his knife into each of their throats, or, at the very least, that somebody was pulling every hog by his funny little twist of a tail.
“Be gone to your sty!” cried the enchantress, giving them some smart stokes with her wand . . .
Elephant's Picture Book 