Jean de Boschère

“ Those Wigs whose feet stuck out too far drew them back, and those whose feet did not come out far enough advanced them until every one's toes touched the cord and made a straight line.
"You can roll the cord up," commanded the master; then he turned to Smaly. "Tell the truth," he demanded, "are you made of suet?"
At this moment Papylick and the Young Stork gave a cry of horror. They had discovered that Smaly and Redy had licked the painted landscapes off the insides of the nuts in which they had been transported. ”

“ When Smaly and Redy were sure that all was safe, they crept forward to the edge of the rock. Their two little heads appeared side by side before the astonished eyes of the three young girls, and since their beaks had disappeared for good and all, the two little people were certain they would make a good impression. And, indeed, the three young girls saw at once that these were the heads of human beings, real human beings, not creatures made of sugar and cake. ”

“ Wigs themselves would have melted away directly they passed the Frontier
And indeed the rain began to fall. The Soy powder mingling with the water had a magical effect, the effect that Smaly had hoped for; the whole country began to sprout, trees, houses, grass, walls, lawns, everything began to grow and grow, just as the sugar-cane prison had done when the Rats watered it with the liquid from the reservoir of Soy. ”

“ Smaly began to understand why it was that the Confectioner walked about on high pattens, and why the Rats wore boots. He saw that though all these people owed their pleasant life to Soy because it made everything grow without any trouble, yet they feared it, feared it even more than they feared the flies which used to come when they were asleep and eat the sugar of which their faces and hands were composed. ”

“ Slung all about him, the Kangaroo carried as many pots and pans as a travelling tinker. He was adorned as well by spoons of bamboo, and from his belt hung ebony-handled knives, while jam-jars and flagons, filled with preserves and essences, dangled [Pg 13] about him. The most tender mauves and translucent greens glowed through the glass of the flagons.
Kangaroo-Confectioner
Smaly studied the good-natured face of this personage, and asked him simply:
"Who are you?"
Then the Kangaroo-Confectioner said a surprising thing. He replied:
"I am the Architect." ”

“ Smaly and his wife Redy set forth in search of three little girls: They are bewitched so that their noses turn into beaks: Smaly eats the latch of a door and Redy eats the hinge: Redy's fingers weep tears: They meet with a Confectioner who resembles a Kangaroo. ”

“ Their vividly coloured clothes were composed of mosaics of caramel and jam, with insertions of fruit and cake. Each one wore on his head a hat made of preserved fruit or of a whole bun or little cake. Shoes seemed to be very much a matter of individual taste in this land, for every inhabitant wore a pair of a different colour, shoes so gay that the mere sight of them made one want to dance. There was one woman in particular who wore upon her head a cake in the form of a little tower, who had the most charming mauve shoes with red soles, upon which Redy felt her eyes always returning enviously. ”

“ Smaly and Redy joined hands and ran out of the door.
Directly they appeared in the square the Wigs seized hold of them and ran them into the kitchen once more, which by now had been built up again. Smaly and Redy began to hope that the evening was not far off, for they were becoming more and more anxious to see the three girls. They opened their mouths and began their little chant:
We wish to have three girls,
Fine, sweet——
But at this moment Redy noticed that the sun had not moved during all the hours of the siesta. ”

“ The kitchen was by now emptied of everything movable; the Wigs ran hither and thither carrying away every object that they could lift, as people move furniture when a neighbouring house is burning; only Smaly and Redy remained, stupefied before this moving forest which marched down upon them.
Carrying away every Object that they could lift
When it was almost on them they ran to one side, and there, where the sugar-canes were less thick, they could see into the heart of the forest, and they saw crouching within it a strange-looking man dressed in rags. ”

“ The Chief Contractor placed over his face the "Master-Mask," and held out his hand, which held one of the long bamboo spoons.
He announced in a solemn voice:
"We, the Chief Contractor and the Wigs, declare the fleet of our country to consist of forty ships, here drawn up in line, and the Triton is declared by us to be Admiral, Painter, Rope-maker, and Sugar-repairer. So be it."
"So be it, and long live the marzipan fleet," cried all the citizens, who had never seen the sea.
"Is there really no water anywhere?" asked Smaly a little indiscreetly. ”

“ With his nail, which looked exactly like a horn salt-spoon, the Confectioner scraped the inner side of the door just beside the latch, and Redy and Smaly saw the chocolate grow again as rapidly as he scraped it away. ”

“ He sucked it because a drop of [Pg 18] sweet preserve had fallen upon it from one of the Confectioner's pots.
"Has Redy got wings as well?" asked the Confectioner, thoughtfully taking a spoonful of the same preserve and offering it to Redy.
"No," said Smaly.
"Then she can't have a beak," replied the Confectioner triumphantly.
"Do you mean to say you don't see her beak or mine either?" asked Smaly in astonishment.
"Never in my life have I seen a beak upon any creature that had not wings as well," replied the Confectioner stolidly; "therefore it doesn't exist." ”

“ Smaly installs himself upon one of the Kangaroo's paws: The two little people see some of the inhabitants of this peculiar country: They meet some sugar horses, and they see also a fish which flies and some sponges which walk: The Wigs imagine that Smaly is made of suet: The ebony and crystal spectacles: The Mother of the Crow.
Smaly saw that there was no reason to be afraid of this strange creature so he crawled in through the grille of the gate and sat down upon one of the Confectioner's enormous paws. Redy made haste to follow him. ”

“ For weapon, in case of attack, Smaly carried a thin red stick.
For a long while they walked and walked. They crossed many countries which everybody knows. At last, however, they found themselves in a strange land, a land of which one hardly ever even hears—a land which was even odder than these two odd little people.
In this land both men and beasts lived upon nothing but sweetmeats and pastry.
In this land the sun shone longer than it does with us, because it often stopped for a while to rest during the course of the day. ”

“ There was a sad moment whilst Smaly and Redy thought of the little white house and the three bedrooms. Then they answered together:
"We'll make their gardens here."
"Come and talk to the Chief," said the Short-Legged Man.
But Redy was hungry and so tired she could not walk. The Crow, instead of helping, flew away. He hadn't really got to write anything in a diary, but he had to carry a girl called Fritilla to the tennis-ground, where a lot of young people were going to play tennis.
The Short-Legged Man
Fritilla was a pretty, fair girl with green eyes, whom the Crow had to look after. ”

“ 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.
The Wigs gathered round in a circle, all looking towards the door.
Mistigris
"You're making a mistake, old man," whispered the Despoiler familiarly. "The arrangement was that we were going to see a review of your soldiers." ”

“ Redy and Smaly watch the review of the troops: Smaly and the Mother of the Crow discourse about soldiers: The Chief Contractor distributes the food, and the Wigs pass through a curious little door: The Soy powder makes the provisions grow. ”

“ The sugar-canes were far more powerful than the pastry of which the house was composed.
The sugar-cane forest came closer, so close that Smaly and Redy perceived how amongst the base of the canes there was a multitude of Water-Rats who were busy watering the roots.
These Rats were all provided with large mackintoshes, which, however, they took off for greater freedom of movement while they were watering. They wore boots like those you see upon the men who clean out drains, and each Rat had upon its head a fireman's helmet similar to that worn by the Stork. ”

“ The Sugar-Cane Prison arrives: The Rats water it with Soy fluid to keep the canes growing as fast as the Prisoner breaks them down: The time for siesta draws on, and Smaly and Redy go into the house of the Historian. ”

“ The other personages who had arrived with the fleet were the White Dolphin with pink eyes, and a young but very despondent Syren, a black Sea-Dog, and a large Sea-Horse, which seemed almost mad; also an extremely curious fish, which brought its own food in a glass jar.
All these creatures had asked nothing better than to leave the sea, which had become unbearable [Pg 151] for them during the past few years because of the submarines. All of them were very happy at the chance of obtaining employment in a country as solid and sweet as that of the Wigs. ”

“ Except Smaly and Redy every one was sleeping in the house of the Historian. Outside in the sun-baked square the Chief Contractor, the Confectioner, Mistigris, the Young Stork, and the Crow slept also, heaped one upon the other in a casual manner, only the Despoiler, who was always afraid that some one would find out that he was only made of cardboard, never slept in public. He always retired to rest in a little room under the roof of his house. ”

“ Children were built of much fewer Slices of Cake than the Grown-ups
Here the Chief Contractor again made a very strong objection.
"It's important," he said, "that every year on their birthdays we should insert a slice of cake in these little girls so that they should grow tall enough to suit their age." [Pg 55]
In the somewhat embarrassed silence which followed, Smaly discovered why the Wigs had such short legs and such long bodies.
"Of course, that is it," he said to himself; "each year on their birthdays somebody adds another tart or slice of cake to them, and they grow taller." ”

“ They shall have more pudding than they like,
And a green, green——"
Here Redy stopped and said:
"... each a green garden."
The Chief Contractor replied, "Won't do."
The Crow added, "Because there aren't any."
"There are the three daughters of the Prisoner," said the Chief Contractor; "but they can't go out of the country."
"Look here," said the Mother of the Crow, who had just been brought in seated in her oyster-shell, "why shouldn't this man and his wife live just behind the wall of the country, then they will be able to look at the Prisoner's daughters." ”

“ He did not cry; but seemed rather to be transformed into a sort of damp and clinging fog. "Just as though he were 'dissolving in tears,'" thought Smaly. And he stared curiously at the Confectioner who every moment became more cloud-like than ever.
The Sponges
But suddenly the vague outline of a hand, which was all that remained [Pg 22] of him, struck the vaguer outline of his forehead as though an idea had come to him. Once more his face assumed a clarity as though it were made of mother-of-pearl, and he cried out:
"Reckybecky!" ”

“ These horses, however, were made of sugar, and very soon Redy and Smaly perceived that they were simply worn round the waists of the Wigs, whose two feet ran along the ground beneath the draperies where the four feet of the horses should have been.
These Horses, however, were made of Sugar
Smaly could not help thinking that to have a horse like that would be rather fine if you could not afford a real horse of your own; but Redy was occupied in admiring the fine costumes of the Wigs who owned the horses. ”

“ Smaly hid himself behind Redy, and Redy hid herself behind a large plant, which grew in one of the ornamental vases at the side of the Chief Contractor's throne.
Born with the Idea of One Day being a very Big Man
The man who came in had evidently been born with the idea of one day being a very big man. But he had been destined by his parents to become a great Healer, and as soon as he had discovered this it occurred to him that it would be better to be merely of medium height, so that he did not have to make his back ache bending over the beds of sick people. ”

“ His eyes stared straight [Pg 78] in front of him, and he seemed to be laughing to himself.
"He is a madman," said Redy.
"They have driven him mad," replied Smaly in a low voice.
Smaly and Redy joined hands. "We ought to save him," they said together.
The Prisoner never ceased to break the sugar-canes, and fresh canes sprang up around him also without a pause.
Fish that had wings and paws flew above the forest, brushing the heads of the canes with their ringed noses. Whenever they did this the sugar-canes seemed to shrivel up and vanish. ”