Gran

“ To change the subject he asked, "Did you find Gran rather overpowering? I'm afraid I scarcely prepared you for her. But she can't be explained. She's got to be seen to be credible. The uncles are nice old boys." ”

“ She said slowly, in a husky whisper, "Now I lay me," as Gran had taught her. She had never in her life made a personal appeal to the Deity, but the intimacy of the old man downstairs gave her assurance. Surely if He would listen to a cruel old man with whiskers He would lend an ear to a nice-tempered, decent young girl like her. Of course she knew He was partial to men, and to whiskers, too. ”

“ Graff—grab, grabs, grabbed, grabbing; grasp, seize, seized. Gramma—grandmother. (See “grumma”) . Gran’—grand—grandchild, grandson, or anyone in such relationships of “grand”. Gran’maamy—grandmother. Granny—grandmother, but used for any old Negro woman, whether related or not. Grano—guano, phosphate, commercial fertilizers. Gran’puh—grandfather. (See “grumpa,” “grumpuh”) . ’Gree—agree, agrees, agreed, agreeing. ’Greement—agreement, agreements. Greese— (n. and v.) grease: “greese ’e mout’,” to feed with fatness, as with bacon. ”

“ Now I was the last of the Grangers and, as things went, was quite the best known of all of them. They had grown poor in their generation; they bade fair to sink, even as, it seemed, I bade fair to rise, and I had come back to the old places on the arm of one of the great ones of the earth. ”

“ Your eyes discern not the widening dawn, nor your ears catch the rising gales. But live on, Granny, till I come back, and then perhaps you will own The dear old past is an empty nest, and the present the brood that is flown. ”

“ You ought to arrest him for laughing like that! Suppose the King—
Gran. That is the King! (The KING goes on laughing. FLINK looks from him to the others, and from the others to him.)
The King. This is too much for me! (Sits down. FLINK rushes out.)
Koll. That was very bad of you.
The King. I know it was; but forgive me! I couldn't help it! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Koll. For all his queer ways, he is too good a fellow to be made a fool of.
The King. Yes, scold me; I deserve it. But, all the same—ha, ha, ha, ha!
Gran. Hush!—he is coming back. (The KING gets up as FLINK comes in again.) ”

“ Have they got any ear-marks that you know ’em by, gran’daddy?”
“No they ain’t Grover Cleveland; they ain’t none of ’em branded that-a-way.”
“What makes ’em diff’rent, gran’daddy?”
“It’s the way they b’lieve, gran’son. The Methdises they b’lieve in free grace and sprinklin’, and the Baptises they b’lieve in sousin’, and the Presaterians—they’re right mean, they are—they b’lieve in ’lection.” ”

“ But as Granny climbed in, Grannyfather took him from the running board of the car, and held him in his arms, while he watched the car disappear down the road among the trees and bushes.
“Now Ginkle, you must be a good boy; Granny is going away all day, and you must take good care of Grannyfather.” ”

“ Grandmother and the children knelt around the table and prayed as long as the candles burned. Grandmother ended the prayer with the words: "Let the Eternal Light shine for them, and may their souls rest in peace!" ”

“ Dear Granny, who has made toil heroic, and old age lovely, and out of whose simple, every-day existence have blossomed the roses that still render this old world bright and glorious,—Love, Labor, Faith! ”

“ Rita came close to me and laid her head lightly on my shoulder.
"Don't be cross at grand-dad, George. He's a mighty good grand-dad. There ain't a better anywhere. In everything, but speaking to grandmother, he's a good grand-dad." ”

“ And Grannie's needles click no more, the ball of yarn is done,
And she's asleep outside the door where shines the merry sun.
One night while Grannie slept, I dreamed he came across the moor,
And stood, so handsome, brown and tall, beside the open door:
I thought I turned to pick a rose that by the sill had blown,
(He liked a rose) and when I looked, O shell, I was alone!
Across the moor there dwells a wife; she spaed my fortune true,
And said I'd plight my troth with one who ware a jacket blue ”

“ Old people enjoined the young never to forget this day and this drink, and a grandmother sprinkled her grandchildren's brows at the edge of the spring with water to secure for them divine protection throughout their future lives. ”

“ He'd hate it."
"'Sir Evelyn,'" said Beth, writing as she spoke, "'who between ourselves——' I mean to say 'entre nous is something of a grand seigneur.'"
"I know I'll be petrified with terror," said Mary. "A grand seigneur in a moated grange." ”

“ My grandfather, a descendant of the French nobility whose family had ridden the tumbrils of the Revolution, tended her fragile body and spirit with the same loving care given rare, brief-blooming flowers. ”

“ Promise me that you will, dear Grannie, for she will be sad enough and lonely enough, I promise you, this poor mother, and nothing will help her so much in her desolation as to talk with you of those dear absent ones, who well she knows are almost as precious to you as they can be to herself. ”

“ Granther knew not how; nor does Denewulf, nor Adiva; nor any of the gentles. In truth, none I have ever known, save thee, have known how. Why should they? There was no need. Granther said that it was only for priests or monks. The gleemen need it not for singing or the harp. The ceorl needs it neither for ploughing, or for sowing, or for tending his herds. And how would it help the gentle in hunting or any of his pastimes? Weaving and embroidery for women, sports and war for men. ”

“ Ah me, old Granny's legs are full of water, and aches and pains in every limb; a horrid witch they call her, ay—and a thieving woman too! But there must be some of both when an old worn woman has to feed two mouths; and you may be glad that Granny's the witch she is. None but she [Pg 55] cares for you—and lazy, no folks shall ever call her that. ”

“ Amid this preponderance of female society, my friend, Grandpa, shone with an ardent though faintly tolerated light, giving to the lively flow of the discourse, an occasional salty and comprehensive flavor, which dear Grandma Keeler held herself ever in calm and religious readiness to restrain. ”

“ Granny is a very old lady now, and my hair is becoming quite white. As for the little beggar himself, the ambition of his childhood is fulfilled, and he is one of the Queen's [Pg 282] soldiers, having just passed into Sandhurst, a fact in which Granny takes an overwhelming pride. ”

“ He had reached the door, when by a weak gesture she called him back again.
"If—if you should meet anybody—I'm expecting Granny all the time—I'm sure she wouldn't leave me altogether like this—you will come back all the same, won't you?" ”

“ Like a child who, weary with chasing the shadows, nestles down to rest in his mother's arms, so old Grandfather Hsü turned from his weary search and vain strivings after peace, and pillowed his head on the loving breast of his Saviour, and there his heart found rest. ”

“ If you want granny, granny's not too old to travel; and if you don't want her, why she can look after the cottage, and have an English home ready for you whenever you turn back to the old country."
"Of course we shall need you, granny," John Huxford said, with a cheery laugh. "Fancy leaving granny behind! That would never do, Mary! ”

“ The words hold good of their grandsons—the men leaner and longer, hardier and keener than you find them in Lucca or Siena; and the women carry their heads high, and when they smile at you (as they will) you think the sun must be shining. ”

“ Granny Marble, of The World, to the extreme left of the picture, clenches her fists over the pungent suds, and looks fight at Granny Jones of The Times. The beaming phiz of Granny Greeley of The Tribune looms up between the two, like the sun in a fog. But the real Sun in a fog is to be seen to the extreme right. There you behold Granny Dana of The Sun, shaking her brawny bunch of fives in the face of Granny Young of The Standard, whose manner of wringing out the linen, you will observe, is up to the highest Standard of that branch of art. ”

“ In years to come, say about the beginning of the nineteenth century, if I live so long, I shall say to my grandchildren, who will then be about eighteen or nineteen, and as beautiful as the day, ‘My dears,’ I shall say, ‘your grandmother, though you will find it difficult to believe, was not always toothless, nor did her hands always shake, nor were her cheeks wrinkled, nor were her chin and nose close together. ”

“ Too high for beauty, I think, but I don't dare say so. My aunts think perhaps there are more wonderfully beautiful places than the Grange, but they have never seen them,—except the great show places, of course. ”

“ Gray, I have come to tell you that you will never again be troubled by grandpa or Rosa. Grandpa is in my home, and the physician says that he can live but a few hours longer. He has had a raging fever, but that has left now; he is entirely rational and wishes to see you before the Master calls. ”

“ Four, five, six,—sure, I must be more sparing of my pieces,—but bless the sweet Ellen, she can't eat any, and I'm not needing any myself,—but Grandad, and Granny, they must have a bit;—seven, eight, nine,—it's a trifle small, to be sure, but enough for a taste for the darlings. If Granny hadn't heard the boy, what a fine surprise I'd have for her; but she'll be wanting to know what the likes of me is getting for Christmas. She's that curious, she sleeps with her other eye open just to be seeing what she can hear. ”

“ At her side sits a young man, large and powerful: he reaches her the rose, and she smiles—grandmother does not smile so now! oh yes, look now!—--But he has vanished: many thoughts, many forms sweep past—the beautiful young man is gone, the rose lies in the hymn book, and grandmother sits there again as an old woman, and looks upon the faded rose which lies in the book. ”

“ You were quite right in saying that I had spoilt the Grange for them, or I'd have looked after them there. They shall stay here, dear Edmund. The old place will be more like it has always been with them in it, and as I like it to be, than with us living in it. I'm committed to another sort of life now, and it's too late to go back. But we shall be down here often, in the old way. They'll have us to depend upon, in whatever they can't do for themselves. ”

“ The girl promised to comply; and the woman shortly after came and informed her of what the king had said at the hunt. The grandmother then went to the king to tell him. But, as his majesty required yet more proofs of the maiden's extraordinary cleverness, the granny told him that her daughter was so quick at her work, that she could wind in half-an-hour a whole skein of thread. When the girl heard of this she began to weep, because she knew she was not able to do so. ”

“ I will bring you some of the water, grandmother."
"I take your word for it. And now, my dear son, go towards the sunset; after a year's journeying you will arrive at the Fox's mountain; then ask the way to the Dragon's kingdom." ”

“ Why, Granny, ’tis Dad’s wedding day to-morrow, and ’tis a white frock with lace to it as I’m going to wear, and beads what Miss Sims gived me, and the shoes what was new except for being worn to church three times. Shall I fetch them all and show to you, Granny?
Jane. Yes, run along and get them, Dorry; very likely ’twill give her thoughts a turn, looking at the things, seeing as she be in one of her nasty moods to-day when you can’t get a word what isn’t foolishness out of her. ”

“ It's my old home, boy, where your grandfer was.
"'And now you won't learn farming; you don't care.
The old home's nought to you. I've tried to teach you;
I've begged Almighty God, boy, all I dare,
To use His hand if word of mine won't reach you.
Boy, for your granfer's sake I do beseech you,
Don't let the Spital pass to strangers. ”

“ Grandfather and Grandmother, plain old people—like Marise's old Cousin Hetty perhaps—grown as much alike as an old brother and sister, who still went off blue-berrying on the mountain together every summer. ”

“ They are old fairy-tales gathered together, some from one country, and some from another. They are old, old, old. As old as the hills or the human race,—as old as truth itself. Long ago, even so long ago as when your grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother was a little rosy-cheeked girl, and your grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather was a noisy shouting little boy, these stories were old. ”

“ Sometimes—very often—a little girl comes down the path to the brown house, and sitting down close by grannie, on that cricket that you see there now, takes the good book and reads the blessed words to her, till the tears trickle down grannie's wrinkled face, and laying her trembling hand on the little girl's head, she says, "God bless thee, my child." ”

“ Granny, in her clean cap, white apron, and neat gown, sitting in a well-scrubbed room, reading the Bible with the help of a pair of horn spectacles, by the side of a not depressingly low fire, is all the idea of poverty with which many a high-born lady has any acquaintance. ”

“ In the fall when the women come to rake up leaves and moss, and the poor people come to collect sticks for fuel, I am always about and swear till the trees tremble; but should I half kill some old granny when she breaks off a few stouter limbs! Your Grace will not come to poverty for that, and the poor creature is helped and blesses you a thousand times. ”

“ And though I become from more to more impatient to meet thee, and to see with my proper eyes the grandson of my adored sister, I am happy, nevertheless, to force myself to wait for an end so precious. That thou mayst become a gentleman well-instructed and accomplished, it is my sincere desire ”

“ King and patriarch, in the midst, sitteth the true-hearted farmer.
At his side, the wife with her needle, still quietly regardeth the children.
Sheltered in her corner-nook, in the arm-chair, the post of honor,
Calm with the beauty of age, is the venerable grandmother.
Clustering around her, watching the stocking that she knits, are the little ones,
Loving the stories that she tells of the days when she was a maiden,
Stories ever mix'd with lessons of a reverent piety. ”