Toddy

“ Her white soft hand is so comforting as it lies on the Major's on the chair-arm that he is fain to enjoy it a little, however reproachful the clock-face may be looking. You can pretend your toddy is too hot, almost any length of time, as long as no one else touches the tumbler ”

“ Every man has a fad. One will tell you he sees nothing in billiards or pool or golf or tennis, but will grow enthusiastic over the scientific possibilities of mumble-peg; you agree with him, only you substitute "skittles" for "mumble-peg."
Old Sanders' fad was mixing toddies and punches.
"The nectar of the gods pales into nothingness when compared with a toddy such as I make," said he. "Ambrosia may have been all right for the degenerates of the old Grecian and Roman days, but an American gentleman demands a toddy—a hot toddy." ”

“ The screen door happened to be unfastened and Toddy forced it open without mistress noticing it. So swiftly did he dart upon the flower box, that he nearly toppled over, and poor Rena just barely escaped his claws.
As soon as Rena reached a safe distance in the maple tree, she turned to Toddy and gave him a dreadful scolding. “You ugly cat,” said she, “aren’t you ashamed to think of robbing my poor little babies of their mother? You are more cruel [147] than the horrid huntermen who shoot poor birds with their guns; because they wouldn’t think of coming in babytime.” ”

“ Segidi.—The Segidis are a Telugu caste of toddy sellers and distillers of arrack, who are found mainly in Ganjam and Vizagapatam.
For the purposes of the Madras Abkāri Act, toddy means fermented or unfermented juice drawn from a cocoanut, palmyra, date, or any other kind of palm-tree. It is laid down, in the Madras Excise Manual, that “unfermented toddy is not subject to any taxation, but it must be drawn in pots freshly coated internally with lime. ”

“ The Gamallas say that they were created to draw toddy by the sage Kavundinya, and that they belong to the Gaundla varnam (caste) . I am informed that a Purānam, called Gamandla or Gamudi Purānam, has been created. In the social scale, the toddy-drawers appear to occupy a higher position in the Telugu than in the Tamil country, and they are sometimes said to be Telagas or Balijas, who have adopted toddy-drawing as a profession. The more prosperous members of the community are toddy and arrack (liquor) shop-keepers, and the poorer members extract toddy from the palm-trees. ”

“ Speckle, however, was a bird of spirit, and he used to peck at Tip-Top; so they would sometimes have a regular sparring-match across poor Brown-Eyes, who was a meek, tender little fellow, and would sit winking and blinking in fear while his big brothers quarrelled. As to Toddy and Singer, they turned out to be sister birds, and showed quite a feminine talent for chattering; they used to scold their badly behaving brothers in a way that made the nest quite lively. ”

“ Nor will it be revisited, so that sitting over a “kill” which has fallen north and south, in the hope of getting a shot at the returning tiger or leopard, is a useless proceeding. The Billava toddy-drawers believe that, if the spathe of the palm tree is beaten with the bone of a buffalo which has been killed by a tiger, the yield of toddy will, if the bone has not touched the ground, be greater than if an ordinary bone is used. ”

“ They climb up and down with their hands and arms, using only the grummet on the feet. The Tiyan toddy-tapper’s equipment consists of a short-handled hatchet, about seven inches square, of thin iron, sheathed in a wooden case, and fastened to a waist-belt composed of several strings of coir yarn, to which is hung a small pot of gummy substance obtained by bruising the leaves of the aichil plant. A vessel holding a couple of gallons, made out of the spathe of the areca palm, is used for bringing down the toddy. ”

“ Several young people at once abandoned the use of toddy, egg-nog and similar drinks. The temperance text-book and temperance charts have deepened the convictions and the gracious wave of religious interest carried some wayward hearts up to the Rock that is higher than we. ”

“ There is still a species of flapdragon in the west, among the peasantry, by means of a cup of ale or cyder with a lighted candle standing in it: the difficulty being for a man to drink the liquor, without having his face singed, while his companions are singing some doggrel verses about Tom Toddy. ”

“ The business of toddy -tapping involves expert climbing, while carrying a considerable paraphernalia, with no adventitious aid other than can be got out of a soft grummet of coir to keep the feet near together, while the hands, with the arms extended, grasp the palm tree. The profession is rarely adopted before the age of eighteen, but I have seen a man who said he began when he was twelve years old. It is very hard work. A tapper can work about fifteen trees, each of which he has to climb three times a day. ”

“ Didn't ye never see brown leaves a-ridin' on the wind? Well,' Cap'n Eb he says, 'she came on the wind,' and I'm sure it was strong enough to fetch her. But Cack he got her down into the warm corner, and he poured her out a mug o' hot toddy, and give her: but ye see her bein' there sort o' stopped the conversation; for she sot there a-rockin' back'ards and for'ards, a-sippin her toddy, and a-mutterin', and lookin' up chimbley. ”

“ Then he said—
"Nicomar, thou art cleverer than I thought."
At which words hearts that had stood still from fear beat once more.
"The sea exists," said his Majesty, after a pause, looking round on his Court, "as it existed before we were, as it will exist when we have all passed away and our names have been forgotten."
UNWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, CHILWORTH AND LONDON.
Footnotes:
[1] Indian money-lender.
[2] "Toddy" is composed of the juice of palms, and sold in those shops when fermented.
[3] "Rahan," i.e., one possessed of supernatural powers. ”

“ But t’wa’n’t so with brother James Todd and sister Clarissa. ‘Ducks’ it was in the advertisin’, and nothin’ but ducks they wanted. Clarissa, she commenced to hint middlin’ p’inted concernin’ fraud.
“Fin’lly we lost patience, and Peter T., he said they’d got to be quieted somehow, or he’d do some shootin’ on his own hook; said too much Toddy was givin’ him the ‘D.T.’s.’ Then I suggested takin’ ’em down the beach somewheres on the chance of seein’ a stray coot or loon or somethin’—anything that could be shot at. ”

“ To watch for Todd's returning face,
Or wait until the voice so dear
Shall fall like music on his ear.
Unmoved by other sight or sound
He lies as if in thought profound.
Call him, he seems both deaf and dumb
Unless you say: "Ho! Orrin's come!"
When quick, like one from sleep, he springs,
And flies, as swift as bird on wings,
To meet his master and his friend,—
Then Tuffy's mourning has an end. ”

“ Todd was an ardent lover of herbs, both wild and tame, and the sea-breezes blew into the low end-window of the house laden with not only sweet-brier and sweet-mary, but balm and sage and borage and mint, wormwood and southernwood. If Mrs. Todd had occasion to step into the far corner of her herb plot, she trod heavily upon thyme, and made its fragrant presence known with all the rest. Being a very large person, her full skirts brushed and bent almost every slender stalk that her feet missed. ”

“ When he reached Mrs Ragg's house, and made his appearance abruptly before that lady, who seemed somehow or another always to be ironing and always to drop the iron when anyone came in very near their toes, he said,-
'Where did your son Tobias go after he left you tonight?'
'Lor! Mr Todd, is it you? you are as good as a conjurer, sir, for he was here; but bless you, sir, I know no more where he is gone to than the man in the moon. ”

“ Tody was the funniest and happiest of all, and he made all the children laugh and shout and clap their hands. Even Johnny Cricket, the lame boy, who had come a long way to see the circus, smiled.
Marmaduke and Wienerwurst were so excited that they forgot all about Jehosophat and Hepzebiah and the Toyman.
After a while Tody turned a somersault, a cartwheel, and a flipflop, and landed right near their seat.
"How would you like to ride on an elephant?" he whispered in Marmaduke's ear. ”

“ Tody threw back his head at that and laughed way out loud.
"Sure I do," said he. "A heap of troubles, but I just think of all the little girls and boys like you that I've got to make happy. Then I try hard to make 'em laugh and—"
"An' what?"
"Why all my troubles fly away, quick as a wink," laughed Tody. "Yes, just as quick as I do this." And quicker than a wink he turned a somersault. He turned a whole lot of somersaults and then he took Marmaduke on his shoulder and galloped around the tent and they had a glorious time. ”

“ If one thing more than another was calculated to delight such a man as Todd, it certainly was to perceive what a dreadful effect his presence had upon Tobias, who remained for about a minute and a half in this state before he ventured upon uttering a shriek, which, however, when it did come, almost frightened Todd himself. It was one of those cries which can only come from a heart in its utmost agony—a cry which might have heralded the spirit to another world, and proclaimed, as it very nearly did the destruction of the intellect for ever. ”

“ This exhortation was quite needless, for Tobias could not have uttered a word, had he been ever so much inclined to do so; the barber held his throat with such an iron clutch, as if it had been in a vice.
'Villain,' growled Todd, 'villain, so this is the way in which you have dared to disregard my injunctions. But no matter, no matter! you shall have plenty of leisure to reflect upon what you have done for yourself. Fool to think that you could cope with me, Sweeney Todd. ”

“ I starts light with Rob only; I comes to a branch; I takes on what I finds there; and a whole train of ideas gets coupled on to him, afore I knows where I am, or where they comes from. What a Junction a man's thoughts is,' said Mr Toodle, 'to-be-sure!'
This profound reflection Mr Toodle washed down with a pint mug of tea, and proceeded to solidify with a great weight of bread and butter; charging his young daughters meanwhile, to keep plenty of hot water in the pot, as he was uncommon dry, and should take the indefinite quantity of 'a sight of mugs,' before his thirst was appeased. ”

“ Very sure he is one angel, Mr. Teddy! And he go up in the heavens with the wings! Oh little foolish godfather! Understand you not he is one aviator? And you must not be in anger when he give me the good things to eat. Perhaps in Amerique the cold cream is bad, but in Paris it make you not sick, on the contrary. I show not your letter to Mr. Teddy because you say for two cents you twist his nose and his eyes and it is not very genteel, dear godfather. When you think wickedness the bon Dieu punish you. ”

“ Always conspicuous from its bright grass-green coat and crimson-velvet gorget, it is still a very tame bird; yet this seems rather the tameness of indifference than of confidence; it will allow a person to approach very near, and, if disturbed, alight on another twig a few yards distant . . . . commonly it is seen sitting patiently on a twig, with the head drawn in, the beak pointing upwards, the loose plumage puffed out, when it appears much larger than it is.
Tody (Todus viridis) . ”

“ He was the fattest-furred and finest-haired of all the Tod family, and the one about whom they invented the prettiest stories; he was, in fact, the model, the out-of-the-way-amiable pattern Tod. They could not believe at first that he really was gone. They hunted for him in every hole and corner of their nursery and bed-room; they looked for him all along the passages; they tossed all the other Tods out of the basket to find him, as if they really were—even in their eyes—nothing but rabbits’ tails ”

“ Good Master Todd could not deny
The pleading of poor Tuffy's eye,
And said: "Jump in and take a seat,
And you shall have a royal treat;
[pg 08] For though we go by mountain road
And do not want a heavy load,
Our sprightly horses strong and true
Will never mind a mite like you." ”

“ He was always in a whirlwind or a calm, and a peaceable, contented, easy-going man Mr Toodle was in either state, who seemed to have made over all his own inheritance of fuming and fretting to the engines with which he was connected, which panted, and gasped, and chafed, and wore themselves out, in a most unsparing manner, while Mr Toodle led a mild and equable life. ”

“ Within her walls we shook the dust of a work-a-day world from our feet, and forgot its turmoil in the music of her bells, which tell the passing hours [46] with the loving persistence of those grown old in labour.
To many people Todi is a mere horizon of towers on the crest of a distant hill. To me she is the dwelling-place of happiness. And because I am a little jealous for Todi, and would have you love her as I loved her, having watched her grow in beauty as the miles decreased between us, I beg your patience while we thread the plain between Perugia and Tuder of the Umbrians. ”

“ Which proved a balm to soothe Todd's soul
As he moved onward to his goal.
The livelong day through street and lane
He sought his dog, but sought in vain;
From house to house he asked each man,
"Where's Tuff? Pray tell me if you can." ”

“ Fine weather, sir, for the season. Now, pussy, my dear, get out of the way of the hot water." Todd was addressing an imaginary cat. "Are you fond of animals, sir? Lord bless me, I'm fond of all the world. God made us all, sir, from a creeping beetle to a beef-eater."
"Very likely," said Big Ben, as he seated himself in the barber's chair.
"And so," added Todd, as he mixed up a lather, and made the most horrible faces, "we ought to love each other in this world of care. How is your friend, sir, who was so kind as to recommend my shop?" ”