The Phoenix And The Carpet, Chapter Seven

The children arrive home to an empty house - which turns out to be just as well, as the carpet brings unexpected and not entirely welcome guests from its native land.
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Transcript

Hello there, It's Mandy here again. Welcome back to the rather wonderful world of the Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbitt. Tonight we're going to be reading chapter seven which is called Muse from Persia and yes you did hear that right. But before I start please feel free to go ahead and make yourself really comfortable on whatever surface you happen to be sitting or lying on. That's it and I'll begin. When you hear that the four children found themselves at Waterloo station quite untaken care of and with no one to meet them it may make you think that their parents were neither nor careful. But the fact is mother arranged with Aunt Emma that she was to meet the children at Waterloo when they went back from their Christmas holiday at Lindhurst. The train was fixed but not the day. Then mother wrote to Aunt Emma giving her careful instructions about the day and the hour and about luggage and cabs and things and gave the letter to Robert to post. But Robert met some dogs and instantly forgot all about posting Aunt Emma's letter and never thought of it again until he and the others had wandered three times up and down the platform at Waterloo which makes six in all and had bumped against old gentlemen stared in the faces of ladies and been shoved by people in a hurry and by or leaved by porters with trucks and were quite quite sure that Aunt Emma was not there. Then suddenly the truth of what he had forgotten to do came home to Robert and he said oh crikey and let a porter with a gladstone bag in each hand and a bundle of umbrellas under one arm blunder heavily into him. The heavier bag smote him at the knee and he staggered but said nothing. When the others understood what was the matter I think they told Robert what they thought of him. So a four-wheeled cab man was called. His cab was one of the old-fashioned kind with straw in the bottom and he was asked by Anthea to drive them very carefully to their address. This he did and the price he asked for doing so was exactly the value of the gold coin Grandpapa had given Cyril for Christmas. This cast a gloom but Cyril would never have stooped to argue about a cab fare for fear the cabman should think he was not accustomed to take cabs whenever he wanted them. For a reason that was something like this he told the cab man to put the luggage on the steps and waited till the wheels of the growler had grittily retired before he rang the bell. You see, He said with his hand on the handle, We don't want Cook and Eliza asking us before him how it is we've come home alone as if we were babies. Here he rang the bell and the moment its answering clang was heard everyone felt that it would be some time before that bell was answered. The sound of a bell is quite different somehow when there is anyone inside the house who hears it. It must be past five said Anthea. I expect Eliza's gone to post a letter and Cook's gone to see the time. Cyril rang again and the bell did its best to inform the listening children that there really was no one human in the house. The hearts of all sank low. It is a terrible thing to be locked out of your own house on a dark muggy January evening. There's no gas on anywhere said Jane in a broken voice. I expect they've left the gas on once too often and the draught blew it out and they're suffocated in their beds. Father always said they would someday said Robert cheerfully. I only hope the gas hasn't hurt the phoenix said Anthea. It said it wanted to stay in the bathroom cupboard and I thought it would be all right because the servants never clean that out. But if it's gone and got out and been choked by gas and besides directly we open the door we shall be choked too. Shut up said her brother briefly. There's someone rattling the latch inside. Everyone listened with all its ears and everyone stood back as far from the door as the steps would allow. The latch rattled and clicked then the flap of the letterbox lifted itself. Everyone saw it by the flickering light of the gas lamp that shone through the leafless lime tree by the gate. A golden eye seemed to wink at them through the letter slit and a cautious beak whispered Are you alone? It's the phoenix said everyone in a voice so joyous and so full of relief as to be a sort of whispered shout. Hush said the voice from the letterbox. Your slaves have gone a merry making. The latch of this portal is too stiff for my beak but at the side the little window above the shelf where on your bread lies it is not fastened. Right oh said Cyril and Anthea added I wish you'd meet us there dear phoenix. The children crept round to the pantry window. It is at the side of the house and there is a green gate labelled tradesman's entrance which is always cap bolted. But if you get one foot on the fence between you and next door and one on the handle of the gate you're over before you know it. This at least was the experience of Cyril and Robert and even if the truth must be told of Anthea and Jane. So in almost no time all four were in the narrow graveled passage that runs between that house and the next. Then Robert made a back and Cyril hoisted himself up and got his knickerbockered knee on the concrete windowsill. He dived into the pantry head first as one dives into water and his legs waved in the air as he went just as your legs do when you're first beginning to learn to dive. The soles of his boots squarish mubby patches disappeared. Give me a leg up said Robert to his sisters. No you don't said Jane firmly. I'm not going to be left outside here with just Anthea and have something creep up behind us out of the dark. Squirrel can go and open the back door. A light had sprung awake in the pantry. Cyril always said the phoenix turned the gas on with its beak and lighted it with the waft of its wing. But he was excited at the time and perhaps he really did it himself with matches and then forgot all about it. He let the others in by the back door and when it had been bolted again the children went all over the house and lit every single gas jet they could find. For they couldn't help feeling this was just the dark dreary winter's evening when an armed burglar might easily be expected to appear at any moment. There's nothing like light when you are afraid of burglars or of anything else for that matter. And when all the gas jets were lighted it was clear that Eliza and the cook were really out and that there was no one in the house except the four children and the phoenix and the carpet and the black beetles who lived in the cupboards on each side of the nursery fireplace. These last were very pleased that the children had come home again, Especially when Anthea lit the nursery fire. But as usual the children treated the loving little black beetles with coldness and disdain. While Anthea was delighting the poor little black beetles with cheerful blaze, Jane had set the table for, I was going to say tea, But the meal of which I am speaking was not exactly tea. Let us call it a tea-ish meal. There was tea, Certainly, For Anthea's fire blazed and crackled so kindly that it really seemed to be affectionately inviting the kettle to come and sit on its lap. So the kettle was brought and tea made, But no milk could be found, So everyone had six lumps of sugar to each cup instead. The things to eat, On the other hand, Were nicer than usual. The boys looked about very carefully and found in the pantry some cold tongue, Bread, Butter, Cheese and part of a cold pudding, Very much nicer than Cook ever made when they were at home. And in the kitchen cupboard was half a Christmassy cake, A pot of strawberry jam and about a pound of mixed candied fruit with soft crumbly slabs of delicious sugar in each cup of lemon, Orange or citron. It was indeed, As Jane said, A banquet fit for an Arabian night. The phoenix perched on Robert's chair and listened kindly and politely to all they had to tell it about their visit to Lyndhurst, And underneath the table, By just stretching a toe down rather far, The faithful carpet could be felt by all, Even by Jane, Whose legs were very short. Your slaves will not return tonight, Said the phoenix. They sleep under the roof of the cook's stepmother's aunt, Who is, I gather, Hostess to a large party tonight in honour of her husband's cousin's sister-in-law's mother's 90th birthday. I don't think they ought to have gone without leave, Said Anthea, However many relations they have, Or however old they are, But I suppose we ought to wash up. We'll go somewhere on the carpet, Said Cyril. It's not often we get the chance of being out all night. We can go right away to the other side of the equator, To the tropical climes, And see the sunrise over the great Pacific Ocean. Right you are, Said Robert. I always did want to see the Southern Cross and the stars as big as gas lamps. Don't go, Said Anthea, Very earnestly, Because I couldn't. I'm sure Mother wouldn't like us to leave the house, And I should hate to be left here alone. I'd stay with you, Said Jane, Loyally. I know you would, Said Anthea, Gratefully, But even with you I'd much rather not. Well, Said Cyril, Trying to be kind, I don't want you to do anything you think's wrong. He was silent. His silence said many things. I don't see, Robert was beginning, When Anthea interrupted, I'm quite sure. Sometimes you just think of things wrong, And sometimes you know, And this is a no time. The phoenix turned kind golden eyes on her, And opened a friendly beak. He said, When it is, As you say, A no time, There is no more to be said, And your noble brothers would never leave you. Of course not, Said Cyril, Rather too quickly, And Robert said so too. I myself, The phoenix went on, Am willing to help in any way possible. I will go personally, Either by carpet or on the wing, And fetch you anything you can think of to amuse you during the evening. In order to waste no time, I could go while you wash up. Decide what I shall fetch for you, I can get you anything you like. But of course, They couldn't decide. Many things were suggested, A rocking horse, Jewelled chessmen, An elephant, A bicycle, A motor car, Books with pictures, Musical instruments, And many other things. But a musical instrument is agreeable only to the player, Unless he's learned to play it really well. Books are not sociable, Bicycles can't be ridden without going out of doors, And the same thing is true of motor cars and elephants. Only two people can play chess at once with one set of chessmen, And anyway, It's very much too much like lessons for a game, And only one can ride on a rocking horse. Suddenly, In the midst of the discussion, The phoenix spread its wings and fluttered to the floor, And from there it spoke. The carpet says that it wants you to let it go to its old home, Where it was born and brought up, And it will return within the hour, Laden with a number of the most beautiful and delightful products of its native land. What is its native land? I didn't gather that, But since you can't agree, And time is passing, And the tea things are not washed up— I vote we do, Said Robert, It'll stop all this jaw anyway. But how can we do it, Unless one of us is on it to do the wishing? Why, You just write your wish on a paper and pin it on the carpet, Said the phoenix. So a leaf was torn from Anthea's arithmetic book, And on it Cyril wrote in large round hand the following. We wish you to go to your dear native home, And bring back the most beautiful and delightful productions of it you can, And not to be gone long, Please. Signed, Cyril, Robert, Anthea, Jane. Then the paper was laid on the carpet. Writing face down please, Said the phoenix, The carpet can't read a paper whose back is turned to it any more than you can. It was pinned fast, And the table and chairs having been moved, The carpet simply and suddenly vanished, Rather like a patch of water on a hearth under a fierce fire. The edges got smaller and smaller, And then it disappeared. It may take it some time to collect the beautiful and delightful things, Said the phoenix, I should wash up. So they did. There was plenty of hot water left in the kettle, And everyone helped, Even the phoenix, Who took up cups by their handles with its clever claws, And dipped them in the hot water, And then stood them on the table ready for Anthea to dry them. But the bird was rather slow, Because, As it said, Although it was not above any sort of honest work, Messing about with dishwater was not exactly what it had been brought up to. Everything was nicely washed up, And dried, And put in its proper place, And the dishcloth washed and hung on the edge of the copper to dry, And the tea cloth hung on the little line that goes across the scullery. And just as eight hands and one pair of clothes were being dried on the roller towel behind the scullery door, There came a strange sound from the other side of the kitchen wall, The side where the nursery was. The carpet's come back, Said Robert, And the others felt that he was right. But what has it brought with it? Asked Jane. It couldn't have been made in India, And have brought elephants. Even baby ones would be rather awful in that room, Said Cyril. I vote we take it in turns to squint through the keyhole. They did, In the order of their ages. The phoenix, Being the eldest by some thousands of years, Was entitled to the first peep. Excuse me, It said, Ruffling its golden feathers and sneezing softly. Looking through keyholes always gives me a cold in my golden eyes. So Cyril looked. I see something grey moving, Said he. It's a zoological garden of some sort, I bet, Said Robert, When he had taken his turn. And the soft, Rustling, Bustling, Ruffling, Scuffling, Fluffling noise went on inside. I can't see anything, Said Anthea. My eye tickles so. Then Jane's turn came, And she put her eye to the keyhole. It's a giant kitty cat, She said, And it's asleep all over the floor. It's no use sending the carpet to fetch precious things for you, If you're afraid to look at them when they come, Said the phoenix. And Cyril, Being the eldest, Said, Come on, And turned the handle. The gas had been left full on after tea, And everything in the room could be plainly seen by the ten eyes at the door. At least, Not everything, But though the carpet was there, It was invisible, Because it was completely covered by the hundred and ninety-nine beautiful objects which it had brought from its birthplace. My hat, Cyril remarked, I never thought about its being a Persian carpet. Yet it was now plain that it was so, For the beautiful objects which it had brought back were cats, Persian cats, Grey Persian cats, And there were, As I have said, A hundred and ninety-nine of them, And they were sitting on the carpet as close as they could get to each other. But the moment the children entered the room, The cats rose and stretched and spread and overflowed from the carpet to the floor, And in an instant the floor was a sea of moving, Mewing, Pussishness, And the children, With one accord, Climbed to the table and gathered up their legs, And the people next door knocked on the wall. No wonder, For the mews were Persian and piercing. This is pretty poor sport, Said Cyril. What's the matter with the bounders? I imagine that they are hungry, Said the phoenix, If you were to feed them. We haven't anything to feed them with, Said Anthea, In despair, And she stroked the nearest Persian back. Oh, Pussies, Do be quiet, We can't hear ourselves think. She had to shout this, For the mews were growing deafening, And it would take pounds and pounds worth of cat's meat. Let's ask the carpet to take them away, Said Robert, But the girls said, No, They are so soft, Said Jane, And valuable, Said Anthea, Hastily. We can sell them for lots and lots of money. Why not send the carpet to get food for them, Suggested the phoenix, And its golden voice came harsh and crackled with the effort it had to make to be heard, Above the increasing fearness of the Persian mews. So it was written that the carpet should bring food for 199 Persian cats, And the paper was pinned to the carpet as before, And the carpet disappeared. Unless you've had 199 well-grown Persian cats in one small room, All hungry, And all saying so in unmistakable mews, You can form but a poor idea of the noise that now deafened the children and the phoenix. The cats did not seem to have been at all properly brought up. They seemed to have no idea of its being a mistake in manners to ask for meals in a strange house, Let alone to howl for them, And they mewed and they mewed and they mewed, Till the children poked their fingers into their ears, And waited in silent agony, Wondering why the whole of Camden Town did not come knocking at the door to ask what was the matter, And only hoping that the food for the cats would come before the neighbours did, And before all the secret of the carpet and the phoenix had to be given away beyond recall to an indignant neighbourhood. The cats mewed and mewed, And twisted their Persian forms in and out, And unfolded their Persian tails, And the children and the phoenix huddled together on the table. The phoenix, Robert noticed suddenly, Was trembling. So many cats, It said, And they might not know I was the phoenix. These accidents happen so quickly, It quite unmands me. This was a danger of which the children had not thought. Creep in, Cried Robert, Opening his jacket. And the phoenix crept in, Only just in time, For green eyes had glared, Pink noses had sniffed, White whiskers had twitched, And as Robert buttoned his coat, He disappeared to the waste in a wave of eager grey Persian fur. And on the instant, The good carpet reappeared, And slapped itself down on the floor. And it was covered with rats, Three hundred and ninety-eight of them, I believe, Two for each cat. How horrible, Cried Anthea. Oh, Take them away. Take yourself away, Said the phoenix, And me. I wish we'd never had a carpet, Said Anthea, In tears. They hustled and crowded out of the door, And shut it, And locked it. Cyril, With great presence of mind, Lit a candle and turned off the gas at the main. The rats will have a better chance in the dark, He said. The mewing had ceased. Everyone listened in breathless silence. We all know that cats eat rats. It's one of the first things we read in our little brown reading books. But all those cats eating all those rats, It wouldn't bear thinking of. Suddenly, Robert sniffed, In the silence of the dark kitchen, Where the only candle was burning all on one side, Because of the draught. What a funny scent, He said. And as he spoke, A lantern flashed its light through the window of the kitchen. A face peered in, And a voice said, What's all this row about? You let me in. It was the voice of the police. Robert tiptoed to the window. What do you mean? He said. There's no row. You listen. Everything's as quiet as quiet. And indeed, It was. The strange, Sweet scent grew stronger, And the phoenix put out its beak. The policeman hesitated. They're muskrats, Said the phoenix. I suppose some cats eat them, But never Persian ones. What a mistake for a well-informed carpet to make. Oh, What a night we're having. Do go away, Said Robert nervously to the policeman. We're just going to bed. That's our bedroom candle. There isn't any row. Everything's as quiet as a mouse. A wild chorus of mews drowned his words, And with the mews were mingled the shrieks of the muskrats. What had happened? Had the cats tasted them before deciding they disliked the flavour? I'm a coming in, Said the policeman. You've got a cat shut up there. A cat, Said Cyril. Oh, My only aunt, A cat. Come in then, Said Robert. It's your own lookout. I advise you not to. Wait a shake, And I'll undo the side gate. He undid the side gate, And the policeman, Very cautiously, Came in. And there, In the kitchen, By light of one candle, And the screaming going on like a dozen steam sirens, Twenty waiting motor cars, And half a hundred squeaking pumps, Four agitated voices shouted to the policeman, Four mixed and wholly different explanations of the very mixed events of the evening. Did you ever try to explain the simplest thing to a policeman? To be continued.

Reviews

Wow! Disgusting to imagine, but what a wonderful tale! Thank you😻