The Greatest Works of E. Nesbit (220+ Titles in One Illustrated Edition). Эдит Несбит

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СКАЧАТЬ mind,’ said Anthea kindly; ‘we’ll take you anywhere you like if you want us to. What was it you were going to say upstairs, when I said the others wouldn’t like it if I stayed talking to you without them?’

      It looked keenly at her, and she blushed.

      ‘Don’t be silly,’ it said sharply. ‘Of course, it’s quite natural that you should like your brothers and sisters to know exactly how good and unselfish you were.’

      ‘I wish you wouldn’t,’ said Jane. ‘Anthea was quite right. What was it you were going to say when she stopped you?’

      ‘I’ll tell you,’ said the Psammead, ‘since you’re so anxious to know. I was going to say this. You’ve saved my life – and I’m not ungrateful – but it doesn’t change your nature or mine. You’re still very ignorant, and rather silly, and I am worth a thousand of you any day of the week.’

      ‘Of course you are!’ Anthea was beginning but it interrupted her.

      ‘It’s very rude to interrupt,’ it said; ‘what I mean is that I’m not going to stand any nonsense, and if you think what you’ve done is to give you the right to pet me or make me demean myself by playing with you, you’ll find out that what you think doesn’t matter a single penny. See? It’s what I think that matters.’

      ‘I know,’ said Cyril, ‘it always was, if you remember.’

      ‘Well,’ said the Psammead, ‘then that’s settled. We’re to be treated as we deserve. I with respect, and all of you with – but I don’t wish to be offensive. Do you want me to tell you how I got into that horrible den you bought me out of? Oh, I’m not ungrateful! I haven’t forgotten it and I shan’t forget it.’

      ‘Do tell us,’ said Anthea. ‘I know you’re awfully clever, but even with all your cleverness, I don’t believe you can possibly know how – how respectfully we do respect you. Don’t we?’

      The others all said yes – and fidgetted in their chairs. Robert spoke the wishes of all when he said:

      ‘I do wish you’d go on.’

      So it sat up on the green-covered table and went on.

      ‘When you’d gone away,’ it said, ‘I went to sand for a bit, and slept. I was tired out with all your silly wishes, and I felt as though I hadn’t really been to sand for a year.’

      ‘To sand?’ Jane repeated.

      ‘Where I sleep. You go to bed. I go to sand.’

      Jane yawned; the mention of bed made her feel sleepy.

      ‘All right,’ said the Psammead, in offended tones. ‘I’m sure I don’t want to tell you a long tale. A man caught me, and I bit him. And he put me in a bag with a dead hare and a dead rabbit. And he took me to his house and put me out of the bag into a basket with holes that I could see through. And I bit him again. And then he brought me to this city, which I am told is called the Modern Babylon – though it’s not a bit like the old Babylon – and he sold me to the man you bought me of, and then I bit them both. Now, what’s your news?’

      ‘There’s not quite so much biting in our story,’ said Cyril regretfully; ‘in fact, there isn’t any. Father’s gone to Manchuria , and Mother and The Lamb have gone to Madeira because Mother was ill, and don’t I just wish that they were both safe home again.’

      Merely from habit, the Sand-fairy began to blow itself out, but it stopped short suddenly.

      ‘I forgot,’ it said; ‘I can’t give you any more wishes.’

      ‘No – but look here,’ said Cyril, ‘couldn’t we call in old Nurse and get her to say she wishes they were safe home. I’m sure she does.’

      ‘No go,’ said the Psammead. ‘It’s just the same as your wishing yourself if you get someone else to wish for you. It won’t act.’

      ‘But it did yesterday – with the man in the shop,’ said Robert.

      ‘Ah yes,’ said the creature, ‘but you didn’t ask him to wish, and you didn’t know what would happen if he did. That can’t be done again. It’s played out.’

      ‘Then you can’t help us at all,’ said Jane; ‘oh – I did think you could do something! I’ve been thinking about it ever since we saved your life yesterday. I thought you’d be certain to be able to fetch back Father, even if you couldn’t manage Mother.’

      And Jane began to cry.

      ‘Now don’t,’ said the Psammead hastily; ‘you know how it always upsets me if you cry. I can’t feel safe a moment. Look here; you must have some new kind of charm.’

      ‘That’s easier said than done.’

      ‘Not a bit of it,’ said the creature; ‘there’s one of the strongest charms in the world not a stone’s throw from where you bought me yesterday. The man that I bit so – the first one, I mean – went into a shop to ask how much something cost – I think he said it was a concertina – and while he was telling the man in the shop how much too much he wanted for it, I saw the charm in a sort of tray, with a lot of other things. If you can only buy that, you will be able to have your heart’s desire.’

      The children looked at each other and then at the Psammead. Then Cyril coughed awkwardly and took sudden courage to say what everyone was thinking.

      ‘I do hope you won’t be waxy,’ he said;‘but it’s like this: when you used to give us our wishes they almost always got us into some row or other, and we used to think you wouldn’t have been pleased if they hadn’t. Now, about this charm – we haven’t got over and above too much tin, and if we blue it all on this charm and it turns out to be not up to much – well – you see what I’m driving at, don’t you?’

      ‘I see that you don’t see more than the length of your nose, and that’s not far,’ said the Psammead crossly. ‘Look here, I had to give you the wishes, and of course they turned out badly, in a sort of way, because you hadn’t the sense to wish for what was good for you. But this charm’s quite different. I haven’t got to do this for you, it’s just my own generous kindness that makes me tell you about it. So it’s bound to be all right. See?’

      ‘Don’t be cross,’ said Anthea, ‘please, please don’t. You see, it’s all we’ve got; we shan’t have any more pocket-money till Daddy comes home – unless he sends us some in a letter. But we do trust you. And I say, all of you,’ she went on, ‘don’t you think it’s worth spending all the money, if there’s even the chanciest chance of getting Father and Mother back safe now? Just think of it! Oh, do let’s!’

      ‘I don’t care what you do,’ said the Psammead; ‘I’ll go back to sand again till you’ve made up your minds.’

      ‘No, don’t!’ said everybody; and Jane added, ‘We are quite mind-made-up – don’t you see we are? Let’s get our hats. Will you come with us?’

      ‘Of course,’ said the Psammead; ‘how else would you find the shop?’

      So everybody got its СКАЧАТЬ