human
Ripple blue and ripple green, Foaming crest and silver sheen, Sleep beneath the moon! Till the daylight comes again, Waking us to restless pain All too soon.
gpt
Yes, I said,
human
gpt
Dear me! said Brighteyes.
human
Just fancy a whale in a trundle-bed! how very queer he would look!
gpt
Does he spout when he's asleep? inquired Fluff anxiously.
human
Because the bedclothes would get wet, you know, and he would take cold!
gpt
I never saw any of them in bed, but I have seen their races, and very funny they are. They have hurdle-races every Tuesday afternoon, jumping over the fragments of wrecks which are strewn all over the bottom of the sea. They lead a merry life, those whales; what with hurdle-races and fish hunts and spouting matches. If one could not live in the air, the next best thing would be to live in the water, I think. Hi! yonder is a fleet of icebergs. Look, little Heavyones! that is a sight worth seeing.
human
Is this the North Pole, Mr. Moonman?
gpt
Why, no, Brighteyes! said Puff.
human
It can't be the Pole, for there isn't any pole for it to be!
gpt
Yes, I said,
human
gpt
Oh! yes, cried the five voices.
human
It will be better, for we want to see what the people are like in these strange places. So we floated low till we came to a certain small Esquimaux village on the west of Greenland.
gpt
What are all those queer humps of snow on the ground? asked Fluff.
human
Oh! cried Nibble, clapping his hands.
gpt
human
Gently, Nibble! I said,
gpt
The five mice leaned over the edge of the cloud as far as they dared, and watched the Esquimaux boys with breathless interest. They were queer little fellows, clad in furs from head to foot, and were fat and oily-looking, as indeed anyone might be who ate blubber three times a day: but otherwise they were apparently much like boys all over the world. They chased each other, and played hide-and-seek behind blocks of ice and snow, and amused themselves in all kinds of ways. Their only playthings were some bones of the seal and walrus, nicely polished, but they seemed to have just as much fun with them as if they had been the finest marbles or the most superlative tops that the world could produce.
human
How jolly they look! said Nibble.
gpt
I wish I could jump down and play with them! and oh! don't they talk strangely, Brighteyes? 'Wogglety wagglety, chacka-chacka punksky'--what are they saying, Mr. Moonman?
human
Nayato is telling Polpo of the narrow escape his father had yesterday, I replied.
gpt
It seems that he was out on the flat ice looking out for seals. He had just harpooned a fine fellow, and was just on the point of putting him on his sledge, when he heard a loud snuffling noise behind him; and turning round, saw to his horror a huge white bear, squatting on the ice within a few yards of him, and apparently trying to decide whether the seal or the seal-hunter would make the more savory meal. Wallop, however, (that is the man's name,) had no doubt about the matter. He flung the seal towards his Polar Majesty, and took to his heels, fortunately reaching his reindeer-sledge in time to escape being made the second course of Bruin's dinner. 'Chacka-chacka punksky' means 'I will kill that bear when I am a man.'
human
Oh! how exciting that must have been! cried Nibble.
gpt
I think I should like to be an Esquimaux, Mr. Moonman! Couldn't you leave me here for a week or two?
human
To live in a snow hut, and eat blubber and drink train-oil? I asked in return.
gpt
No, my mouse, I could not, or at least I would not. And that reminds me that we must be flying home again, for morning will soon be here. Blow, little Winds, blow the cloud back as fast as you can.
human
UNCLE JACK!
gpt
Well, Blossom! said Uncle Jack, looking up,
human
No! no! Uncle Jack, exclaimed Fluff, looking much distressed.
gpt
It is nothing about the dolls; and you _know_ that was a waxidental murder, Uncle, and I don't see why you laugh about it.
human
There! there! little woman, said the good uncle, taking her on his knee and kissing her;
gpt
Well, Uncle, said Fluff, in a confidential tone,
human
Stop! said Uncle Jack, gravely.
gpt
Let us understand this thing thoroughly. Peepsy, you say? Peepsy? I don't seem to recall the name. Is she a doll?
human
Oh! _no!_ Uncle Jacket! cried Fluff.
gpt
How could she be a doll when she is a bird? and besides, she isn't she at all; she is he.
human
Oh! said Uncle Jack;
gpt
Perhaps you are not quite well this morning, Uncle Jack, for I cannot make you possibly understand anything. When I say pottery, I mean pottery with rhymes in it, like the Riginal Poems. Don't you know 'The Lobster's black, when boiled he's red?' that's what I mean.
human
To be sure! said Uncle Jack.
gpt
I am certainly very stupid this morning, but now I understand. We are to make some rhymes, (we call it _poetry_, Fluffy dear, not pottery,) about Peepsy, a bird, whose birthday is to be celebrated to-day. And it is to be like the Original Poems for Infant Minds; and you have made part of it, and I am to help you with the rest. Is that all right, my Blossom?
human
Yes, you clever Uncle! cried Fluff, clapping her hands.
gpt
That is all right, and the paper is all ready in the library, please, dear.
human
Oh! you little monkey! said Uncle Jack, laughing and laying aside his paper.
gpt
Well, the sooner it is done the sooner it is done with, as Mrs. Posset says. So run along, and I will follow you.
human
Here is the pottery, Puffy! she said.
gpt
Uncle Jack says it isn't pottery, but something else; but here it is, anyhow.
human
Oh! how nice! said Puff.
gpt
Sit down and read it to the children and Peepsy, won't you, Fluff?