How Untidy!
How Untidy!
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There were once some small brownies who lived in tiny houses at the end of cherry Wood. They were cheerful, merry little creatures, but how untidy!
Really, you could hardly get into their houses for the mess and muddle they were in! The mats were in rags, the chimneys smoked, and every brownie looked as if he could do with a good wash and brush up.
'How untidy!' said the fairies, going by with their noses in the air.
'How untidy!' said the rabbits in disgust.
'How untidy!' said the Fairy Queen herself, as she drove through Cherry Wood and saw the houses of the small brownies. She stopped her carriage and got out.
'Come here,' she said to the scared brownies. 'How dare you keep your houses in such a mess! Now listen to me _ if you don't keep them more tidy I shall send old Witch Stamparound to look after you, and you won't like her, I can tell you!'
'Oh, please, please, no,' said the brownies, who knew that Witch Stamparound was a terribly strict person.
But they didn't become any more tidy, and one day old Witch Stamparound did arrive! Goodness, you should have seen her! She wore six pairs of spectacles, the better to see any speck of dirt, and her nose was all wrinkled through being turned up in disgust at dirtiness and untidiness!
She set to work to make those brownies tidy. She scolded them, she made them brush, clean, and scrub all day long and sometimes half the night too. They couldn't bear it, and were very unhappy.
Let's run away!' whispered one.
'She would catch us!' said another.
'Well, let's fly away!' said a third.
'That's a good idea,' said the first one. 'The old witch only has her broomstick to fly on. We'll hide that, then she won't be able to chase us.'
'We haven't any wings, so we had better change ourselves into little brown birds,' said the biggest brownie. 'I've got a bird spell some-He hunted for it and found it in a dusty drawer. It was a box of tiny yellow pills.
'Where are the spells that will change us back to our own shape?' asked the smallest brownie.
'I've got them safety in my pocket,' said the biggest brownie. 'Now come along, everyone _ here's a yellow pill for each of you. As soon as you've swallowed it you'll turn into birds. Spread your wings and fly away. I've hidden the old witch's broomstick!'
They swallowed the pills, and hey presto! Each brown feathers the same colour as their suits had been. They spread their wings and flew away, and although the old witch shouted after them she could not stop them, for she could not find her broomstick anywhere!
But what a dreadful things _ when they arrived at a wood for away, where they would be safe, the biggest brownie, who was now the biggest sparrow, couldn't find the spells to change them back into brownies again. You see, he now had no pockets for he was dressed in feathers, and no matter how he hunted, the pills to change them back again were quite gone!
So little brown birds they had to remain _ and they are with us still. You know the sparrows, don't you? How they chatter and chirp, and how they love to come round our houses to be with us!
But, you know, they are still terribly untidy! Have you seen their nests? Go and look for one this year, tucked away somewhere under the eaves, in a gutter pipe. Then you will see how untidy those small brownies are still! Pieces of straw hang down here and there and the nests really look as if they will fall to bits! And you will say, as the Fairy Queen said about their houses long ago, 'HOW UNTIDY!'
