Just So Stories for Little Children / Просто сказки. Книга для чтения на английском языке

‘That’s not bad,’ said Tegumai, and scratched on his own piece of bark for himself; ‘but you’ve forgotten the feeler that hangs across his mouth.’

‘But I can’t draw, Daddy.’

‘You needn’t draw anything of him except just an opening of his mouth and the feeler across. Then we’ll know he’s a carp-fish, ’cause[216]the perches and trouts[217] haven’t got feelers. Look here, Taffy.’ And he drew this. (2)

‘Now I’ll copy it,’ said Taffy. ‘Will you understand this when you see it?’ And she drew this. (3)

‘Perfectly,’ said her Daddy. ‘And I’ll be quite as s’prised when I see it anywhere, as if you had jumped out from behind a tree and said “Ah!”

‘Now, make another noise,’ said Taffy, very proud.

‘Yah!’ said her Daddy, very loud.

‘H’m,’ said Taffy. ‘That’s a mixy noise. The end part is ah-carp-fish-mouth; but what can we do about the front part? Yer-yer-yer and ah! Yah!’

‘It’s very like the carp-fish-mouth noise. Let’s draw another bit of the carp-fish and join ‘em,’ said her Daddy. He was quite incited too.

‘No. If they’re joined, I’ll forget. Draw it separate. Draw his tail. If he’s standing on his head the tail will come first. ’Sides[218], I think I can draw tails easiest,’ said Taffy.

‘A good notion[219],’ said Tegumai. ‘Here’s a carp-fish tail for the yer-noise.’ And he drew this. (4)

‘I’ll try now,’ said Taffy. ‘’ember[220]

I can’t draw like you, Daddy. ’Will it do[221] if I just draw the split part of the tail and a sticky-down line for where it joins?’ And she drew this. (5)

Her Daddy nodded, and his eyes were shiny bright with ’citement[222].

‘That’s beautiful,’ she said. ‘Now, make another noise, Daddy.’

‘Oh!’ said her Daddy, very loud.

‘That’s quite easy,’ said Taffy. ‘You make your mouth all round like an egg or a stone. So an egg or a stone will do for that.’

You can’t always find eggs or stones. We’ll have to scratch a round something like one.’ And he drew this. (6)

‘My gracious!’ said Taffy, ‘what a lot of noise-pictures we’ve made, – carp-mouth, carp-tail, and egg! Now, make another noise, Daddy.’

‘Ssh!’ said her Daddy, and frowned to himself[223], but Taffy was too incited to notice.

‘That’s quite easy,’ she said, scratching on the bark.

‘Eh, what?’ said her Daddy. ‘I meant I was thinking, and didn’t want to be disturbed.’

‘It’s a noise, just the same. It’s the noise a snake makes, Daddy, when it is thinking and doesn’t want to be disturbed. Let’s make the ssh-noise a snake. Will this do?’ And she drew this. (7)

‘There,’ she said. ‘That’s another s’prise-secret. When you draw a hissy-snake by the door of your little back-cave where you mend the spears, I’ll know you’re thinking hard; and I’ll come in most mousy-quiet. And if you draw it on a tree by the river when you’re fishing, I’ll know you want me to walk most most mousy-quiet, so as not to shake the banks.’

‘Perfectly true,’ said Tegumai. ‘And there’s more in this game than you think Taffy, dear, I’ve a notion that your Daddy’s daughter has hit upon the finest thing that there ever was since the Tribe of Tegumai took to using shark’s teeth instead of flints for their spear-heads. I believe we’ve found out the big secret of the world.’

‘Why?’ said Taffy, and her eyes shone too with incitement.

‘I’ll show,’ said her Daddy. ‘What’s water in the Tegumai language?’

‘Ya, of course, and it means river too – like Wagai-ya – the Wagai river.’

‘What is bad water that gives you fever if you drink it – black water – swamp-water?’

‘Yo, of course.’

‘Now look,’ said her Daddy.

‘S’pose[224] you saw this scratched by the side of a pool in the beaver-swamp?’ And he drew this. (8)

‘Carp-tail and round egg. Two noises mixed! Yo, bad water,’ said Taffy. ‘’Course[225] I wouldn’t drink that water because I’d know you said it is bad.’

‘But I needn’t be near the water at all. I might be miles away, hunting, and still – ‘

‘And still it would be just the same as if you stood there and said, “G’way[226], Taffy, or you’ll get fever.” All that in a carp-fish-tail and a round egg! O Daddy, we must tell Mummy, quick!’ and Taffy danced all round him.

‘Not yet,’ said Tegumai; ‘not till we’ve gone a little further. Let’s see. Yo is bad water, but so is food cooked on the fire, isn’t it?’ And he drew this. (9)

‘Yes. Snake and egg,’ said Taffy. ‘So that means dinner’s ready. If you saw that scratched on a tree you’d know it was time to come to the Cave. So’d I.’

‘My Winkie!’ said Tegumai. ‘That’s true too. But wait a minute. I see a difficulty. So means “come and have dinner,” but sho means the drying-poles where we hang our hides.’

‘Horrid old drying-poles!’ said Taffy. ‘I hate helping to hang heavy, hot, hairy hides on them. If you drew the snake and egg, and I thought it meant dinner, and I came in from the wood and found that it meant I was to help Mummy hang the hides on the drying-poles, what would I do?’