Rag, Tag and Bobtail and Other Magical Stories

by Enid Blyton

You should have seen inside that palace! It was perfectly lovely! The pixies were dancing together, talking at the tops of their little voices, and the Princess Peronel was sitting on a golden chair watching everyone with a happy smile on her face. The little lanterns shone brightly down, and nobody would ever have guessed that the palace was only built of toy bricks, and hadn’t been made till that very afternoon.

  Now the rain went on pouring down all night, and it pattered so hard against the children’s window that at last it woke Donald and he sat up in bed. Then he suddenly remembered that they had left their bricks outside.

  ‘Mary!’ he said. ‘Wake up! I say, aren’t we silly, we’ve left that brick palace out-of-doors, and it’s pouring with rain! It will all be spoilt in the morning, and Mummy will be so cross with us.’

  ‘Oh dear!’ said Mary, sitting up. ‘Well, I know, Donald! Let’s put on our dressing-gowns, with our mackintoshes over them, and our Wellington boots, and go out and get the bricks. It will be quite an adventure!’

  So they quickly put on their dressing-gowns and their mackintoshes, and out they went into the dark garden. But when they came near the palace of bricks they stopped in the greatest astonishment.

  ‘There are people inside!’ whispered Mary. ‘Look! It’s all hung with lanterns! And there’s a band playing!’

  They stooped down and peeped into their palace. What an exciting sight they saw! They could hardly believe their eyes.

  ‘Pixies!’ said Donald. ‘Pixies! Well, fancy that! We’ve always wanted to see fairies, and there they are, having a perfectly lovely time in our palace of bricks. What a good thing we left the bricks here!’

  Suddenly one of the pixies gave a scream and pointed to the two children who were bending down to peep in at the windows.

  ‘Look!’ she cried. ‘Oh, look! Quick, run away, everybody!’

  ‘No, please don’t,’ said Donald, politely. ‘We’re very glad indeed to see you using our palace. We remembered that we had left it outside in the rain so we came to put away the bricks – and we saw you. But please go on with your party!’

  ‘Oh, do you mind?’ asked the Princess Peronel, coming to the door and looking up at the children. ‘It was such a wet night, we couldn’t dance out-of-doors – so when we found this perfectly lovely palace we thought we’d use it. But do you think the rain will hurt it?’

  ‘Never mind if it does,’ said Donald. ‘We wouldn’t dream of putting the bricks away now.’

  ‘It’s very kind of you,’ said the Princess. ‘I’ll tell you what we’ll do for you. We will send the sun brownies to dry every single bit of the palace at dawn, and when you come out in the morning, you will see it is all quite dry, and no harm will come to the bricks.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Mary gratefully. ‘That is very nice of you. Good night – we won’t stay any longer because we’re getting wet!’

  Back to the bedroom they went, most excited, and they talked hard about their adventure until they fell asleep. In the morning they raced out to the garden.

  There was their palace, as dry as could be, shining in the sunshine! Not a single brick was wet!

  They told their mother all about it, but she laughed and said they must have dreamt it.

  ‘We couldn’t have dreamt it, could we, Mary?’ said Donald as they slowly took down the palace to put away the bricks. ‘Oh, I say – look here!’

  He picked up a little golden dish of the tiniest cakes you could imagine!

  ‘The pixies left these behind!’ he said. ‘Let’s go and show Mummy! She’ll believe us then.’

  And she did! The two children are going to eat the cakes for their tea. I do wonder what will happen when they do, don’t you?

  Jeanie’s Monkey

  There was once upon a time a little girl called Jeanie, who had a great many pets. She had a dog called Pip, a cat called Whiskers, two guinea-pigs called Bubble and Squeak, and a small toad that lived under the garden step. So you see she had a great many creatures to look after.

  What she longed to have was a little monkey! She thought it would be lovely to have a small brown monkey that would play with her and Pip. But her Mummy said no, she had quite enough pets.

  One day Jeanie was lying on the grass playing with Whiskers, when she suddenly saw a four-leaved clover. Now these are very lucky, as you know, and Jeanie was delighted. She knew that if she tied it on a thread and wore it round her neck all day, she could wish a wish and it might come true. For four-leaved clovers are magic and belong to the fairies.

  Jeanie picked the clover-leaf and looked at it carefully to make sure there was no mistake. It was quite right – it had four leaves as plain as anything. Jeanie ran indoors and showed her mother. Then she took a piece of black cotton and tied the clover-leaf carefully to it. She wore it round her neck the whole day long – and what do you suppose she wished?

  ‘I wish I could have a little brown monkey,’ she said to herself all day long, wishing as hard as she could.

  But no monkey came. Jeanie was most disappointed and she went to bed thinking that four-leaved clovers couldn’t be magic after all. And then, just as she was falling asleep, she heard a funny little sound in the day nursery, next to her bedroom.

  She sat up and listened. It was a little chattering noise. Jeanie couldn’t think what it could be!

  ‘I’ll go and see!’ she thought, and she popped out of bed and ran into the day nursery. She was astonished at what she found there.

  The chattering noise came from the corner where the doll’s cot stood – and there, cuddling into the cot, was a small brown monkey!

  ‘My dream’s come true!’ cried Jeanie in delight, and she ran across to the monkey. He put out a tiny paw, just like a hand and stroked her. Then he cuddled down into the doll’s cot again. He was shivering with cold.

  ‘You poor little thing!’ cried Jeanie. ‘You are so cold! I’ll get you a woolly coat that belongs to my big teddy bear. That will keep you warm.’

  So she got the warm red coat and put it on the monkey. He was so pleased. Then Jeanie tucked him up in the cot and told him to go to sleep till morning.

  He cuddled down and closed his eyes. Jeanie ran back to bed, very happy. Her dream had come true. Four-leaved clovers were magic, after all!

  Next morning she went to look for the monkey and found him still fast asleep in the cot. She wondered what he would like for his breakfast, and she remembered that monkeys like bananas. So she ran to the cupboard where Mummy kept the fruit and took a banana. She peeled it and put it on a plate. The little monkey soon woke up when she patted him, and sat up in the cot. He was delighted to see the banana, and took it off the plate.

  ‘Chitter-chitter, chatter, chitter!’ he said, in his little chattery voice. He held the banana in his paw and bit big pieces off it, looking at Jeanie with his bright eyes as he ate. She thought he was the dearest little monkey in the world.

  ‘You look rather dirty,’ she said. ‘I think I will give you a good wash. And see – your hind paw is hurt. I will wrap it up in a bandage for you.’

  Just then Mummy called her to breakfast and she ran off. She chattered all about the monkey whilst she had her breakfast, but her mother thought she was talking about a toy monkey she had, and took no notice. Jeanie ran back after her breakfast and got her doll’s bath ready. She filled it full of nice hot water and made it soapy. Then she got an old nail brush and called the monkey. He came at once.

  He didn’t like the bath very much, but he did look nice and clean afterwards. Jeanie scrubbed him with the nail brush and then rubbed him dry with an old towel. She put on the little coat again, and tied a scarf round his neck. Then she put him down in the sun, and he fell asleep again. He really was a dear little monkey, and he seemed quite a baby one.

  Before he fell asleep Jeanie bound up his paw, which was cut, and he was very pleased with the bandage. He kept looking at it until he fell asleep. Jeanie put him in her doll’s pram and thought she would take him for a walk. She t
ook him into the garden and walked round and round with him. When he woke up he was quite ready for a game.

  You should have seen that monkey playing! He pulled Pip’s tail, he climbed all the trees, he chattered to Whiskers, who was half afraid of him, and he kept jumping on to Jeanie’s shoulder and pulling off her hair-slide.

  He really was the most mischievous little creature!

  When Mummy came out into the garden she stared in the greatest astonishment at the monkey. She really could hardly believe her eyes.

  ‘Jeanie!’ she cried. ‘Where did that monkey come from?’

  ‘It’s the one I told you about at breakfast-time this morning,’ said Jeanie.

  ‘But I thought you were talking about your toy monkey then!’ said her mother. ‘Where did this little creature come from?’

  ‘I wished for him and he came,’ said Jeanie. ‘I found a four-leaved clover, you see, Mummy.’

  Well, her mother was as puzzled as could be. She kept saying that the monkey must have escaped from somewhere, and Jeanie really couldn’t keep him. And Jeanie kept saying that it was her monkey because she had wished him and he had come.

  When Cook saw the monkey she said she knew where he came from.

  ‘I’m sure it’s the monkey I saw on the barrel-organ belonging to the Italian who used to play down our street at home,’ she said. ‘I’ve often seen the cruel man beating him, poor little monkey. He’s only a young monkey, and a gentle creature, too.’

  ‘Well, we must find out if it does belong to the organ-grinder,’ said Mummy. But Jeanie began to cry when she heard that.

  ‘It’s my monkey!’ she said. ‘It doesn’t belong to the organ-grinder. I wished him and he came.’

  But, you know, he did belong to the organ-grinder, because when Daddy began to try to find out about him, a policeman told him that the Italian had lost his monkey.

  ‘Oh, he can’t go back to that horrid man!’ wept Jeanie, hugging the little monkey to her. ‘I won’t have him beaten, poor little thing. He’s so gentle and sweet.’

  ‘I’ll go and see the organ-grinder and find out what he says,’ said Daddy. So off he went. He soon found out where the man lived, and knocked at the door.

  The Italian lived in two dirty little rooms, and when he heard that his monkey had been found he wanted it back at once.

  ‘It is a silly, weak animal,’ he said. ‘I do not like it. It has to be beaten every day because it will not learn to take round my hat for pennies.’

  ‘Well, if you like I will buy it from you for my little girl,’ said Daddy. ‘She likes it, and it seems happy with her. If you take it back it will probably catch a cold and die.’

  ‘You give me four shillings and you can have the silly little animal,’ said the organ-grinder at once. Daddy paid him four shillings and went home. He called Jeanie as soon as he got back. She came running to him, hugging the little monkey, her eyes full of tears because she thought her Daddy was going to take it back to the organ-grinder.

  ‘Cheer up, Jeanie,’ said Daddy. ‘The organ-grinder doesn’t want the monkey. You can keep it! Look after it well, for it is not very strong and has been badly treated.’

  Well, you should have seen Jeanie’s face! It was as bright as the sun! She hugged her Daddy, she hugged her Mummy, she hugged the monkey!

  ‘I knew he was mine!’ she cried. ‘I wished him and he came. I knew he was mine! The fairies knew he was unhappy, so when they heard my monkey-wish, they took him away from the unkind organ-grinder and brought him to my nursery. They did, Mummy, truly, because you know I found a four-leaved clover, and that’s magic! Oh, I am so glad to have him for a pet!’

  The monkey still lives with Jeanie and Pip and Whiskers. You’ll see him if ever you go to tea. He is a real little mischief, and he will take your handkerchief out of your pocket whenever you are not looking. So be careful when you play with him!

  Thimble’s Whirlwind

  Once upon a time, in the village of Go-and-See there lived a big, fat gnome called Brin-Brin. He was very proud and haughty, always rude to everyone, and thought such a lot of himself, that nobody dared to speak to him unless he spoke first.

  Next door to Brin-Brin lived a tiny pixie, called Thimble. He didn’t like being next door to Brin-Brin at all. For one thing the big gnome threw all his rubbish over the wall into Thimble’s garden, and he was always having to clear up tins, bottles and potato parings. It was a great nuisance. But he didn’t like to complain.

  Another thing was that Brin-Brin often used to sing very loudly, and as he had a dreadful voice, it was very painful for Thimble to have to sit and listen to it.

  He would shut his windows to keep the sound out, but as soon as Brin-Brin saw him doing that he would sing twice as loudly as before, so it was really worse.

  Thimble was a good-natured little pixie, and he would have liked to be friendly to Brin-Brin, but it was quite impossible. He really was a horrid person, and he ate so much that poor Thimble’s garden was always full of rubbishy tins and pots thrown over the wall by the greedy gnome.

  Thimble felt one day that he really could not put up with Brin-Brin any longer. So he sat on his three-legged stool and tried to think of a plan to get rid of him. It was very difficult – but at last he thought of one. He waited until a windy day came, and he watched for Brin-Brin to set out on his usual walk through Red-Leaf Woods.

  Then he followed after him. Brin-Brin walked on, crunching the dead leaves under his feet, for it was autumn. Behind him came Thimble. Brin-Brin sat down at the foot of a tree and unwrapped a parcel of sticky buns that he was going to eat.

  Thimble waited a little while behind another tree a little way off. Then he suddenly began to cry out loudly: ‘Help! Help! There’s a great, big whirlwind coming! Help! Help!’

  Then Thimble started to run towards Brin-Brin as if there was a wind behind him, blowing him along. He shot by Brin-Brin, clutched hold of a tree and cried: ‘Help! Help! There’s a great big whirlwind coming! It nearly blew me away then.’

  Brin-Brin was so astonished that he dropped two of his buns to the ground. He stared at Thimble in a great fright, his big mouth wide open. Once a whirlwind had come to the village of Go-and-See and had blown off all the chimney-pots, and ever since then Brin-Brin had been very much afraid of a storm.

  ‘Oh, is that you, Brin-Brin!’ shouted Thimble, pretending that he saw the gnome for the first time. ‘You hold on to a tree like I’m doing! Quick! The whirlwind might come at any minute and blow you away to the moon!’

  Brin-Brin jumped up, shaking like a jelly, and held on to the tree behind him. At the same moment a little wind blew the dry leaves about, and Brin-Brin shouted in terror, for he really thought it was the beginning of the whirlwind. He clung to his tree tightly.

  ‘Oh, Brin-Brin,’ said Thimble, ‘what a pity you are so fat! The whirlwind will easily be able to take you away, and will bowl you along like a piece of paper. If you were small like me, you would be all right, for the wind would hardly notice you.’

  ‘D-d-d-d-do you th-th-think s-s-so?’ said poor Brin-Brin, his teeth chattering so much that he could hardly talk. ‘Oh, whatever shall I do? I shall never be able to hold on long enough to this tree.’

  ‘I’ve a piece of rope here,’ said Thimble, at once. ‘Shall I tie you tightly to the tree? Then the whirlwind won’t be able to blow you away, however much it tries.’

  ‘Oh, do, do!’ begged Brin-Brin. ‘Quick, before it starts!’

  Thimble ran over to Brin-Brin. The wind blew a little again, and Brin-Brin gave a cry of fright.

  ‘Quick! Tie me up! The whirlwind is beginning!’

  Thimble grinned to himself, and very quickly he tied Brin-Brin to the tree. How tightly he tied him! You should have seen the knots. My goodness, they would have held an elephant!

  ‘There!’ said Thimble, stepping back to look at Brin-Brin. ‘You’re nicely tied up!’

  ‘Come back and hold to a tree!’ cried Brin-Brin. ‘You’ll be blo
wn away.’

  ‘Oh, I’m not afraid of a silly old whirlwind,’ said Thimble, and to Brin-Brin’s great astonishment he walked away, leaving the gnome alone.

  But not for long! Oh no, there was soon quite a crowd round Brin-Brin, for Thimble had fetched all the village along to see him.

  ‘However did you manage to conquer Brin-Brin and tie him up like that?’ cried all the little folk. ‘Did you fight him, Thimble? Oh, how clever you are! How strong! How wonderful! Tell us all about it.’

  ‘Oh, there’s nothing to tell,’ said Thimble airily. ‘Nothing at all. I thought it was time that Brin-Brin was punished, so I tied him up for everyone to see.’

  Well, you should have seen Brin-Brin’s face when he heard all this! He simply didn’t know what to say!

  ‘I’m tied up be-because there’s a whirlwind c-c-coming,’ he said at last. ‘That’s all.’

  ‘Ha, ha, ho, ho!’ laughed all the little folk. ‘What a joke! A whirlwind indeed! Whoever heard of such an excuse! Ho ho!’

  ‘Ho, ho, ho!’ laughed Thimble, loudest of all.

  Brin-Brin tried to get loose but Thimble had tied him up far too tightly. He was so angry that his face was as red as a ripe tomato. How dared Thimble play this trick on him! Just wait! He would punish him when he got free!

  But when would he get free? Nobody offered to untie him. When night came and they were tired of laughing at him they all went home, except Thimble.

  ‘They’ll come back to laugh at you again tomorrow,’ said Thimble. ‘What a pity you have always been so proud and haughty, rude and selfish, Brin-Brin! If you hadn’t been, you might have found someone kind enough to set you free.’

  ‘Please set me free yourself,’ said Brin-Brin, in a humble voice.

  ‘What! Set you free to rush at me and hit me!’ said Thimble. ‘No, no, Brin-Brin – I’m not as foolish as that.’

  Then Brin-Brin saw that things were really very serious. He might stay a prisoner for weeks. He must humble himself to the clever little pixie.