THE SINGING SHELL
For years and years the beautiful shell had been upon the floor inGran'ma's front room. It was a large shell with many points upon it.These were coarse and rough, but the shell was most beautiful inside.
Marcella had seen the shell time and time again and often admired itslovely coloring, which could be seen when one looked inside the shell.
So one day, Gran'ma gave the beautiful shell to Marcella to have for hervery own, up in the nursery.
"It will be nice to place before the nursery door so the wind will notblow the door to and pinch anyone's fingers!" Gran'ma laughed.
So Marcella brought the shell home and placed it in front of the nurserydoor. Here the dolls saw it that night, when all the house was still,and stood about it wondering what kind of toy it might be.
"It seems to be nearly all mouth!" said Henny, the Dutch doll. "Perhapsit can talk."
"It has teeth!" the French doll pointed out. "It may bite!"
"I do not believe it will bite," Raggedy Andy mused, as he got down uponhis hands and knees and looked up into the shell. "Marcella would nothave it up here if it would bite!" And, saying this, Raggedy Andy puthis rag arm into the lovely shell's mouth.
"It doesn't bite! I knew it wouldn't!" he cried. "Just feel how smoothit is inside!"
All the dolls felt and were surprised to find it polished so highlyinside, while the outside was so coarse and rough. With the help ofUncle Clem and Henny, Raggedy Andy turned the shell upon its back, sothat all the dolls might look in.
The coloring consisted of dainty pinks, creamy whites and pale blues,all running together just as the coloring in an opal runs from one shadeinto another. Raggedy Andy, stooping over to look further up inside thepretty shell, heard something.
"It's whispering!" he said, as he raised up in surprise.
All the dolls took turns putting their ears to the mouth of thebeautiful shell. Yes, truly it whispered, but they could not catch justwhat it said.
Finally Raggedy Andy suggested that all the dolls lie down upon thefloor directly before the shell and keep very quiet.
"If we don't make a sound we may be able to hear what it says!" heexplained.
So the dolls lay down, placing themselves flat upon the floor directlyin front of the shell and where they could see and admire its beautifulcoloring.
Now the dolls could be very, very quiet when they really wished to be,and it was easy for them to hear the faint whispering of the shell.
This is the story the shell told the dolls in the nursery that night:
"A long, long time ago, I lived upon the yellow sand, deep down beneaththe blue, blue waters of the ocean. Pretty silken sea weeds grew aroundmy home and reached their waving branches up, up towards the top of thewater.
Everyone listens]
"Through the pretty sea weeds, fishes of pretty colors and shapes dartedhere and there, playing at their games.
"It was still and quiet 'way down where I lived, for even if the oceanroared and pounded itself into an angry mass of tumbling waves up above,this never disturbed the calm waters down where I lived.
"Many times, little fishes or other tiny sea people came and hid withinmy pretty house when they were being pursued by larger sea creatures.And it always made me very happy to give them this protection.
"They would stay inside until I whispered that the larger creature hadgone, then they would leave me and return to their play.
"Pretty little sea horses with slender, curving bodies often wentsailing above me, or would come to rest upon my back. It was nice to lieand watch the tiny things curl their little tails about the sea weed andtalk together, for the sea horses like one another and are gentle andkind to each other, sharing their food happily and smoothing theirlittle ones with their cunning noses.
"But one day a diver leaped over the side of a boat and came swimminghead-first down, down to where I lay. My! How the tiny sea creaturesscurried to hide from him. He took me within his hand and, giving hisfeet a thump upon the yellow sand, rose with me to the surface.
"He poured the water from me, and out came all the little creatures whohad been hiding there!"
Raggedy Andy wiggled upon the floor, he was so interested.
"Did the tiny creatures get back into the water safely?" he asked thebeautiful shell.
"Oh, yes!" the shell whispered in reply. "The man held me over the sideof the boat, so the tiny creatures went safely back into the water!"
"I am so glad!" Raggedy Andy said, with a sigh of relief. "He must havebeen a kindly man!"
"Yes, indeed!" the beautiful shell replied. "So I was placed along witha lot of other shells in the bottom of the boat and every once in awhile another shell was placed amongst us. We whispered together andwondered where we were going. We were finally sold to different peopleand I have been at Gran'ma's house for a long, long time."
"You lived there when Gran'ma was a little girl, didn't you?" RaggedyAnn asked.
"Yes," replied the shell, "I have lived there ever since Gran'ma was alittle girl. She often used to play with me and listen to me sing."
"Raggedy Ann can play 'Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater' on the piano, withone hand," said Uncle Clem, "but none of us can sing. Will you sing forus?" he asked the shell.
"I sing all the time," the shell replied, "for I cannot help singing,but my singing is a secret and so is very soft and low. Put your headclose to the opening in my shell and listen!"
The dolls took turns doing this, and heard the shell sing softly andvery sweetly.
"How strange and far away it sounds!" exclaimed the French doll. "Likefairies singing in the distance! The shell must be singing the songs ofthe mermaids and the water-fairies!"
"It is queer that anything so rough on the outside could be so prettywithin!" said Raggedy Andy. "It must be a great pleasure to be able tosing so sweetly!"
"Indeed it is," replied the beautiful shell, "and I get a greathappiness from singing all the time."
"And you will bring lots of pleasure to us, by being so happy!" saidRaggedy Andy. "For although you may not enter into our games, we willalways know that you are happily singing, and that will make us allhappy!"
"I will tell you the secret of my singing," said the shell. "When anyoneputs his ear to me and listens, he hears the reflection of his ownheart's music, singing; so, you see, while I say that I am singing allthe time, in reality I sing only when someone full of happiness hearshis own singing as if it were mine."
"How unselfish you are to say this!" said Raggedy Andy. "Now we are everso much more glad to have you with us. Aren't we?" he asked, turning tothe rest of the dolls.
"Yes, indeed!" came the answer from all the dolls, even the tiny pennydolls.
"That is why the shell is so beautiful inside!" said Raggedy Ann. "Thosewho are unselfish may wear rough clothes, but inside they are alwaysbeautiful, just like the shell, and reflect to others the happiness andsunny music within their hearts!"
The shell speaks]
Transcriber's Notes:
Table of Contents was added.
Punctuation was normalized.
Descriptions were added to the illustrations which in the original hadno captions.
Raggedy Andy Stories Page 12