. The princess and the goblin . ell knowing what a mockery lay in the words. With pleasure, if your majesty will give me a guide, saidCurdie. I will give you a thousand, said the king, with a scoffingair of magnificent liberality. One will be quite sufficient, said Curdie. But the king uttered a strange shout, half halloo, half roar,and in rushed goblins till the cave was swarming. He saidsomething to the first of them which Curdie could not hear,and it was passed from one to another till in a moment thefarthest in the crowd had evidently heard and understood began to gather about him
. The princess and the goblin . ell knowing what a mockery lay in the words. With pleasure, if your majesty will give me a guide, saidCurdie. I will give you a thousand, said the king, with a scoffingair of magnificent liberality. One will be quite sufficient, said Curdie. But the king uttered a strange shout, half halloo, half roar,and in rushed goblins till the cave was swarming. He saidsomething to the first of them which Curdie could not hear,and it was passed from one to another till in a moment thefarthest in the crowd had evidently heard and understood began to gather about him in a way he did not relish,and he retreated toward the wall. They pressed upon him. Stand back, said Curdie, grasping his pickaxe tighterby his knee. They only grinned and pressed closer. Curdie bethoughthimself, and began to rhyme. Ten, twenty, thirty—Youre all so very dirty!Twenty, thirty, forty—Youre all so thick and snorty! Thirty, forty, fifty-Youre all so puff-and-snifty!Forty, fifty, sixty-Beast and man so mixty![H8]. © The goblins fell back a little when he began, and made horriblegrimaces all through the rhyme. CURDIES CLUE Fifty, sixty, seventy—Mixty, maxty, leaventy—Sixty, seventy, eighty—All your cheeks so slaty. Seventy, eighty, ninety,All your hands so flinty!Eighty, ninety, hundred,Altogether dundred! The goblins fell back a little when he began, and made hor-rible grimaces all through the rhyme, as if eating somethingso disagreeable that it set their teeth on edge and gave themthe creeps; but whether it was that the rhyming words weremost of them no words at all, for a new rhyme being consid-ered more efficacious, Curdie had made it on the spur of themoment, or whether it was that the presence of the king andqueen gave them courage, I cannot tell; but the moment therhyme was over, they crowded on him again, and out shot ahundred long arms, with a multitude of thick nailless fingersat the end of them, to lay hold upon him. Then Curdie heavedup his
Size: 1379px × 1813px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectfairyta, bookyear1920
