(原版)澳大利亞語文第三冊 LESSON 49

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LESSON 49 THE OGRE-UNCLE

THE OGRE-UNCLE

1. It wasn't going to be fun at all staying with Uncle Christopher; the children knew that from the very first minute. He only nodded at them when they arrived, and he hardly ever spoke to them afterwards. All day long he sat in his study [1] , and wrote and wrote and wrote.

2. That's what Hammond, the housekeeper, said he did, but the children began to doubt it. "No one could want to write as much as that," said Sylvia, one day. "I don't believe he's a writer at all. I don't believe he's even an uncle; I believe he's an OGRE ! Yes, I do!"

Oh dear, said Paul, who was six—two whole years younger, "Christmas Day with an Ogre [2] ! Perhaps he'll eat us both for his Christmas dinner!" and he shivered.

3. For it was nearly Christmas, and they'd come to stay for all the holidays, while mother was nursing daddy, who was very ill. It had been dreadful to let her go, but they'd done it for daddy's sake. "He wanted her badly, but he'd never have told us to stay here if he'd known about Uncle Christopher," sighed Sylvia.

4. "Or perhaps he'd have told us to run away, and hide when we got here!" suggested Paul, with wide-open eyes.

Well, that seemed a sensible thing to do if there was an Ogre in the house—to run away. Nobody could be expected to stay and be eaten for Christmas by an Ogre. "Only, where shall we go? Tomorrow's Christmas Eve, so it's almost too late," said Sylvia.

5. "There's not been a Christmas pudding to stir, nor anything!" said Paul, suddenly beginning to feel more frightened than ever, "I really think perhaps we'd better go. It would be so dreadful to be eaten."

Specially for Christmas, somehow, said Sylvia, shivering, too. And they made up their minds.

6. But when Christmas Eve came, running away wasn't so very easy. All day long, Mrs. Hammond, the housekeeper, seemed to keep them under her eye. "And you're not to go into your uncle's study—not on any account," she told them sternly. That sounded dreadful; they never did go, but just being told not to made them suddenly long to peep in.

I wonder what he's got in there, said Paul, "he's been there all day, and I know he's not writing. I heard a noise like an Ogre bellowing once. Oh. let's run away soon!"

7. But they didn't get a chance till after they were in bed. Then, when the house was quiet, and even the Ogre-Uncle had gone to bed, they slipped downstairs with a candle. The front door was locked, and the bolt was too high for them to reach. "But there's a glass door in Uncle's study; I've seen it from outside," said Sylvia. "We'll simply have to go through there!"

8. "Oh, Sylvia, don't," said Paul. "It's not a study; it's an Ogre's Den!"

We must! said Sylvia, "or we'll be eaten up." So they opened the study door.

And—just before them on the table were parcels, and parcels, and parcels; there were parcels on the carpet, and on the rug. Each one had a label on it, too, and the light of the candle helped Sylvia to read what was on them, for she simply couldn't help it. "For dear Sylvia, from Uncle Christopher," said one. "For dear Paul, from Uncle Christopher," said another. And so on, and so on; they were all for them, and all from Uncle Christopher, too. The children stared at each other and simply couldn't speak.

THE CHILDREN STARED AT EACH OTHER.

9. "And, there's a motor-car, too—a splendid one—on the rug," whispered Paul at last, "with a hooter, Sylvia. It must have been that that made the Ogre's noise this morning. I think——"

And I think—— said Sylvia, and then she quite suddenly began to cry—partly for feeling ashamed—and partly because it was such a relief to find that Uncle Christopher couldn't be an Ogre after all.

10. "Let's go back to bed again, and let's kiss Uncle Christopher hard to-morrow," she said, "just in case he guesses what we thought. Perhaps he's never learned to kiss, and that would be why he's so——. Well, we'll teach him. And I've got a pen-wiper in my drawer that I made for him before we came, only I was afraid to give it to him."

And there's a whole layer left in my chocolate-box, said Paul; "he could have those."

11. ONE! struck the clock outside. Christmas Day had begun! and, when the day was over, the children had decided that Uncle Christopher was just the nicest uncle in the world!

—ETHEL TALBOT

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[1] study: Office; room used for reading and writing.

[2] ogre: A monster who lived on human flesh.