The Water-Babies - A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby - Illustrated by W. Heath Robinson

Charles Kingsley

Description

Charles Kingsley’s classic, The Water Babies, was extremely popular in England, and was a mainstay of British children's literature for many decades. It tells the story of a young chimney sweep, Tom, who drowns in a river and is turned into a ‘water-baby’. Tom then embarks on a series of adventures and lessons underwater, and meets characters such as the major spiritual leaders of the water world, Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby, Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid, and Mother Carey.
This classic fairy tale, originally published in 1915, contains eight incredible colour illustrations and many beautiful and intricate black and white drawings by W. Heath Robinson. An English cartoonist and illustrator, best known for drawings of ridiculously complicated machines – for achieving deceptively simple objectives. Such was (and is) his fame, that the term ‘Heath Robinson’ entered the English language during the First World War, as a description of any unnecessarily complex and implausible contrivance.
Pook Press publishes rare and vintage Golden Age illustrated books, in high-quality colour editions, so that the masterful artwork and story-telling can continue to delight both young and old.

Sujets

• Contes
• Fairy Tales
• Juvenilee Fiction
• Folklore

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 18 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528782890
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE
WATER-BABIES
A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby
BY
CHARLES KINGSLEY

with illustrations by
W. HEATH ROBINSON
HE WAS A LITTLE CONCEITED ABOUT HIS FINE COLOURS AND HIS LARGE WINGS
THE WATER BABIES
LIST OF COLOURED PLATES
H E WAS A LITTLE CONCEITED ABOUT HIS FINE C OLOURS AND HIS LARGE W INGS
T HERE ARE L AND B ABIES-THEN WHY NOT W ATER -B ABIES ?
D OWN TO THE S EA, DOWN TO THE S EA !
B UT THE F AIRIES TOOK TO THE W ATER -B ABIES
T HE OTHER C HILDREN WARNED HIM
A ND T OM LOOKED UP INTO HER E YES
T HERE WOULD BE A N EW W ATER -B ABY IN S T . B RANDAN S I SLE
I HAVE BEEN SITTING HERE WAITING FOR YOU MANY A H UNDRED Y EARS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
P LAYING L EAP FROG OVER THE P OSTS
A ND SOME BECAUSE THEY WANT TO CLIMB A LPS
O N THEY WENT
T RUDGING ALONG WITH A B UNDLE AT HER B ACK
A ND BEGAN DIPPING HIS UGLY H EAD INTO THE S PRING
I WAS TOLD TO EXPECT THEE
A ND BADE THEM BEGIN IN A LOFTY AND TREMENDOUS V OICE
U P JUMPED THE LITTLE WHITE L ADY IN HER B ED
A ND GAVE C HASE TO POOR T OM
A ND GAVE C HASE TO T OM LIKEWISE
T HEN HE SAW L IZARDS
P LAY BY ME, BATHE IN ME , M OTHER AND C HILD
T HE G IRLS BEGAN TO CRY
T HE B OYS BEGAN TO LAUGH
W HAT ART THOU, AND WHAT DOST WANT? CRIED THE OLD D AME
S HE HAD STEPPED DOWN INTO THE COOL CLEAR W ATER
T HEY MAY BE JUST WHAT MAKES THE W ORLD GO ROUND
S OMEBODY WOULD HAVE CAUGHT ONE AT LEAST
P EOPLE CALL THEM P TERODACTYLES
N O W ATER-BABIES, INDEED ?
C OUSIN C RAMCHILD S A RGUMENTS
T OM WAS QUITE ALIVE, AND CLEANER, AND MERRIER THAN HE EVER HAD BEEN
W HEN ALL THE W ORLD IS YOUNG , L AD
A ND EVERY L ASS A Q UEEN
A ND LEARN YOUR M ULTIPLICATION T ABLE
N OT IN ENTIRE F ORGETFULNESS
S O HE HAD NO ONE TO SPEAK TO OR PLAY WITH
A ND JUMPED CLEAN OUT OF THE W ATER
B UT THE T HING WHIRRED UP INTO THE A IR
Q UICK , C HILDREN ; HERE IS S OMETHING TO EAT, INDEED
A ND CLAPPED HIS LITTLE H ANDS
W HAT A WELL-BRED OLD S ALMON HE WAS !
T HE WICKED OLD O TTER
A ND PERHAPS HE WOULD NEVER HAVE FOUND HIS W AY, IF THE F AIRIES HAD NOT GUIDED HIM
C OASTING ALONG THE S HORE
A ND SAT UPON A LITTLE P OINT OF R OCK
H E FELT AS STRONG, AND LIGHT, AND FRESH, AS IF HIS V EINS HAD RUN C HAMPAGNE
A ND HE SWAM ON TO THE B UOY, AND GOT UPON IT
A ND THE T ERNS HOVERED OVER T OM
T HEN THERE CAME IN A GREAT LAZY S UNFISH
A ND A VERY DISTINGUISHED L OBSTER HE WAS
P ROFESSOR P TTHMLLNSPRTS
T HERE USED TO BE C HILDREN IN THE W ATER
A ND CRIED ALL D AY
S PEARING E ELS AND SNEEZING
A ND BECAME EVER AFTER A SADDER AND WISER M AN
A ND PLAYED L EAP-FROG WITH THE T OWN C LERK
A REAL LIVE W ATER-BABY SITTING ON THE WHITE S AND
T HEY DID NOT WANT ANY I NTRODUCTIONS THERE
T HE W ATER-BABIES COME INSHORE AFTER EVERY S TORM
A ND THE F ISHES TOLD THE W ATER-BABIES
A VERY TREMENDOUS L ADY SHE WAS
T HEN SHE CALLED UP ALL THE CARELESS N URSERY-MAIDS
M ORE THAN HALF OF THEM WERE NASTY . . . OLD M ONKS
T HOU LITTLE C HILD
H E WAS ALL OVER P RICKLES
D EAR ME ! SAID THE LITTLE G IRL ; WHY , I KNOW YOU NOW
T OM ASKED HER
E LLIE WAS QUITE SURPRISED AND SAD
H E WENT TO THE TOP OF THE W ATER AND BEGAN CRYING AND SCREAMING
A ND BATHED IN THE WARM S PRINGS
I N LITTLE BESIDE A C OCKED H AT AND A PAIR OF S TRAPS, OR SOME LIGHT S UMMER T ACKLE OF THAT KIND
A ND THEY SAT UNDER THE F LAPDOODLE T REES
T HERE WERE NEVER SUCH COMFORTABLE, EASY-GOING, HAPPY-GO-LUCKY P EOPLE IN THE W ORLD
Y OU WOULD HAVE ENDED AS AN E FT IN A P OND
C OME WANDER WITH ME SHE SAID
S O HE ASKED THE B EASTS IN THE S EA
A ND A VERY GRAND OLD L ADY SHE WAS
T WO LITTLE B IRDS THEY SAT ON A S TONE
A ND THEY CAWED AND CAWED
L OOKING AS MEEK AND AS NEAT AS A Q UAKERESS
T HE G OOD C ROW
A ND FELL DOWN DEAD
A ND TURNED INTO A W ATER-DOG
A ND RAN OVER THE C RESTS OF THE W AVES
A ND SNAPPED AT THE J ELLY-FISH AND THE M ACKEREL
B UT E PIMETHEUS WAS A VERY SLOW F ELLOW
P ANDORA
O LD M OTHER S HIPTON ON HER B ROOMSTICK
H E NEVER TURNED HIS H EAD ROUND ONCE
Y E ARE BETTER THAN ALL THE B ALLADS
H E CAME TO THE GREAT S EA-SERPENT HIMSELF
T HERE P HILOSOPHERS DEMONSTRATE
H E FOUND G OTHAM, WHERE THE W ISE M EN LIVE
H E HAD A GREAT P AIR OF S PECTACLES ON HIS N OSE
S O HE TOLD HIM PRETTILY ENOUGH, WHILE THE POOR T URNIP LISTENED VERY CAREFULLY
A ND FAINTED RIGHT AWAY
T HE S UN WAS DRAWING W ATER OUT OF THE S EA
H E SAW BEFORE HIM A HUGE B UILDING
T ILL HE SAW RUNNING TOWARD HIM, AND SHOUTING S TOP ! THREE OR FOUR P EOPLE
O UT OF THE T OP OF IT, HIS H EAD AND S HOULDERS JUST SHOWING, STUCK POOR M R . G RIMES
S O SHE TIED THE B ANDAGE ON HIS E YES
T HE FIRST T HING WHICH T OM SAW WAS THE BLACK C EDARS
A ND PUT T OM S D OG UP IN HIS P LACE
T HE E ND
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII AND LAST
THE WATER BABIES

CHAPTER I
I heard a thousand blended notes;
While in a grove I sate reclined;
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think,
What man has made of man. -W ORDSWORTH .
O NCE upon a time there was a little chimney-sweep, and his name was Tom. That is a short name, and you have heard it before, so you will not have much trouble in remembering it. He lived in a great town in the North country, where there were plenty of chimneys to sweep, and plenty of money for Tom to earn and his master to spend. He could not read nor write, and did not care to do either; and he never washed himself, for there was no water up the court where he lived. He had never been taught to say his prayers. He never had heard of God, or of Christ, except in words which you never have heard, and which it would have been well if he had never heard. He cried half his time and laughed the other half. He cried when he had to climb the dark flues, rubbing his poor knees and elbows raw; and when the soot got into his eyes, which it did every day in the week; and when his master beat him, which he did every day in the week; and when he had not enough to eat, which happened every day in the week likewise. And he laughed the other half of the day, when he was tossing halfpennies with the other boys, or playing leap-frog over the posts, or bowling stones at the horses legs as they trotted by, which last was excellent fun, when there was a wall at hand behind which to hide. As for chimney-sweeping, and being hungry, and being beaten, he took all that for the way of the world, like the rain and snow and thunder, and stood manfully with his back to it till it was over, as his old donkey did to a hailstorm; and then shook his ears and was as jolly as ever; and thought of the fine times coming, when he would be a man, and a master sweep, and sit in the public-house with a quart of beer and a long pipe, and play cards for silver money, and wear velveteens and ankle-jacks, and keep a white bull-dog with one grey ear, and carry her puppies in his pocket, just like a man. And he would have apprentices, one, two, three, if he could. How he would bully them, and knock them about, just as his master did to him; and make them carry home the soot sacks, while he rode before them on his donkey, with a pipe in his mouth and a flower in his button-hole, like a king at the head of his army. Yes, there were good times coming; and, when his master let him have a pull at the leavings of his beer, Tom was the jolliest boy in the whole town.

PLAYING LEAP-FROG OVER THE POSTS.
One day a smart little groom rode into the court where Tom lived. Tom was just hiding behind a wall, to heave half a brick at his horse s legs, as is the custom of that country when they welcome strangers; but the groom saw him, and halloed to him to know where Mr. Grimes, the chimney-sweep, lived. Now, Mr. Grimes was Tom s own master, and Tom was a good man of business, and always civil to customers, so he put the half-brick down quietly behind the wall, and proceeded to take orders.
Mr. Grimes was to come up next morning to Sir John Harthover s, at the Place, for his old chimney-sweep was gone to prison, and the chimneys wanted sweeping. And so he rode away, not giving Tom time to ask what the sweep had gone to prison for, which was a matter of interest to Tom, as he had been in prison once or twice himself. Moreover, the groom looked so very neat and clean, with his drab gaiters, drab breeches, drab jacket, snow-white tie with a smart pin in it, and clean, round, ruddy face, that Tom was offended and disgusted at his appearance, and considered him a stuck-up fellow, who gave himself airs because he wore smart clothes, and other people paid for them; and went behind the wall to fetch the half-brick, after all; but did not, remembering that he had come in the way of business, and was, as it were, under a flag of truce.
His master was so delighted at his new customer that he knocked Tom down out of hand, and drank more beer that night than he usually did in two, in order to be sure of getting up in time next morning; for the more a man s head aches when he wakes, the more glad he is to turn out, and have a breath of fresh air. And, when he did get up at four the next morning, he knocked Tom down again, in order to teach him (as young gentlemen used to be taught at public schools) that he must be an extra good boy that day, as they were going to a very great house, and might make a very good thing of it, if they could but give satisfaction.
And Tom thought so likewise, and, indeed, would have done and behaved his best, even without being knocked down. For, of all places upon earth, Harthover Place (which he had never seen) was the most wonderful; and, of all men on earth, Sir John (whom he had seen, having been sent to gaol by him twice) was the most awful.
Harthover Place was really a grand place, even for the rich North country; with a house