The Phoenix and the Carpet, E. Nesbit [good inspirational books .txt] 📗

said Jane: “some kings are full of interesting things, and others⁠—nothing ever happens to them, except their being born and crowned and buried, and sometimes not that.”

“I think Panther’s right,” said Cyril: “I think we are the sort of people things do happen to. I have a sort of feeling things would happen right enough if we could only give them a shove. It just wants something to start it. That’s all.”

“I wish they taught magic at school,” Jane sighed. “I believe if we could do a little magic it might make something happen.”

“I wonder how you begin?” Robert looked round the room, but he got no ideas from the faded green curtains, or the drab Venetian blinds, or the worn brown oilcloth on the floor. Even the new carpet suggested nothing, though its pattern was a very wonderful one, and always seemed as though it were just going to make you think of something.

“I could begin right enough,” said Anthea; “I’ve read lots about it. But I believe it’s wrong in the Bible.”

“It’s only wrong in the Bible because people wanted to hurt other people. I don’t see how things can be wrong unless they hurt somebody, and we don’t want to hurt anybody; and what’s more, we jolly well couldn’t if we tried. Let’s get the Ingoldsby Legends. There’s a thing about Abracadabra there,” said Cyril, yawning. “We may as well play at magic. Let’s be Knights Templars. They were awfully gone on magic. They used to work spells or something with a goat and a goose. Father says so.”

“Well, that’s all right,” said Robert, unkindly; “you can play the goat right enough, and Jane knows how to be a goose.”

“I’ll get Ingoldsby,” said Anthea, hastily. “You turn up the hearthrug.”

So they traced strange figures on the linoleum, where the hearthrug had kept it clean. They traced them with chalk that Robert had nicked from the top of the mathematical master’s desk at school. You know, of course, that it is stealing to take a new stick of chalk, but it is not wrong to take a broken piece, so long as you only take one. (I do not know the reason of this rule, nor who made it.) And they chanted all the gloomiest songs they could think of. And, of course, nothing happened. So then Anthea said, “I’m sure a magic fire ought to be made of sweet-smelling wood, and have magic gums and essences and things in it.”

“I don’t know any sweet-smelling wood, except cedar,” said Robert; “but I’ve got some ends of cedarwood lead pencil.”

So they burned the ends of lead pencil. And still nothing happened.

“Let’s burn some of the eucalyptus oil we have for our colds,” said Anthea.

And they did. It certainly smelt very strong. And they burned lumps of camphor out of the big chest. It was very bright, and made a horrid black smoke, which looked very magical. But still nothing happened. Then they got some clean tea-cloths from the dresser drawer in the kitchen, and waved them over the magic chalk-tracings, and sang the hymn of the Moravian nuns at Bethlehem, which is very impressive. And still nothing happened. So they waved more and more wildly, and Robert’s tea-cloth caught the golden egg and whisked it off the mantelpiece, and it fell into the fender and rolled under the grate.

“Oh, crikey!” said more than one voice.

And everyone instantly fell down flat on its front to look under the grate, and there lay the egg, glowing in a nest of hot ashes.

“It’s not smashed, anyhow,” said Robert, and he put his hand under the grate and picked up the egg. But the egg was much hotter than anyone would have believed it could possibly get in such a short time, and Robert had to drop it with a cry of “Bother!” It fell on the top bar of the grate, and bounced right into the glowing red-hot heart of the fire.

“The tongs!” cried Anthea. But, alas, no one could remember where they were. Everyone had forgotten that the tongs had last been used to fish up the doll’s teapot from the bottom of the water-butt, where the Lamb had dropped it. So the nursery tongs were resting between the water-butt and the dustbin, and cook refused to lend the kitchen ones.

“Never mind,” said Robert, “we’ll get it out with the poker and the shovel.”

“Oh, stop,” cried Anthea. “Look at it! Look! look! look! I do believe something is going to happen!”

For the egg was now red-hot, and inside it something was moving. Next moment there was a soft cracking sound; the egg burst in two, and out of it came a flame-coloured bird. It rested a moment among the flames, and as it rested there the four children could see it growing bigger and bigger under their eyes.

Every mouth was agape, every eye a-goggle.

The bird rose in its nest of fire, stretched its wings, and flew out into the room. It flew round and round, and round again, and where it passed the air was warm. Then it perched on the fender. The children looked at each other. Then Cyril put out a hand towards the bird. It put its head on one side and looked up at him, as you may have seen a parrot do when it is just going to speak, so that the children were hardly astonished at all when it said, “Be careful; I am not nearly cool yet.”

They were not astonished, but they were very, very much interested.

They looked at the bird, and it was certainly worth looking at. Its feathers were like gold. It was about as large as a bantam, only its beak was not at all bantam-shaped. “I believe I know what it is,” said Robert. “I’ve seen a picture.”

He hurried away. A hasty dash and scramble among the papers on father’s study table yielded, as the sum-books say, “the desired result.” But when he came back into the room