“Tick! Tock! Don’t forget to wind me!” said the old Clock.
This is Nanna, our Goat, your Majesty.
“Gustava Hen talks too much,” the fat Teapot in the corner cupboard told her daughters the Teacups. “When the Queen speaks to you, just say ‘Yes, your Majesty,’ and ‘No, your Majesty,’ and I dare say she will take you all to Court and find you handsome husbands among the Royal Coffeecups.”
“Your Majesty should see my beautiful home,” went on Gustava. “A nest of pure gold!” (She thought it was gold, but it was really yellow straw.)
“Just like my throne,” replied the Queen. “Speaking of beautiful homes, you should see my Palace! There are fifty-three rooms!” (She said this because it was the highest number she knew, for there are fifty-three cards in the pack, counting the Joker who keeps all the cards amused when they are shut up in their box. And she had seen a room in the Palace, because she had been used in a game of Skat there, once in her early youth. But that was long, long ago.)
“My throne and the King’s throne are pure gold, just like your nest, my good Gustava. And the walls are painted red and white, in swirls, like strawberries and cream. The stove has such a tall slender figure, and wears a golden crown. And then, just imagine, all the lamps are dripping with icicles at the same time that the floor is covered with blooming roses!” (For that is how she thought of the glass lusters on the lamps and the carpet on the floor.)
“Icicles! Ice! Freezing! That reminds me of our important message!” cried Nanna. “Your Snowman, Goran. He looks so dreadfully cold out there, we were afraid he would perish.”
“Oh, yes! How could we have forgotten for so long! Cluck! Cluck! Cluck! He will certainly be frozen to death unless something is done quickly!”