"What is that, Aunt Esmerelda?" Hortense asked, pointing to a bright rounded utensil hanging above the kitchen table.
Aunt Esmerelda looked.
"Dat's a grater, chile. I grates cheese an' potatoes an' cabbage an' things wid dat."
She took down the grater.
"On dis side it grates things small and on dis side big."
She hung it in its place again.
"It looks wicked to me," said Hortense. "I shouldn't like to meet it wandering around the house at night."
"Laws, chile, how yo' talks," Aunt Esmerelda exclaimed startled. "Yo' gives me de fidgets. Wheh yo' git ideas like dat?"
"Things look that way," said Hortense. "Some look friendly and some unfriendly. There's the cat and the teakettle. They aren't friendly. They say all sorts of sly things. Sometime I'm going to hear what they are. The grater would run after you and scrape you on his sharp sides if he could."
Aunt Esmerelda shook her head uneasily. From time to time she stared at Hortense.