The City Curious

IN COLOUR

Facing page
Fritilla and the Red Flying-Fish [Frontispiece]
The City Curious [16]
They were known as the "Wigs" because of their Large Perukes [24]
These Creatures did not resemble Anything that Redy and Smaly had seen up to then [32]
Laptitza and Papylick [64]
Some of the Dances were very complicated [96]
Kisika in her Sedan-Chair [128]
The Picnic which followed was an Unforgettable Repast [160]

IN BLACK AND WHITE

PAGE
Redy [2]
Smaly [3]
In this Land all the Birds wore Hats and Spurs [4]
Redy's Hands were crying with Fright [6]
But he found he, too, had a Beak [7]
They sang and danced [8]
Neither the Latch nor the Hinge bore any Trace of having been bitten [10]
Looking for the Key [11]
Kangaroo-Confectioner [13]
To carry the Last Curl as though it were the End of a Train [16]
They made one want to Dance [17]
With the Spoon which every Wig carries hung from his Belt [19]
These Horses, however, were made of Sugar [20]
The Sponges [21]
To return to a Mere Shapeless Thing once again [23]
A Traveller told us [24]
Nevertheless Smaly and Redy started to help him [26]
The Grub was really the doorkeeper [27]
"We wish to have three girls" [28]
The Crow lifted him up [29]
The Crow [30]
The Mother of the Crow [31]
"She sees only one side of men, birds, and things" [32]
The Short-Legged Man [35]
Papylick [36]
Opening the Nuts and displaying the Two Little People [39]
Leading by the Hand the Chocolate Grub [40]
The Birds with their Legs encased in Cutlet Frills [41]
The Eggs running along [42]
They were Gentle and Pretty Pigs [43]
A Most Splendid Feast [44]
The Despoiler [45]
Which is in this Country a Great Sign of Mirth [46]
He fled hastily [47]
Mistigris [48]
The Young Stork [49]
Every One uttered Cries of Indignation [50]
"You can roll the cord" [51]
The Chief Contractor replied [53]
Children were built of much fewer Slices of Cake than the Grown-ups [54]
These Creatures will eat the Top off the Walls [55]
Anger [56]
It seemed to them that Men grew upwards and not towards the Ground [57]
Some very Elegant Mice [58]
One Half expressed Severe Authority, the Other was All Gentleness [60]
He decided that they must have a Similar Review every Week [62]
They had all put on Thick Gloves [63]
Wigs, who were putting the Soldiers back in their Boxes [64]
President of the Republic of Pasenipus [65]
To conduct her Back to her House, which was in a Cosy Nook in a Great Tree of Coral [67]
The Confectioner [69]
"Nevertheless it's so narrow that only one person can go through at a time" [70]
The Song went on [71]
Running hard with their Little Short Legs [73]
Soy Mill [74]
Soy Reservoir [75]
Carrying away every Object that they could lift [77]
The Prisoner [79]
The Prisoner never ceased to break the Sugar-canes [80]
The Pet Flying-Fish, which every Wig Family possesses and cherishes [83]
The Amount of Cake and Pudding eaten Annually in the Country [84]
The Elder of the Fishes [85]
The Hen [86]
This Care which the Confectioner took of Fritilla was by no Means unnecessary [88]
The Smaller Flying-Fish [89]
Dropped them through a Hole in his Beak [90]
Was sitting with One Ankle across the Knee of his Other Leg [91]
The Despoiler, who was always afraid that Some One would find out that he was only made of
Cardboard, never slept in Public [93]
"Instead of cutting his toe-nails as we do with the help of a long-handled
pair of scissors and a telescope" [96]
The King [97]
The King's Daughter [98]
The Healer [103]
Born with the Idea of One Day being a very Big Man [104]
Between them was fastened a Comfortable Arm-chair [106]
There were Newsboys selling Accounts of the Latest Disaster to the Wigs [108]
The Healer had finished his Mending [109]
Mathematician [111]
Migraine [112]
Wrapped their Handkerchiefs round their Heads [112]
"I, too, hope so," said his Wife, who had just come in [113]
Nearly all had One Leg which was much Longer than the Other, or a very Long Arm [115]
His Elongated Tail was tied to the Queue of his Wig [116]
"But only look at our arms and legs" [117]
Even more than they feared the Flies [118]
Rewards [119]
The Dwarf had pulled on a Pair of Boots [120]
The Accordion-Players began [123]
Tennis [124]
The Ball hung up thus [125]
Tea-Cosy [128]
"We're waiting for the sun to go down" [129]
Servants out Shopping followed it with their Laden Baskets on their Arms [131]
He thrust his Face into Roses covered with Dew [132]
The Executioner bandaged his Eyes [133]
Next he took some Old Cardboard Boxes [135]
Opened them and shut them again [136]
His Young Son was there [137]
The Brindled Rabbit [138]
His Little Paw shoved a Folded Slip of Paper through the Opening [139]
Then they sang a Comic Duet [140]
Then they questioned a Black Toad [141]
And fish in the Little River in the Afternoon [142]
The Thin Long Arm of the Historian [143]
Extracting Fish-bones from the Back of the Despoiler [147]
They bore a Large Copper Cauldron [148]
The Admiral was a Triton [149]
The White Dolphin with Pink Eyes [150]
An Extremely Curious Fish [151]
"A band of our rats will each morning copiously water our
fleet" [153]
Wigs were busy writing their Names [154]
A Red Flag [155]
"I have destroyed a hundred times passing over it in my
prison" [157]
"I was caught stepping right over their silly old dry canal with one stride" [158]
The Manufacturer of Cardboard Boxes [159]
A Sentinel who looked like a Dragon-Fly [163]
The Gardens were arranged after the Same Principle as the Windows in the House of the Historian [164]
A Little Red Feather, which she had picked up in the Market-Place [166]
Next the Despoiler approached [167]
The Wife of the Chief Contractor presented Kisika with a Beautiful Fan made of Paper Lace [169]
Directly they saw the Flying-Fish enter [171]
Their Two Little Heads appeared Side by Side [172]
Smaly standing on the Point of his Toes [173]
So during Three Days the Young Girls were busy making the Stairs [175]
The Red Flying-Fish carried a Large Hat and Mantle in its Claws [176]
Carrying as many of the Presents as they could [177]
Wigs themselves would have melted away directly they passed the Frontier [178]
They hung out of the Windows [179]

CHAPTER I

Smaly and his wife Redy set forth in search of three little girls: They are bewitched so that their noses turn into beaks: Smaly eats the latch of a door and Redy eats the hinge: Redy's fingers weep tears: They meet with a Confectioner who resembles a Kangaroo.