Enid Blyton stories. by Enid blyton enid blyton, enid blyton (web ebook reader TXT) 📕

" I shall be soaked! " said Tiptoe, who had on a very thin dress of spider's thread." What shall we do? " said Longbeard. Pip helped them to think by watering them again. They caught sight of Chuckle's shop. " Look! He sells umbrellas! " they cried. " Let's get some! We'll be all right then! "Off they went and bought three expensive umbrellas. Then they set off to the palace once more, rather puzzled because the rain seemed to have completely stopped!Pip was having a glorious time. He could hardly sit still in his hiding-place, he was so excited. To think that his idea was acting so well!Other guests came along and Pip watered them all. As every one was in best clothes they all rushed to get umbrellas. Soon Chuckle hadn't a single umbrella left and he began to sell his sunshades as umbrellas. He was doing very well indeed—though his customers were rather puzzled by his giggles! But as his name was Chuckle, they thought he couldn't help giggling a bit.Now when every one arrived at the palace, complete with umbrellas, complaining of the rain, the King was most astonished." Raining! " he said. " Impossible! "" Not at all impossible, Your Majesty! " said Longbeard. " Look at my beard. It's soaked! "" But I made a special bit of magic to-day to keep the rain off," said the King. " It can't possibly rain to-day."                                 

" Well, Your Majesty, it did" said Fairy Trip. " Just as we came to the gate it poured down! "" Yes—by that big tree," said Mr. Spink. " We had to go and buy umbrellas."" It was raining as we passed under that tree too," said some one else." And it started just as I got there too," said Dame Thump. " But it didn't seem to be raining anywhere else."The King looked more and more surprised. " Well," he said, " this is astonishing. First of all, I say that it could not rain to-day, because I made a spell against rain. And then you say that it only rained under thatNot at all impossible, Your Majesty," said Longbeard.

tree—when, as every one knows, it rains all around if it rains at all, not just in one small place! This is puzzling! I must inquire into it! "The King sent the Lord High Chamberlain down to see into the matter. The Chamberlain, who was a very rich and grand man, most beautifully dressed in cloth of gold, stepped down the palace drive to the gate. Then he walked haughtily to the big tree that stood by the gate.Pip was still there. He saw the Lord High Chamberlain and grinned. My goodness, if only he could make him buy an umbrella or a sunshade— he would buy the finest one in the whole shop!He tipped up a watering-can—pitter-patter, down went the water! The Chamberlain was most astonished and annoyed. Could it be rainingafter all? He looked up at the tree.And he saw Pip's naughty, cheeky face peeping there! He knew at once what had been happening. He commanded the frigh­tened pixie to come down and he fetched Chuckle too. Holding them by their big pointed ears he took them back to the palace with him." These pixies watered every one who passed by, so that they would go and buy um­brellas," said the Lord High Chamberlain in an awful voice." Is that so? " said the King, also in a verystern voice. " Then I make a law in futureThe Chamberlain was a veryrich and grand man.that nobody in the whole of Fairyland shall buy anything from these two bad pixies. You may go, pixies."They went, crying bitterly. They knew that they would have hard work to make a living now, for nobody would buy from them. Poor Pip and Chuckle!But they soon found a job with the dandelions, who were very good to them. Do you know what they do? Guess! Yes—they make those beautiful little parachutes that are fitted to every dandelion-seed! Find a dandelion-clock and take the seeds into your hand. You will see that you have dozens of little parachutes there, made of the finest hair. Blow them into the air and see how well they fly!

Once upon a time Nobbly the Goblin quarrelled with Big-Hands the Gnome. They lived next door to one another and had always been good friends till this quarrel.It was a very silly quarrel, really. It happened that Tip-tap the butcher had called at Nobbly's with his meat, and Nobbly was out. So the butcher had left it on the window-sill—and when Nobbly came home he saw Big-Hands' cat licking the meat!He rushed in to Big-Hands' Cottage in a furious rage." That cat of yours has licked my meat! " he cried. " Smack it, Big-Hands, smack it! "" Certainly not," said Big-Hands, who was very fond of his cat. " How can you expect a cat not to lick meat if it is left on a window-sill. You should go and scold the butcher for doing such a foolish thing. Why, any other cat but mine would have stolen the meat and taken it away to eat it! I think my cat should be praised, not punished for only just Hcking the meat. It must very badly have wanted to steal it altogether! "Just at that moment the cat came in, Hcking its lips. Nobbly flew at it, and gave it a hard smack, so that it mewed in dismay and fled to a corner.Big-Hands was very angry. He rushed at Nobbly and shook him— but Nobbly was a bony person to shake. He had great bony feet and long skinny arms and a nobbly head. Big-Hands soon let him go—and then Nobbly fled to his cottage crying " I'll pay you out for this, so I will! "And he did too. He reaUy was very naughty indeed. He threw aU his rubbish over the waU into Big-Hands' garden. He Hghted his bonfire whenthe wind was blowing towards Big-Hands' cottage, so the poor gnome had his kitchen filled with smoke all day long. And he put his gramophone on very loudly indeed when he knew that Big-Hands was having his afternoon nap!This made the gnome very angry. He ran up the path to Nobbly's front-door and banged on the knocker. Nobbly wouldn't open the door, so Big-Hands stood on the doorstep and yelled at him." I'm going to punish you for all these unkind things! Yes, you look out, Nobbly! You'll be sorry for yourself, you will! I'll just show you what I can do! Grrrrrrr! "Big-Hands sounded so very fierce that Nobbly really felt rather frightened. Big-Hands did not usually lose his temper, for he was a good-natured fellow, but when he did people knew about it!Nobbly looked at Big-Hands going down the path, from behind the curtain. He saw him doubling up his big hands into fists, and shaking them, muttering angrily all the time." Oooh ! " thought Nobbly. " I'd better be careful. There's really no knowing what he might do! "So that day Nobbly didn't throw any more rubbish over the wall, and didn't set his gramophone going. He went to bed early that night, read a book for a little while and then fell fast asleep.When he woke up, the moon was shining outside his window. And, to Nobbly's great fright and horror, he suddenly saw what looked like two enormous hands sticking up at the end of his bed, looking for all the world as if they belonged to someone crouching behind the foot of the bed, ready to pounce out!Nobbly turned pale and shivered so that the bed shook very much indeed. His hair stood up on end." It's Big-Hands the Gnome come to scare me! " he groaned to him­self. " Oh my, oh my, look at those awful great hands sticking up there, ready to come at me if I so much as speak a word."Now, Nobbly had made a very great mistake. What he thought were hands were not hands at all—but simply his own great bony feet sticking up out of the bed-clothes! Nobbly was so bony that the clothes found it difficult to keep on him, and were for ever slipping off!Nobbly lay and looked at his feet, thinking all the time that they were hands, and wondering what in the world he could do to frighten away Big-Hands, whom he thought was hiding at the end of the bed. Then suddenly the moon went behind a cloud and the room became dark. Nobbly decided to creep out of bed and light his candle.He crept out, and went to the table by the wall where his candle stood. He lighted it and then held it up to see Big-Hands—but, of course, there was no one at the end of the bed at all! No—not a sign of Big-Hands the gnome! It was most puzzling!" He's gone! " said Nobbly, pleased. " Oh, what a fright he gave me, the horrid creature! What shall I do if he comes again to-morrow night? I shan't dare to go to bed! I shall go and complain to Mister Stick, the policeman."So, the next morning Nobbly went to