"Get in! get in!" squealed the little old Garuly.
"I am too large," said Simon; "that craft will sink if I step in."
In an instant the little man whirled round and hit him three tremendous
raps over the head with his cudgel, shouting, or rather _squeaking_,
"Smaller! smaller! smaller!"
The blows made Simon's head ring, but when he recovered himself, he found
that the turtle-shell boat appeared a great deal larger than before. Not
only that, but every thing about him appeared larger. He soon discovered,
however, that he was smaller, and that that was what made other things
seem larger. For you know we measure everything by ourselves.
("Mamma doesn't," said the Chicken; "she measures with a yard-stick.")
Well, Simon prided himself on being so big, and it was not pleasant to
him to find himself suddenly become so small that a large rooster could
have looked down upon him. But he did not say any thing, for fear of old
Garuly's stick, but just got into the boat as soon as possible. The old
man got in, too, and they were soon floating down the stream. The brook
seemed like a river, and the grass upon the banks was like trees, to
Simon, now. The old Garuly guided the boat over the rapids, that seemed
frightful to Simon, and floated it down to where the cliffs were steep,
and presently came to a place where the water runs under a large rock.
Pages:
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101