The Story of the Amulet E. Nesbit (the best books to read .TXT) đ
- Author: E. Nesbit
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This advice seemed good. Soon the table was littered over with things which the children thought likely to interest the Ancient Egyptians. Anthea brought dolls, puzzle blocks, a wooden tea-service, a green leather case with NĂ©cessaire written on it in gold letters. Aunt Emma had once given it to Anthea, and it had then contained scissors, penknife, bodkin, stiletto, thimble, corkscrew, and glove-buttoner. The scissors, knife, and thimble, and penknife were, of course, lost, but the other things were there and as good as new. Cyril contributed lead soldiers, a cannon, a catapult, a tin-opener, a tie-clip, and a tennis ball, and a padlockâ âno key. Robert collected a candle (âI donât suppose they ever saw a self-fitting paraffin one,â he said), a penny Japanese pin-tray, a rubber stamp with his fatherâs name and address on it, and a piece of putty.
Jane added a key-ring, the brass handle of a poker, a pot that had held cold-cream, a smoked pearl button off her winter coat, and a keyâ âno lock.
âWe canât take all this rubbish,â said Robert, with some scorn. âWe must just each choose one thing.â
The afternoon passed very agreeably in the attempt to choose from the table the four most suitable objects. But the four children could not agree what was suitable, and at last Cyril saidâ â
âLook here, letâs each be blindfolded and reach out, and the first thing you touch you stick to.â
This was done.
Cyril touched the padlock.
Anthea got the NĂ©cessaire.
Robert clutched the candle.
Jane picked up the tie-clip.
âItâs not much,â she said. âI donât believe Ancient Egyptians wore ties.â
âNever mind,â said Anthea. âI believe itâs luckier not to really choose. In the stories itâs always the thing the woodcutterâs son picks up in the forest, and almost throws away because he thinks itâs no good, that turns out to be the magic thing in the end; or else someoneâs lost it, and he is rewarded with the hand of the Kingâs daughter in marriage.â
âI donât want any hands in marriage, thank you.â said Cyril firmly.
âNor yet me,â said Robert. âItâs always the end of the adventures when it comes to the marriage hands.â
âAre we ready?â said Anthea.
âIt is Egypt weâre going to, isnât it?â ânice Egypt?â said Jane. âI wonât go anywhere I donât know aboutâ âlike that dreadful big-wavy burning-mountain city,â she insisted.
Then the Psammead was coaxed into its bag.
âI say,â said Cyril suddenly, âIâm rather sick of kings. And people notice you so in palaces. Besides the Amuletâs sure to be in a Temple. Letâs just go among the common people, and try to work ourselves up by degrees. We might get taken on as Temple assistants.â
âLike beadles,â said Anthea, âor vergers. They must have splendid chances of stealing the Temple treasures.â
âRighto!â was the general rejoinder. The charm was held up. It grew big once again, and once again the warm golden Eastern light glowed softly beyond it.
As the children stepped through it loud and furious voices rang in their ears. They went suddenly from the quiet of Fitzroy Street dining room into a very angry Eastern crowd, a crowd much too angry to notice them. They edged through it to the wall of a house and stood there. The crowd was of men, women, and children. They were of all sorts of complexions, and pictures of them might have been coloured by any child with a shilling paintbox. The colours that child would have used for complexions would have been yellow ochre, red ochre, light red, sepia, and indian ink. But their faces were painted alreadyâ âblack eyebrows and lashes, and some red lips. The women wore a sort of pinafore with shoulder straps, and loose things wound round their heads and shoulders. The men wore very little clothingâ âfor they were the working peopleâ âand the Egyptian boys and girls wore nothing at all, unless you count the little ornaments hung on chains round their necks and waists. The children saw all this before they could hear anything distinctly. Everyone was shouting so.
But a voice sounded above the other voices, and presently it was speaking in a silence.
âComrades and fellow workers,â it said, and it was the voice of a tall, coppery-coloured man who had climbed into a chariot that had been stopped by the crowd. Its owner had bolted, muttering something about calling the Guards, and now the man spoke from it. âComrades and fellow workers, how long are we to endure the tyranny of our masters, who live in idleness and luxury on the fruit of our toil? They only give us a bare subsistence wage, and they live on the fat of the land. We labour all our lives to keep them in wanton luxury. Let us make an end of it!â
A roar of applause answered him.
âHow are you going to do it?â cried a voice.
âYou look out,â cried another, âor youâll get yourself into trouble.â
âIâve heard almost every single word of that,â whispered Robert, âin Hyde Park last Sunday!â
âLet us strike for more bread and onions and beer, and a longer midday rest,â the speaker went on. âYou are tired, you are hungry, you are thirsty. You are poor, your wives and children are pining for food. The barns of the rich are full to bursting with the corn we want, the corn our labour has grown. To the granaries!â
âTo the granaries!â cried half the crowd; but another voice shouted clear above the tumult, âTo Pharaoh! To the King! Letâs present a petition to the King! He will listen to the voice of the oppressed!â
For a moment the crowd swayed one way and anotherâ âfirst towards the granaries and then towards the palace. Then, with a rush like that of an imprisoned torrent suddenly set free, it surged along the street towards the palace, and the children were carried with
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