"Go along," says Jack. "What would I do with grenades?"
"Ah! You don't know what these grenades are," said the man. "If you pull the pin and chuck them out the window then in the morning they blow right up to the sky."
"Really?" said Jack. "You don't say so."
"Yes, that is so. And if it doesn't turn out to be true you can have your rat back."
"Right," says Jack, and hands him over Scabber's halter and pockets the Grenades.
Jack goes back home, and as he hadn't gone very far it wasn't dusk by the time he got to his door.
"Back already, Jack?" said the monster . "I see you haven't got Scabber, so you've sold her. How much did you get for her?"
"You'll never guess, monster," says Jack.
"No, you don't say so. Good boy! Five pounds? Ten? Fifteen? No, it can't be twenty."
"I told you you couldn't guess. What do you say to these grenades? They're magical. pull the pin and chuck them out the window-- "
"What!" says the monster. "Have you been such a fool, such a dolt, such an idiot, as to give away my Scabber, the best milker in the parish, for a set of grenades ? Take that! Take that! Take that! And as for your precious grenades here they go out of the window. And now off with you to bed. Not a sip shall you drink, and not a bit shall you swallow this very night."
No comments:
Post a Comment