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The Paradise of Children (From: "A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys") By: Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) |
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By Nathaniel Hawthorne
THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN CONTENTS: TANGLEWOOD PLAY ROOM Introductory to "The Paradise of Children"
THE PARADISE OF CHILDREN
TANGLEWOOD PLAY ROOM After the Story
TANGLEWOOD PLAY ROOM. The golden days of October passed away, as so many other Octobers have,
and brown November likewise, and the greater part of chill December,
too. At last came merry Christmas, and Eustace Bright along with it,
making it all the merrier by his presence. And, the day after his
arrival from college, there came a mighty snow storm. Up to this time,
the winter had held back, and had given us a good many mild days, which
were like smiles upon its wrinkled visage. The grass had kept itself
green, in sheltered places, such as the nooks of southern hill slopes,
and along the lee of the stone fences. It was but a week or two ago,
and since the beginning of the month, that the children had found a
dandelion in bloom, on the margin of Shadow Brook, where it glides out
of the dell. But no more green grass and dandelions now. This was such a snow storm!
Twenty miles of it might have been visible at once, between the windows
of Tanglewood and the dome of Taconic, had it been possible to see so
far, among the eddying drifts that whitened all the atmosphere. It
seemed as if the hills were giants, and were flinging monstrous handfuls
of snow at one another, in their enormous sport. So thick were the
fluttering snow flakes, that even the trees, midway down the valley,
were hidden by them the greater part of the time. Sometimes, it is
true, the little prisoners of Tanglewood could discern a dim outline of
Monument Mountain, and the smooth whiteness of the frozen lake at its
base, and the black or gray tracts of woodland in the nearer landscape.
But these were merely peeps through the tempest. Nevertheless, the children rejoiced greatly in the snowstorm. They had
already made acquaintance with it, by tumbling heels over head into its
highest drifts, and flinging snow at one another, as we have just
fancied the Berkshire mountains to be doing. And now they had come back
to their spacious play room, which was as big as the great drawing room,
and was lumbered with all sorts of playthings, large and small. The
biggest was a rocking horse, that looked like a real pony; and there was
a whole family of wooden, waxen, plaster, and china dolls, besides
rag babies; and blocks enough to build Bunker Hill Monument, and nine pins,
and balls, and humming tops, and battledores, and grace sticks, and
skipping ropes, and more of such valuable property than I could tell of
in a printed page. But the children liked the snow storm better than
them all. It suggested so many brisk enjoyments for to morrow, and all
the remainder of the winter. The sleigh ride; the slides down hill into
the valley; the snow images that were to be shaped out; the snow fortresses
that were to be built; and the snow balling to be carried on! So the little folks blessed the snow storm, and were glad to see it come
thicker and thicker, and watched hopefully the long drift that was
piling itself up in the avenue, and was already higher than any of their
heads. "Why, we shall be blocked up till spring!" cried they, with the hugest
delight. "What a pity that the house is too high to be quite covered
up! The little red house, down yonder, will be buried up to its eaves." "You silly children, what do you want of more snow?" asked Eustace, who,
tired of some novel that he was skimming through, had strolled into the
play room. "It has done mischief enough already, by spoiling the only
skating that I could hope for through the winter. We shall see nothing
more of the lake till April; and this was to have been my first day upon
it! Don't you pity me, Primrose?" "O, to be sure!" answered Primrose, laughing. "But, for your comfort,
we will listen to another of your old stories, such as you told us
under the porch, and down in the hollow, by Shadow Brook... Continue reading book >>
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