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Speaker 1: Snap dragons. Mister and Missus Scratch. Once upon a time

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there lived a certain family of the name of Scratch.

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It has a Russian or Polish look, and yet they

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most certainly lived in England. They were remarkable for the

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following peculiarity. They seldom seriously quarreled, but they never agreed

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about anything. It is hard to say whether it were

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more painful for their friends to hear them constantly contradicting

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each other, or gratifying to discover that it meant nothing

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and was only their way. It began with the father

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and mother. They were a worthy couple and really attached

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to each other, but they had a habit of contradicting

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each other's statements and opposing each other's opinions, which, though

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mutually understood and allowed for in private, was most trying

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to the bystanders. In public. If one related an anecdote,

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the other would break in with half a dozen corrections

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of trivial details of no interest or importance to anyone

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the speakers included. For instance, suppose the two dining in

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a strange house, a Missus Scratch seated by the host

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and contributing to the small talk of the dinner table. Thus, Oh, yes,

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very changeable weather. Indeed, it looked quite promising yesterday morning

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in the town. But it began to rain at noon

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a quarter past eleven, My dear, mister Scratch's voice would

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be heard to say from several chairs down, in the

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corrective tones of a husband and father. And really, my dear,

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so far from being a promising morning, I must say,

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it looked about as threatening as it well could. Good.

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Your memory is not always accurate in small matters, my love,

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But missus Scratch had not been a wife a mother

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for fifteen years to be snuffed out at one snap

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of the marital snuffers. As mister Scratch leaned forward in

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his chair, she leaned forward in hers and defended herself

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across the intervening couples. Why, my dear, mister Scratch, you

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said yourself the weather had not been so promising for

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a week. What I said, my dear, pardon me, was

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that the barometer was higher than it had been for

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a week. But as you might have observed if these

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details were in your line, my love, which they are not,

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the rise was extraordinarily rapid, and there is no surer

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sign of unsettled weather. But miss Miss Scratch is apt

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to forget these unimportant trifles, he added, with a comprehensive

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smile round the dinner table. Her thoughts are very properly

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absorbed by the more important domestic questions of the nursery. Now,

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I think that's rather unfair on mister Scratch's part. Missus

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Scratchwood chirp with a smile, quite as affable and general

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as her husband's. I'm sure he's quite as forgetful and

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inaccurate as I am. And I don't think my memory

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is at all a bad one. You forgot the dinner

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hour when we were going out to dine last week, nevertheless,

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said mister Scratch. And you couldn't help me when I

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asked you, was the sprightly retort. And I'm sure it's

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not like you to forget anything about dinner, my dear.

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The letter was addressed to you, said mister Scrat. I

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sent it to you by Jemima, said missus Scratch. I

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didn't read it, said mister Scratch. Well you burnt it,

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said missus Scratch. And as I always say, there's nothing

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more foolish than burning a letter of invitation before the day,

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for when it's certain to forget. I've no doubt you

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always do say it, mister Scratch remarked with a smile,

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But I certainly never remember to have heard the observation

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from your lips, my love, whose memories in fault? There?

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Asked Missus Scratch triumphantly, And as at this point the

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ladies rose, Missus Scratch had the last word. Indeed, as

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may be gathered from this conversation, Missus Scratch was quite

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able to defend herself. When she was yet a bride

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and young and timid, she used to collapse where mister

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Scratch contradicted her statements and set her stories straight in public.

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Then she hardly ever opened her lips without disappearing under

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the domestic extinguisher. But in the course of fifteen years

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she had learned that mister Scratch's bark was a great

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deal worse than his bite, if indeed he had a

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bite at all. Thus, snubs that made other people's ears

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tingle had no effect whatever on the lady to whom

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they were addressed, for she knew exactly what they were worth,

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and had by this time become fairly adept at snapping

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in return. In the days when she succumbed, she was

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occasionally unhappy, but now she and her husband understood each other,

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and having agreed to differ, they unfortunately agreed also to

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differ in public. Indeed, it was the bystanders who had

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the worst of it on these occasions. To the worthy

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couple themselves. The habit had become second nature and in

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no way affected the friendly tenor of their domestic relations.

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They would interfere with each other's conversation, contradicting assertions and

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disputing conclusions for a whole evening. And then, when all

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the world and his wife thought that these ceaseless sparks

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of bickering must blaze up into a flaming quarrel, as

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soon as they were alone, they would bowl amiably home

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in a cab, criticizing the friends who were commenting upon them,

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and as little agreed about the events of the evening

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as about the details of any other events whatsoever. Yes,

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the bystanders certainly had the worst of it. Those who

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were near wished themselves anywhere else, especially when appealed to

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Those who were at a distance did not mind so much.

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A domestic squabble at a certain distance is interesting, like

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an engagement viewed from a point beyond the range of guns.

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In such a position one may some day be placed oneself. Moreover,

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it gives a touch of excitement to a dull evening

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to be able to say, sought a vote, chay to

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one's neighbor. Do listen, The scratches are at it again.

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Their unmarried friends thought a terrible abyss of tyranny and

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aggravation must lie beneath it all, and bless their stars

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that they were still single and able to tell a

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tale their own way. The married ones had more idea

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of how it really was, and wished, in the name

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of common sense and good taste, that Scratch and his

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wife would not make fools of themselves. So it went on, however,

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and so I suppose it goes on still, for not

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many habits are cured in middle Age. On certain questions

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of comparatives speaking, their views were never identical, such as

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the temperature being hot or cold, things being light or dark,

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the apple tarts being sweet or sour. So one day

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mister Scratch came into the room, rubbing his hands and

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planting himself at the fire with bitterly cold it is

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to day to be sure, why my dear William said

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missus scratch, I'm sure you must have got a cold.

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I feel a fire quite oppressive myself. You were wishing

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you to seal skin jacket yesterday when it wasn't half

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as cold as it is to day, said mister Scratch.

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My dear William, Why the children were shivering the whole

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day and the wind was in the north due east,

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missus Scratch, I know by the moke, said missus Scratch, softly,

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but decidedly. I fancy I can tell an east wind

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when I feel it, said mister Scratch, jocosely to the company.

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I told jermy matter, look at the weathercock, murmured missus Scratch.

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I don't care a fig for Jemima, said her husband.

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On another occasion, Missus Scratch and the lady friend were conversing.

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We met him at the smith's. A gentleman like, agreeable man,

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about forty, said missus Scratch, in reference to some matter

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interesting to both ladies. Not a day over thirty five,

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said mister Scratch from behind his newspaper. Why, my dear William,

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his hair's gray, said missus Scratch. Plenty of men are

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gray at thirty, said mister Scratch. I knew a man

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who was gray at twenty five, well, forty or thirty five.

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It doesn't much matter, said missus Scratch, about to resume

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her narration. Five years matter a good deal to most

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people at thirty five, said mister Scratch, as he walked

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towards the door. They would make a remarkable difference to me,

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I know, And with a jocular air, mister Scratch departed,

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and Missus Scratch had the rest of the anecdote her

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own way. The little scratches. The spirit of contradiction finds

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a place in most nurseries, though to a varying degree

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in different ones. Children snap and snile by nature like

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young puppies, and most of us can remember taking part

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in some such spirited dialogs as the following, I will

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you dn't you can't. I dare you shall? I shall

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tell them, Ah, you won't. I don't care if you do.

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It is the part of wise parents to repress these

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squibs and crackers of juvenile contention, and to enforce that

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slowly learned lesson that in this world one must often

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pass over and put up with things in other people.

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Being oneself by no means perfect. Also that it is

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a kindness and almost a duty to let people think

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and say and do things in their own way occasionally.

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But even if mister and missus Scratch had ever thought

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of teaching all this to their children, it must be

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confessed that the lesson would not have come with a

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good grace from either of them, since they snapped and

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snarled between themselves as much or more than their children.

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In the nursery. The two eldest were the leaders in

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the nursery squabble. Between these, a boy and a girl,

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a ceaseless war of words was waged from morning to night.

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And as neither of them lacked ready wit, and both

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were in constant practice, the art of snapping was cultivated

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by them to the highest pitch. It began at breakfast,

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if not sooner. You've taken my chair. It's not your chair,

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you know, it's the one I like, And it was

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in my place. How do you know it was in

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your place? Never mind? I do know, No, you don't. Yes,

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I do. Suppose I say it was in my place.

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You can't, for it wasn't. I can if I like, well,

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was it? Shan't tell you? Ah? That shows it wasn't. No,

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it doesn't, Yes, it does. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

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The direction of their daily walks was a fruitful of

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deference of opinion. Let's go on the common today, nurse. Oh,

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don't let's go there. We're always going on the Common.

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I'm sure we're not. We've not been there for ever

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so long. Oh what a story we were there on Wednesday.

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Let's go down Gypsy Lane. We never go down Gypsy Lane.

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Why we're always going down Gypsy Lane and there's nothing

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to see there. I don't care. I won't go on

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the Common, and I shall go and get Papa and

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say we're to go down gypsy lane. I can run

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faster than you. That's very sneaking, But I don't care, Papa, Papa.

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Polly's called me a sneak. No I didn't, Papa, you did, No,

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I didn't. I only said it was sneaking of you

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to say you'd run faster than me and get Papa

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to say we were to go down gypsy Lane. Then

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you did call him sneaking, said mister scratch. And you're

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a very naughty, ill manner little girl. You're getting very troublesome, Polly,

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and I shall have to send you to school where

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you'll be kept in order go where your brother wishes

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at once. For Polly and her brother had reached an

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age when it was convenient, if possible, to throw the

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blame of all nursery differences on Polly. In families where

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domestic discipline is rather fractious than firm, there comes a

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stage when the girls almost invariably go to the wall

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because they will stand snubbing and the boys will not.

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Domestic authority, like some other powers, is apt to be

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magnified on the weaker class. But mister Scratch would not

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always listen, even to Harry. If you don't give it

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me back directly, I'll tell about your eating the two

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magnum bonums in the kitchen garden, and on Sunday, said

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Master Harry, on one occasion, tell tale, tit. Your tongue

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shall be slit, and every dog in the town shall

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have a little bit quoited. His sister. Ah, you've called

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me a tell tale. Now I'll go and tell Papa

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you got into a fine scrape for calling me names

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the other day. Go then, I don't care. You wouldn't

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like me to go. I know you dn't. That's what

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it is. I dare, then, why don't you? Oh, I

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am going, but you'll see what will be the end

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of it. Polly, however, had her own reasons for remaining stolid,

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and Harry started, but when he reached the landing, he paused.

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Mister Scratch had especially announced that morning that he did

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not wish to be disturbed, and though he was a favorite,

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Harry had no desire to invade the dining room at

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this crisis. So he returned to the nursery and said,

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with a magnanimous air, I don't want to get you

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into a scrape, Polly. If you'll beg my pardon, I

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won't go. I'm sure I shan't, said Polly, who was

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equally well informed as to the position of affairs at headquarters.

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Go if you dare. I won't if you want me not,

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said Harry, discreetly, waving the question of apologies. But I'd

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rather you went, said the obdurate Polly. You're always telling tales.

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Go and till now if you're not afraid. So Harry went,

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but at the bottom of the stairs he lingered again

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and was meditating how to return with most credit to

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his dignity, when Polly's face appeared through the banisters, and

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Polly's sharp tongue goaded him on. Ah, I see you,

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you're stopping. You daren't go, I dare, said Harry, And

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at last he went. As he turned the handle of

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the door, mister scratch turned round. Please Papa, Harry began.

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Get away with you, cried mister scratch. Didn't I tell

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you I was not to be disturbed this morning? What

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00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:21,400
an extraw? But Harry had shut the door and withdrawn precipitately.

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Once outside, he returned to the nursery with dignified steps

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and an air of apparent satisfaction, saying, you're to give

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me the bricks? Please? Who says so? Why? Who should

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00:17:36,799 --> 00:17:40,400
say so? Where have I been, pray? I don't know,

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and I don't care. I've been to Papa there. Did

240
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he say I was to give up the bricks? I've

241
00:17:47,799 --> 00:17:51,680
told you, No, you've not. I shan't tell you any more.

242
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Then I'll go to Papa and ask. Go by all means,

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I won't if you tell me, truly, I sh aun't

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tell you anything. Go and ask if you dare, said Harry,

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only too glad to have the tables turned. Polly's expedition

246
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,480
met with the same fate, and she attempted to cover

247
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her retreat in a similar manner. Ah, you didn't tell

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I don't believe you, asked Papa, don't you very well? Well?

249
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Did you never mind? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Meanwhile,

250
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mister Scratch scolded Missus Scratch for not keeping the children

251
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in better order, and Missus Scratch said it was quite

252
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impossible to do so when mister Scratch spoiled Harry as

253
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he did and weakened her Missus Scratch's authority by constant interference.

254
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Differences of sex gave point to many of these nursery squabbles,

255
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as it so often does to domestic broils. Boys will

256
00:18:59,759 --> 00:19:04,319
never do what they're asked, Polly would complain, girls are

257
00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:10,000
such unreasonable things. Was Harry's retort, not half so unreasonable

258
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as the things you ask Ah, that's a different thing.

259
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Women have got to do what men tell them, whether

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it's reasonable or not. No, they've not, said Polly. At

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least that's only husbands and wives. All women are inferior animals,

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said Harry. Try ordering mamma to do what you want

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and see, said Polly. Men have got to give orders

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and women have to obey, said Harry, falling back on

265
00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:42,400
the general principle. And when I get a wife, I'll

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take care, I make her do what I tell her.

267
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But you'll have to obey your husband. When you get one.

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I won't have a husband. Then I can do as

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I like. Oh won't you? You'll try to get one.

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I know girls always want to be married. I'm sure.

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I don't know why, said Polly. They must have had

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enough of men if they have brothers. And so they

273
00:20:07,319 --> 00:20:11,039
went on add in for nitum, with ceaseless arguments that

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proved nothing and convinced nobody, and a continual stream of

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contradiction that just fell short of downright quarreling. Indeed, there

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00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,119
was a kind of snapping even less near to a

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dispute than in the cases just mentioned. The little Scratches,

278
00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:34,279
like some other children, were under the unfortunate delusion that

279
00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,920
it sounds clever to hear little boys and girls snap

280
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each other up with smart sayings and old and rather

281
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:46,240
vulgar plays upon words as these. I'll give you a

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00:20:46,319 --> 00:20:50,759
Christmas box, which ear will you have it on? I

283
00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,519
won't stand it, pray, take a chair. You shall have

284
00:20:54,559 --> 00:20:58,240
it to morrow? To morrow, never comes, and so if

285
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a visitor kindly began to talked to one of the children,

286
00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,079
another was sure to draw near and take up all

287
00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:09,400
the first child's answers with smart comments and catches that

288
00:21:09,519 --> 00:21:14,160
sounded as silly as they were. Tiresome and impertinent and

289
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:18,599
ill mannered as this was, Mister and Missus Scratch never

290
00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:21,720
put a stop to it. Indeed, it was only a

291
00:21:21,799 --> 00:21:26,279
caricature of what they did themselves. But they often said,

292
00:21:26,519 --> 00:21:30,400
we can't think how it is that children are always squabbling,

293
00:21:32,559 --> 00:21:36,920
the Scratch's dog and the hot tempered gentleman. It is

294
00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:40,240
wonderful how the state of mind of a whole household

295
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,200
is influenced by the heads of it. Mister Scratch was

296
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,640
a very kind master, and Missus Scratch was a very

297
00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:52,319
kind mistress, And yet their servants lived in a perpetual

298
00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:57,480
fever of irritability that just fell short of discontent. They

299
00:21:57,599 --> 00:22:01,119
jostled each other on the back stairs, said sharp things

300
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,799
in the pantry, and kept up a perennial warfare on

301
00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,319
the subject of the duty of the sexes. With the

302
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:13,599
general manservant. They gave warning on the slightest provocation. The

303
00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:18,000
very dog was infected by the snapping mania. He was

304
00:22:18,079 --> 00:22:20,880
not a brave dog, he was not a vicious dog,

305
00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:26,079
and no high breeding sanctioned his pretensions to arrogance. But

306
00:22:26,599 --> 00:22:30,240
like his owners, he had contracted a bad habit, a

307
00:22:30,279 --> 00:22:34,119
trick which made him the pest of all timid visitors,

308
00:22:34,599 --> 00:22:40,079
and indeed of all visitors whatsoever. The moment anyone approached

309
00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:43,519
the house. On certain occasions, when he was spoken to,

310
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:47,960
and often in no traceable connection with any cause at all,

311
00:22:48,799 --> 00:22:52,559
Snap the mongrel would rush out and bark in his

312
00:22:52,759 --> 00:22:57,240
sharp little voice, Yap, yap yap. If the visitor made

313
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a stand, he would bound away sideways on his four

314
00:23:00,839 --> 00:23:04,039
little legs. But the moment the visitor went on his

315
00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:08,319
way again, Snap was at his heels. Yap, yap, yap.

316
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:13,039
He barked at the milkman, the butcher's boy, and the baker,

317
00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,680
though he saw them every day. He never got used

318
00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:20,039
to the washerwoman, and she never got used to him.

319
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:23,640
She said, he put her in mind of that there

320
00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:28,160
black dog in the pilgrim's progress. He sat at the

321
00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,480
gate in summer and yapped at every vehicle and every

322
00:23:31,599 --> 00:23:35,440
pedestrian who ventured to pass on the high road. He

323
00:23:35,519 --> 00:23:38,559
never but once had the chance of barking at burglars,

324
00:23:38,759 --> 00:23:42,799
and then though he barked long and loud, nobody got up,

325
00:23:43,039 --> 00:23:47,799
for they said it's only Snap's way. The Scratches lost

326
00:23:47,799 --> 00:23:53,279
a silver teapot, a Stilton cheese, and two electro christening

327
00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:58,359
mugs on this occasion, and mister and Missus Scratch dispute

328
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:02,079
who it was who discouraged reliance on Snap's warning to

329
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:08,200
the present day. One Christmas time, a certain hot tempered

330
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:13,480
gentleman came to visit the Scratches, a tall, sandy, energetic

331
00:24:13,559 --> 00:24:16,640
young man who carried his own bag from the railway.

332
00:24:17,559 --> 00:24:21,200
The bag had been crammed rather than packed after the

333
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:24,400
wont of bachelor's and you could see where the heel

334
00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:28,039
of a boot distended the leather, and where the bottle

335
00:24:28,079 --> 00:24:31,839
of shaving cream lay. As he came up to the house,

336
00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:37,759
out came Snap, as usual, Yap, Yap, yap. Now the

337
00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:41,759
gentleman was very fond of dogs, and he had borne

338
00:24:41,799 --> 00:24:45,599
this greeting some dozen of times from Snap, who, for

339
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,599
his part, knew the visitor quite as well as the washerwoman,

340
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:56,039
and rather better than the butcher's boy. The gentleman had good, sensible,

341
00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:00,000
well behaved dogs, of his own, and was greatly discussed

342
00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:06,400
with Snap's conduct. Nevertheless, he spoke friendly to him, and Snap,

343
00:25:06,839 --> 00:25:10,039
who had had many a bit from his plate, could

344
00:25:10,039 --> 00:25:12,440
not help stopping for a minute to lick his hand.

345
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,480
But no sooner did the gentleman proceed on his way

346
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:21,880
than Snap flew at his heels in the usual fashion yup, yup, yup,

347
00:25:23,079 --> 00:25:27,200
on which the gentleman, being hot tempered, and one of

348
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:30,000
those people with whom it is as they say, a

349
00:25:30,079 --> 00:25:33,359
word and a blow, and the blow first made a

350
00:25:33,519 --> 00:25:37,440
dash at Snap, and Snap, taking to his heels, the

351
00:25:37,559 --> 00:25:41,440
gentleman flung his carpet bag after him. The bottle of

352
00:25:41,519 --> 00:25:45,480
shaving cream hit upon a stone and was smashed. The

353
00:25:45,519 --> 00:25:48,359
heel of the boot caught Snap on the back and

354
00:25:48,519 --> 00:25:52,359
sent him squealing to the kitchen. And he never barked

355
00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:58,519
at that gentleman again. If the gentleman disapproved of Snap's conduct,

356
00:25:59,279 --> 00:26:03,160
he still like less the continual snapping of the Scratch

357
00:26:03,279 --> 00:26:07,599
family themselves. He was an old friend of mister and

358
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,960
missus Scratch, however, and knew that they were really happy together,

359
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,079
and it was only a bad habit which made them

360
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,400
constantly contradict each other. It was in allusion to their

361
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:23,680
real affection for each other and their perpetual disputing that

362
00:26:23,839 --> 00:26:28,680
he called them the snapping turtles. When the war of

363
00:26:28,799 --> 00:26:32,359
words waxed hottest at the dinner table between his host

364
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:36,200
and hostess, he would drive his hands through his shock

365
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:39,519
of sandy hair and say, with a comical glance out

366
00:26:39,519 --> 00:26:43,319
of his umber eyes, don't flirt, my friends. It makes

367
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:48,759
a bachelor feel awkward, and neither mister nor missus scratch

368
00:26:48,839 --> 00:26:53,519
could help laughing with the little scratches. His measures were

369
00:26:53,559 --> 00:26:57,480
more vigorous. He was very fond of children and a

370
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,079
good friend to them. He grudged no time or trouble

371
00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,319
to help them in their games and projects, but he

372
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,759
would not tolerate their snapping up each other's words in

373
00:27:07,839 --> 00:27:12,759
his presence. He was much more truly kind than many visitors,

374
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,960
who think it polite to smile at the sauciness and

375
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:21,119
forwardness which ignorant vanity leads children so often to show

376
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:27,359
off before strangers. The civil acquaintances only abuse both children

377
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:31,680
and parents behind their backs for the very bad habits

378
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:36,920
which they helped to encourage. The hot tempered gentleman's treatment

379
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,400
of his young friends was very different. One day, he

380
00:27:41,559 --> 00:27:45,480
was talking to Polly and making some kind inquiries about

381
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:49,640
her lessons, to which she was replying in a quiet

382
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:54,400
and sensible fashion, when up came Master Harry and began

383
00:27:54,519 --> 00:27:58,480
to display his wit by comments on the conversation and

384
00:27:58,599 --> 00:28:03,160
by snapping at and contradicting his sister's remarks, to which

385
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:08,720
she retorted, and the usual snap dialog went on as usual.

386
00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:13,240
Then you like music, said the hot tempered gentleman. Yes,

387
00:28:13,319 --> 00:28:16,559
I like it very much, said Polly. Oh, do you

388
00:28:16,839 --> 00:28:20,480
Harry broke In? Then what are you always crying over it?

389
00:28:20,559 --> 00:28:25,039
For I'm not always crying over it? Yes you are, No,

390
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,599
I'm not. I only cry sometimes when I stick fast.

391
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:32,960
Your music must be very sticky, for you're always stuck fast.

392
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,839
Hold your tongue, said the hot tempered gentleman, with what

393
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,960
he imagined to be a very waggish air. Harry put

394
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,480
out his tongue and held it with his finger and thumb.

395
00:28:46,279 --> 00:28:49,599
It was unfortunate that he had not time to draw

396
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,759
it in again before the hot tempered gentleman gave him

397
00:28:52,799 --> 00:28:56,240
a stinging box on the ear, which brought his teeth

398
00:28:56,559 --> 00:28:59,599
rather sharply together on the tip of his tongue, which

399
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:05,559
was in consequence. It's no use speaking, said the hot

400
00:29:05,559 --> 00:29:10,759
temper gentleman, driving his hand through his hair. Children are

401
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,640
like dogs, They are very good judges of their real friends.

402
00:29:15,359 --> 00:29:18,599
Harry did not like the hot temper gentleman a bit

403
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:21,920
the less, because he was obliged to respect and obey him,

404
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:26,400
and all the children welcomed him boisterously when he arrived

405
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,599
that Christmas, which we have spoken of in connection with

406
00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:34,160
his attack on Snap. It was on the morning of

407
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:39,119
Christmas Eve that the China punch bowl was broken. Mister

408
00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:43,079
Scratch had a warm dispute with Missus Scratch as to

409
00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,799
whether it had been kept in a safe place, after

410
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,960
which both had a brisk encounter with the housemaid, who

411
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,839
did not know how it happened, and she, flouncing down

412
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:58,799
the back passage, kicked Snap, who forthwith flew at the

413
00:29:58,839 --> 00:30:01,920
gardener as he wasinging in the horseradish for the beef,

414
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:06,440
who stepped backwards trod upon the cat, who spat and

415
00:30:06,559 --> 00:30:09,240
swore and went up the pump with her tail as

416
00:30:09,319 --> 00:30:14,559
big as a fox's brush. To avoid this domestic scene,

417
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:19,000
the hot tempered gentleman withdrew to the breakfast room and

418
00:30:19,079 --> 00:30:23,400
took up a newspaper. By and by, Harry and Polly

419
00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:27,000
came in, and they were soon snapping comfortably over their

420
00:30:27,039 --> 00:30:31,880
own affairs in a corner. The hot tempered gentleman's umber

421
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,960
eyes had been looking over the top of his newspaper

422
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:39,960
at them for some time before he called Harry, my boy,

423
00:30:40,799 --> 00:30:44,480
and Harry came up to him. Show me your tongue.

424
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:49,119
Harry said he what for? Said Harry, You're not a doctor.

425
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:53,240
Do as I tell you, said the hot tempered gentleman,

426
00:30:54,039 --> 00:30:57,880
and as Harry saw his hand moving, he put his

427
00:30:58,039 --> 00:31:05,079
tongue out with all possible haste. The hot temper gentleman sighed, ah,

428
00:31:05,119 --> 00:31:11,119
he said, in depressed tones, I thought, so, Polly, come

429
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:15,480
and let me look at yours. Polly, who had crept

430
00:31:15,559 --> 00:31:19,400
up during this process, now put out hers. But the

431
00:31:19,519 --> 00:31:24,319
hot tempered gentleman looked gloomier still and shook his head.

432
00:31:25,519 --> 00:31:28,440
What is it? Cried both the children, what do you mean?

433
00:31:29,359 --> 00:31:31,920
And they seized the tips of their tongues in their

434
00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:37,119
fingers to feel for themselves. But the hot tempered gentleman

435
00:31:37,279 --> 00:31:41,039
went slowly out of the room without answering, passing his

436
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:46,240
hands through his hair and saying ah hum, and nodding

437
00:31:46,279 --> 00:31:51,160
with an air of grave foreboding. Just as he crossed

438
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,480
the threshold, he turned back and put his head into

439
00:31:54,519 --> 00:31:58,200
the room. Have you ever noticed that your tongues are

440
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:02,920
growing pointed? He asked? No, cried the children in alarm.

441
00:32:03,359 --> 00:32:08,119
Are they if ever you find them becoming forked? Said

442
00:32:08,119 --> 00:32:13,880
the gentleman in solemn tones, let me know, with which

443
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:20,039
he departed, gravely, shaking his head. In the afternoon, the

444
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:23,839
children attacked him again. Do tell us what's the matter

445
00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:28,319
with our tongues. You were snapping and squabbling just as

446
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:34,400
usual this morning, said the hot tempered gentleman. Well we forgot,

447
00:32:34,519 --> 00:32:37,920
said Polly. We don't mean anything, you know, But never

448
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,680
mind that. Now, please tell us about our tongues. What

449
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:45,359
is going to happen to them? I am very much afraid,

450
00:32:45,759 --> 00:32:50,599
said the hot tempered gentleman, in solemn, measured tones. That

451
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:55,039
you are both of you fast going to the dogs,

452
00:32:55,400 --> 00:33:00,799
suggested Harry, who was learned in cant expressions. Dogs, said

453
00:33:00,839 --> 00:33:04,039
the hot temper gentleman, driving his hands through his hair.

454
00:33:04,759 --> 00:33:09,359
Bless your life. No nursing half so pleasant, that is,

455
00:33:09,799 --> 00:33:13,880
unless all dogs were like snap, which mercifully they are not.

456
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:18,480
No my sad fear is that you are both of

457
00:33:18,519 --> 00:33:25,960
you rapidly going to the snap dragons. And not another

458
00:33:26,079 --> 00:33:29,440
word would the hot tempered gentleman say on the subject.

459
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:36,000
Christmas Eve, in the course of a few hours, mister

460
00:33:36,119 --> 00:33:41,279
and missus Scratch recovered their equanimity. The punch was brewed

461
00:33:41,319 --> 00:33:44,400
in a jug and tasted quite as good as usual.

462
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:49,279
The evening was very lively. There were a Christmas tree,

463
00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:54,799
Yule cakes, log and candles, firmity and snap dragon. After supper,

464
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:58,920
when the company was tired of the tree and had

465
00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:02,640
gained an appetite by the hard exercise of stretching to

466
00:34:02,759 --> 00:34:07,960
high branches, blowing out dangerous tapers, and cutting ribbon and

467
00:34:08,039 --> 00:34:13,039
pack thread in all directions, supper came with its welcome

468
00:34:13,199 --> 00:34:17,599
cakes and firmity in punch. And when firmity somewhat palled

469
00:34:17,679 --> 00:34:21,320
upon the taste, it must be admitted to boast more

470
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:25,800
sentiment than flavor. As a Christmas dish, the Yule candles

471
00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:29,039
were blown out, and both the spirits and the paletts

472
00:34:29,039 --> 00:34:33,440
of the party were stimulated by the mysterious and pungent

473
00:34:33,559 --> 00:34:38,840
pleasures of snap dragon. Then, as the hot temper gentleman

474
00:34:39,119 --> 00:34:43,159
warmed his coat tails at the eulog A grim smile

475
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,480
stole over his features as he listened to the sounds

476
00:34:46,519 --> 00:34:50,960
in the room. In the darkness, the blue flames leaped

477
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:55,599
and danced. The raisins were snapped and snatched from hand

478
00:34:55,639 --> 00:35:00,440
to hand, scattering fragments of flame hither and thither. The

479
00:35:00,599 --> 00:35:04,679
children shouted as the fiery sweetmeats burnt away the mawkish

480
00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:08,800
taste of the firmity. Mister Scratch cried that they were

481
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:13,159
spoiling the carpet. Missus Scratch complained that he had spilt

482
00:35:13,199 --> 00:35:17,760
some brandy on her dress. Mister Scratch retorted that she

483
00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:21,119
should not wear dresses so susceptible of damage. In the

484
00:35:21,199 --> 00:35:25,960
family circle, Missus Scratch recalled an old speech of mister

485
00:35:26,079 --> 00:35:29,360
Scratch on the subject of wearing one's nice things for

486
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:32,800
the benefit of one's family, and not reserving them for visitors.

487
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:38,480
Miss Scratch remembered that Missus Scratch's excuse for buying that

488
00:35:38,599 --> 00:35:42,480
particular dress when she did not need it was her

489
00:35:42,519 --> 00:35:46,800
intention of keeping it for the next year. The children

490
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:50,400
disputed as to the credit for courage and the amount

491
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:55,639
of raisins due to each snap barked furiously at the flames,

492
00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:59,079
and the maids hustled each other for good places in

493
00:35:59,159 --> 00:36:02,639
the doorway, and would not have allowed the manservant to

494
00:36:02,679 --> 00:36:06,840
see at all. But he looked over their heads. Stu

495
00:36:07,119 --> 00:36:10,679
stu at it at it chuckled the hot tempered gentleman

496
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:15,199
in undertones. When he said this, it seemed as if

497
00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:19,559
the voices of mister and missus scratch rose higher in

498
00:36:19,679 --> 00:36:25,159
matrimonial repartee, and the children's squabbles became louder, and the

499
00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:28,480
dog yelped as if he were mad, and the maid's

500
00:36:28,519 --> 00:36:33,039
contest was sharper, while the snap dragon flames leaped up

501
00:36:33,039 --> 00:36:37,760
and up, and blue fire flew about the room like foam.

502
00:36:38,199 --> 00:36:42,519
At last, the raisins were finished, and the flames were

503
00:36:42,599 --> 00:36:46,360
all but out, and the company withdrew to the drawing room.

504
00:36:47,320 --> 00:36:52,360
Only Harry lingered. Come along, Harry, said the hot temper gentleman.

505
00:36:53,239 --> 00:36:56,639
Wait a minute, said Harry. You had better come, said

506
00:36:56,639 --> 00:37:01,599
the gentleman. Why, said Harry. There's nothing to stop for

507
00:37:02,159 --> 00:37:06,159
The raisins are eaten, the brandy is burnt out. No

508
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:11,360
it's not, said Harry. Well almost, it would be better

509
00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:15,159
if it were quite out. Now come, it's dangerous for

510
00:37:15,199 --> 00:37:17,719
a boy like you to be alone. With the snap

511
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:24,039
dragons to night Fiddlesticks, said Harry, go your own way.

512
00:37:24,079 --> 00:37:28,239
Then said the hot temper gentleman, and he bounced out

513
00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:32,639
of the room, and Harry was left alone. He crept

514
00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:36,639
up to the table where one little pale blue flame

515
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:41,320
flickered in the snap dragon dish. What a pity it

516
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:46,760
should go out, said Harry. At this moment the brandy

517
00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:50,960
bottle on the sideboard caught his eye. Just a little

518
00:37:51,039 --> 00:37:55,719
war murmured Harry to himself, and he uncorked the bottle

519
00:37:56,239 --> 00:38:00,920
and poured a little brandy onto the flame. Now, of course,

520
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:04,639
as soon as the brandy touched the fire, all the

521
00:38:04,719 --> 00:38:07,760
brandy and the bottle blazed up at once, and the

522
00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:11,280
bottle split to pieces. And it was very fortunate for

523
00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:15,159
Harry that he did not get seriously hurt. A little

524
00:38:15,199 --> 00:38:17,719
of the hot brandy did get into his eyes and

525
00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:20,800
made them smart, so that he had to shut them

526
00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:24,639
for a few seconds. But when he opened them again,

527
00:38:25,159 --> 00:38:28,880
what a sight he saw. All over the room the

528
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:32,239
blue flames leaped and danced as they had leaped and

529
00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:36,599
danced in the soup plate with the raisins, and Harry

530
00:38:37,039 --> 00:38:41,000
saw that each successive flame was the fold in the

531
00:38:41,039 --> 00:38:45,199
long body of a bright blue dragon, which moved like

532
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:48,719
the body of a snake. And the room was full

533
00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:52,559
of these dragons. In the face, they were like the

534
00:38:52,639 --> 00:38:56,440
dragons one seas, made of very old blue and white china,

535
00:38:56,840 --> 00:39:00,519
and they had forked tongues like the tongues of serpents.

536
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:06,599
They were most beautiful in color, being sky blue. Lobsters

537
00:39:06,599 --> 00:39:10,199
who have just changed their coats are very handsome, But

538
00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:14,480
the violet and indigo of a lobster's coat is nothing

539
00:39:14,599 --> 00:39:19,760
to the brilliant sky blue of a snap dragon. How

540
00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:23,760
they leaped about, they were forever leaping over each other,

541
00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:27,920
like seals in play. But if it was play at

542
00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:30,800
all with them, it was of a very rough kind.

543
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:35,440
For as they jumped, they snapped and barked at each other,

544
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,000
and their barking was like that of the barking canoe

545
00:39:39,039 --> 00:39:43,119
in the zoological gardens. And from time to time they

546
00:39:43,199 --> 00:39:45,599
tore the hair out of each other's heads with their

547
00:39:45,679 --> 00:39:49,079
claws and scattered it about the floor, and as it

548
00:39:49,199 --> 00:39:52,360
dropped it was like the flecks of flame people shake

549
00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:56,840
from their fingers when they are eating snap dragon raisins.

550
00:39:57,599 --> 00:40:03,559
Harry stood aghast, What fun, said a voice close by him,

551
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:06,480
and he saw that one of the dragons was lying

552
00:40:06,559 --> 00:40:11,039
near not joining in the game. He had lost one

553
00:40:11,039 --> 00:40:13,480
of the forks of his tongue by accident and could

554
00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:16,920
not bark for a while. I'm glad you think it funny,

555
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:21,639
said Harry. I don't, that's right, snap away, sneered the dragon.

556
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,360
You're a perfect treasure. They'll take you in with them

557
00:40:25,679 --> 00:40:32,199
the third round. Not those creatures, cried Harry. Yes, those creatures,

558
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:34,679
And if I hadn't lost my bark, i'd be the

559
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:38,199
first to lead you off, said the dragon. Oh, the

560
00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:43,360
game will exactly suit you. What is it, please, Harry asked.

561
00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:47,719
You better not say please to the others, said the dragon,

562
00:40:48,199 --> 00:40:51,079
if you don't want to have all your hair pulled out.

563
00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:55,960
The game is this. You have always to be jumping

564
00:40:56,039 --> 00:40:59,960
over somebody else, and you must either talk or bark.

565
00:41:01,039 --> 00:41:04,840
If anybody speaks to you, you must snap in return.

566
00:41:05,679 --> 00:41:10,840
I need not explain what snapping is. You know, if

567
00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:15,079
any one, by accident gives a civil answer, a claw

568
00:41:15,199 --> 00:41:17,440
full of hair is torn out of his head to

569
00:41:17,519 --> 00:41:23,360
stimulate his brain. Nothing can be funnier. I daresay it

570
00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:27,119
suits you capitally, said Harry. But I'm sure, we shouldn't

571
00:41:27,199 --> 00:41:30,719
like it. I mean, men and women and children. It

572
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:35,199
wouldn't do for us at all, wouldn't it, said the dragon.

573
00:41:36,199 --> 00:41:39,760
You don't know how many human beings dance with dragons

574
00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:43,079
on Christmas Eve. If we are kept going in a

575
00:41:43,119 --> 00:41:46,599
house till after midnight, we can pull people out of

576
00:41:46,639 --> 00:41:51,960
their beds and take them to dance in Vesuvius, vesuvious,

577
00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:57,519
cried Harry, Yes, Vesuvius. We came from Italy originally. You know.

578
00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:01,599
Our skins are the color of the Bay of Naples.

579
00:42:02,239 --> 00:42:07,039
We live on dried grapes and ardent spirits. We have

580
00:42:07,159 --> 00:42:11,960
glorious fun in the mountains sometimes, oh what snapping and

581
00:42:12,079 --> 00:42:17,880
scratching and tearing delicious. There are times when the scrobbling

582
00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:21,360
becomes too great. A mother mountain won't stand it and

583
00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:25,840
spits us all out and throws cinders after us. But

584
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:30,119
this is only at times. We had a charming meeting

585
00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:35,960
last year, So many human beings and how they can snap.

586
00:42:36,639 --> 00:42:42,000
It was a choice party, so very select. We always

587
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:47,480
have plenty of saucy children and servants, husbands and wives too,

588
00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:50,719
and quite as many of the former as the latter,

589
00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:56,159
if not more. But besides these, we had two vestrymen,

590
00:42:56,719 --> 00:43:01,400
a country postmaster who devoted his time talents to insulting

591
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:06,960
the public instead of learning the postal regulations. Three cabmen

592
00:43:07,119 --> 00:43:11,119
and two fairs. Two young shop girls from a Berlin

593
00:43:11,239 --> 00:43:14,480
wool shop in a town where there was no competition,

594
00:43:15,719 --> 00:43:22,239
four commercial travelers, six landladies, six old bailey lawyers, several

595
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:28,360
widows from almshouses, seven single gentlemen, and nine cats who

596
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:34,039
swore at everything. A dozen sulfur colored screaming cockatoos, a

597
00:43:34,079 --> 00:43:37,440
lot of street children from a town, a pack of

598
00:43:37,599 --> 00:43:40,960
mongrel curs from the colonies who snapped at the human

599
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:46,239
being's heels. And five elderly ladies in their Sunday bonnets

600
00:43:46,239 --> 00:43:49,800
with prayer books who have been fighting for good seats

601
00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:54,760
in church. Dear me, said Harry. If you can find

602
00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:58,599
nothing sharper to say than dear me said the dragon,

603
00:43:59,039 --> 00:44:03,679
you will fare badly. I can tell you why. I

604
00:44:03,760 --> 00:44:06,639
thought you'd a sharp tongue, but it's not forked yet.

605
00:44:06,679 --> 00:44:10,880
I see here. They are, however, off with you, and

606
00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:17,280
if you value your curls, snap, And before Harry could reply,

607
00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:21,519
the snap dragons came on with their third round, and

608
00:44:21,639 --> 00:44:26,639
as they passed, they swept Harry with them. He shuddered

609
00:44:26,679 --> 00:44:30,440
as he looked at his companions. They were as transparent

610
00:44:30,559 --> 00:44:35,280
as shrimps, but of this lovely ceruleum blue. And as

611
00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:40,599
they leaped they barked half half, like barking gnoos. And

612
00:44:40,639 --> 00:44:45,000
when they leaped, Harry had to leap with them. Besides barking,

613
00:44:45,079 --> 00:44:48,400
they snapped and wrangled with each other, and in this

614
00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:53,679
Harry must join. Also pleasant, isn't it? Said one of

615
00:44:53,679 --> 00:44:58,119
the blue dragons. Not at all, snapped Harry. At your

616
00:44:58,199 --> 00:45:03,039
bad taste, snapped the blue No, it's not snapped Harry.

617
00:45:03,599 --> 00:45:06,920
Then it's pride and perverseness. You want your hair combing?

618
00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:12,480
Oh please don't, shrieked Harry forgetting himself on which the

619
00:45:12,599 --> 00:45:15,920
dragon clawed a handful of hair out of his head,

620
00:45:16,119 --> 00:45:20,440
and Harry screamed, and the blue dragons barked and danced.

621
00:45:21,239 --> 00:45:25,840
That major hair curled, isn't it, asked another dragon, leaping

622
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:30,719
over Harry. That's no business of yours. Harry snapped as

623
00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:34,719
well as he could for crying. It's more my pleasure

624
00:45:34,800 --> 00:45:39,280
than business, retorted the dragon. Keep it to yourself, then

625
00:45:39,599 --> 00:45:43,440
snapped Harry, I mean to share it with you when

626
00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:46,920
I get hold of your hair, snapped the dragon. Wait

627
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:50,960
till you get the chance, Harry snapped, with desperate presence

628
00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:55,920
of mind. Do you know whom you're talking to? Roared

629
00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:59,320
the dragon, and he opened his mouth from ear to

630
00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:03,000
ear and shot out his forked tongue in Harry's face.

631
00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:07,480
And the boy was so frightened that he forgot to snap,

632
00:46:07,519 --> 00:46:11,880
and cried, piteously, Oh, I beg your pardon, please don't,

633
00:46:13,280 --> 00:46:17,199
On which the blue dragon clawed another handful of hair

634
00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:20,960
out of his head, and all the dragons barked as before.

635
00:46:22,559 --> 00:46:26,440
How long the dreadful game went on. Harry never exactly

636
00:46:26,519 --> 00:46:31,159
knew well practiced as he was in snapping in the nursery.

637
00:46:31,719 --> 00:46:35,039
He often failed to think of a retort, and paid

638
00:46:35,079 --> 00:46:39,119
for his unreadiness by the loss of his hair. Oh,

639
00:46:39,159 --> 00:46:43,239
how foolish and wearisome. All this rudeness and snapping now

640
00:46:43,280 --> 00:46:47,039
seemed to him. But on he had to go, wondering

641
00:46:47,159 --> 00:46:50,039
all the time how near it was to twelve o'clock,

642
00:46:50,119 --> 00:46:53,360
and whether the snap dragons would stay till midnight and

643
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:58,880
take him with them to Vesuvius. At last, to his joy,

644
00:46:59,320 --> 00:47:02,559
it became evident that the brandy was coming to an end.

645
00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:06,679
The dragons moved slower, they could not leap so high,

646
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:11,440
and at last, one after another they began to go out.

647
00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:16,360
Oh if they only all of them get away before twelve,

648
00:47:16,639 --> 00:47:21,360
thought poor Harry. At last there was only one. He

649
00:47:21,559 --> 00:47:25,880
and Harry jumped about and snapped and barked, and Harry

650
00:47:26,039 --> 00:47:29,159
was thinking with joy that he was the last, when

651
00:47:29,199 --> 00:47:32,679
the clock in the hall gave that whirring sound which

652
00:47:32,719 --> 00:47:35,920
some clocks do before they strike, as if it was

653
00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:41,840
clearing its throat. Oh please go, screamed Harry in despair.

654
00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:46,840
The blue dragon leaped up and took such a claw

655
00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:49,519
full of hair out of the boy's head that it

656
00:47:49,639 --> 00:47:53,159
seemed as if part of the skin went too. But

657
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:57,360
that leap was his last. He went out at once,

658
00:47:58,039 --> 00:48:02,840
vanishing before the first of twelve, and Harry was left

659
00:48:02,840 --> 00:48:08,039
on his face on the floor in the darkness conclusion.

660
00:48:09,039 --> 00:48:12,239
When his friends found him, there was blood on his forehead.

661
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:16,840
Harry thought it was where the dragon applawed him, but

662
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:19,880
they said it was a cut from a fragment of

663
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:25,320
the broken brandy bottle. The dragons had disappeared as completely

664
00:48:25,360 --> 00:48:30,480
as the brandy. Harry was cured of snapping. He had

665
00:48:30,480 --> 00:48:33,760
had quite enough of it for a lifetime, and the

666
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:39,440
catch contradictions of the household now made him shudder. Polly

667
00:48:39,599 --> 00:48:43,159
had not had the benefit of his experiences, yet she

668
00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:49,360
improved also. In the first place, snapping, like other kinds

669
00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:53,800
of quarreling, requires two parties to it, and Harry would

670
00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:57,800
never be a party to snapping any more. And when

671
00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:02,159
he gave civil and kind answers to Polly's smart speeches,

672
00:49:02,800 --> 00:49:05,960
she felt ashamed of herself and did not repeat them.

673
00:49:07,079 --> 00:49:11,199
In the second place, she heard about the snap dragons.

674
00:49:11,960 --> 00:49:15,559
Harry told her all about it, and to the hot

675
00:49:15,599 --> 00:49:21,599
tempered gentleman. Now do you think it's true, Polly asked

676
00:49:21,679 --> 00:49:28,119
the hot tempered gentleman. Umh said, he driving his hands

677
00:49:28,199 --> 00:49:32,199
through his hair. You know I warned you you were

678
00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:38,760
going to the snap dragons. Harry and Polly snubbed the

679
00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:44,199
little ones when they snapped, and utterly discountenanced snapping in

680
00:49:44,239 --> 00:49:49,599
the nursery. The example and admonitions of elder children are

681
00:49:49,679 --> 00:49:54,480
a powerful instrument of nursery discipline, and before long there

682
00:49:54,599 --> 00:49:58,000
was not a sharp tongue amongst all the little scratches.

683
00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:02,480
But I doubt of the parents were ever cured. I

684
00:50:02,559 --> 00:50:06,840
don't know if they heard the story. Besides, old habits

685
00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:10,920
are not easily cured when one is old. I fear

686
00:50:11,079 --> 00:50:14,639
mister and Missus Scratch have yet got to dance with

687
00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:21,760
the dragons. End of Snap Dragons by J. H. Ewing