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Speaker 1: A Christmas Fantasy with a moral by Thomas Bailey Aldrich,

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originally from the Century Volume forty three, Issue two, eighteen

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ninety one. Her name was Mildred Wentworth, and she lived

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on the slope of Beacon Hill in one of those

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old fashioned swell front houses which have the inestimable privilege

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of looking upon Boston Common. It was Christmas afternoon, and

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she had gone up to the blue room on the

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fourth floor in order to make a careful inspection in

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solitude of the various gifts that had been left in

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her slender stocking and at her bedside the previous night.

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Mildred was in some respects a very old child for

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her age, which she described as being half past seven,

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and had a habit of spending hours alone in the

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large front chamber occupied by herself and the Governess. This day,

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the Governess had gone to keep Christmas with her own

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family in South Boston, and it so chanced that Mildred

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had been left to dispose of her time as she

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pleased during the entire afternoon. She was well content to

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have the opportunity, for fortune had treated her magnificently, and

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it was deep satisfaction after the excitement of the morning,

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to sit in the middle of that spacious room with

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its three windows, overlooking the pearl crusted trees in the common,

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and examine her treasures without any chance of interruption. The

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looms of Cashmere and the workshops of Germany. The patient

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Chinaman and the irresponsible polar bear had alike contributed to

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those treasures. Among other articles, was a small square box,

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covered with modeled paper and having an outlandish, mysterious aspect,

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as if it belonged.

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Speaker 2: To to a magician.

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Speaker 1: When you loosened the catch of this box, possibly supposing

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it to contain bond bonds of a superior quality, there

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sprang forth a terrible little monster, with a drifting white

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beard like a snow storm, round emerald green eyes, and

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a pessimistic expression of countenance, generally as though he had

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been reading Tolstoy or Schopenhauer. This abrupt personage, whose family

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name was Heliogabulus, was known for simplicity's sake as jumping Jack,

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And though the explanation of the matter is beset with difficulties,

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it is not to be concealed that he held a higher

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place in the esteem of Miss Wentworth than any of

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her other possessions, not excluding a tall wax doll fond

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de siircle with a pallid complexion and a profusion of

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blonde hair. Titania was not more in love with Nick

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Bottom the Weaver than Mildred with Jumping Jack. It was

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surely not his personal beauty that.

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Speaker 2: Won her, for he had none.

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Speaker 1: It was not his intellect, for intellect does not take

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up its abode in a forehead of such singular construction

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as that of Jumping Jack. But whatever the secret charm was,

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it worked on a more realistic stage than this. We

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see analogous cases every day. Perhaps Oberon still exercises his

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fairy craft in our material world and scatters at will

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upon the eyelids of mortals, the magic distillation of that

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little Western flower which will make or man or woman

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dadly doped upon the next live creature that it sees for.

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Speaker 2: An hour or so.

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Speaker 1: Mildred amused herself sufficiently by shutting Heliogabulus up in the

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box and letting him spring out again. Then she grew

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weary of the diverse and finally began to lose patience

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with her elastic companion because he was unable to crowd

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himself into the box and undo the latch with his

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own fingers. This was extremely unreasonable, but so was Mildred made.

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How tedious you are? She cried at last, you dull

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little old man. I don't see how I ever came

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to like you. I don't like you any more, with

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your glass eyes and your silly pink mouth, always open

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and never saying the least thing.

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Speaker 2: What do you mean, sir?

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Speaker 1: By standing and staring at me in that tiresome way,

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you look enough like Dobbs the butcher to be his brother,

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or to be Dobbs himself. I wonder you don't up

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and say steak or chops? Mum, dear me, I wish

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you really had some life in you, and could move

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about and talk with me and make yourself agreeable. Do

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be alive. Mildred gave a little laugh at her own absurdity,

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and then, being an imaginative creature, came presently to regard

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the ideas not altogether absurd, and finally as not absurd

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at all. If a bough that has been frozen to

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death all winter can put forth blossoms in the spring,

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why might not an inanimate object, which already possessed many

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of the surface attributes of humanity, and possibly some of

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the internal mechanism, add to itself the crowning gift of

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speech in view of the daily phenomena of existence. Would

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that be so very astonishing? Of course, the problem took

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a simpler shape than this. In Mildred's unsophisticated thought. She

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folded her hands in her lap, and, rocking to and fro,

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reflected how pleasant it would be if Jumping Jack or

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her doll could come to life like the marble lady

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in the play and do some of the talking. What

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wonderful stories Jumping Jack would have to tell, For example,

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he must have had no end of remarkable adventures before

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he lost his mind. Probably the very latest intelligence from

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Lilyput was in his possession, and perhaps he was even

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now vainly trying to deliver himself of it. His fixed

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open mouth hinted as much. The land of the Pigmies,

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in the heart of darkest Africa, just then widely discussed

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in the newspapers, was of course familiar ground to him.

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How interesting it would be to learn at first hand

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of the manners and customs.

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Speaker 2: Of those little folk.

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Speaker 1: Doubtless, he had been a great traveler in foreign parts.

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The label in German text on the bottom of his

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box showed that he had recently.

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Speaker 2: Come from Munich. Munich.

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Speaker 1: What magic there was in the very word. As Mildred

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rocked to and fro her active little brain, weaving the

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most grotesque fancies, a drowsiness stole over her. She was

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crooning to herself, fainter and fainter, and every instant drifting

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nearer to the ship adowy reefs on the western coast

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of nowhere, when she heard a soft, inexplicable rustling sound

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close at her side. Mildred lifted her head quickly, just

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in time to behold heliogabulus describe a graceful curve in

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the air and land lightly in the midst of her

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best dressed in China tea. Set Ho ho, he cried,

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in a voice preternaturally gruff for an individual not above

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five inches in height. Ho ho, And he immediately began

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to throw Mildred's cups and saucers and plates all about

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the apartment.

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Speaker 2: Oh you horrid, wicked little.

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Speaker 1: Man, cried Mildred, starting to her feet, Stop it, Oh

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you cross little girl, returned the dwarf with his family.

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Speaker 2: Leer you surprise me, and another.

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Speaker 1: Plate crashed against the blue flowered wallpaper. Stop it, she repeated,

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and then to herself, It's a mercy I waked up just.

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Speaker 2: When I did.

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Speaker 1: Patience, my child, I'm coming there shortly to smooth your

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hair and kiss you. Do, screamed Mildred, stooping to pick

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up a large Japanese crystal, which lay absorbing the wintry

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sunlight at her feet. When Heliogabulus saw that, he retired

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to the farther side of his tenement, peeping cautiously over

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the top and around the corner, and disappearing altogether whenever

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Mildred threatened to throw the crystal at him. Now, Miss

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Wentworth was naturally a courageous girl, and when she perceived

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that the pigmy was afraid of her, she resolved to

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make an example of him. He was such a small

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affair that it really did not seem worth while to

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treat him with much ceremony. He had startled her at

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first his manners had been so very violent, But now

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that her pulse had gone down, she regarded him with

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calm curiosity and wondered what he would do next. Listen,

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he said, presently, in a queer deferential way. As he

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partly emerged from his hiding place. I came to request

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the hand of Mademoiselle Yonder, and, nodding his head in

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the direction of Londella the doll, he retreated bashfully. Her cried,

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Mildred aghast, you are very nice, but I can't marry

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out of my own set, you know, observed Heliogabulous, invisible

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behind his breastwork. This shyness was mere dissimulation, as his

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subsequent behavior proved.

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Speaker 2: Who would have thought it?

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Speaker 1: Murmured Mildred to herself, And as she glanced suspiciously at Blondella,

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sitting bolt upright between the windows with her back against

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the mop board, Mildred fancied that she could almost detect

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a faint roseate hue stealing into the waxen cheek.

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Speaker 2: Who would have thought it?

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Speaker 1: And then, addressing jumping Jack, she cried, come here directly,

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you audacious person, and she stamped her foot in a

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manner that would have discouraged most suitors. But Heliogabulus, who

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had now seated himself on the lid of his box

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and showed no trace of his late diffidence, smiled superciliously

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as he twisted off a bit of wire that protruded

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from the heel of one of his boots. This effrontery

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increased Miss Wentworth's indignation, and likewise rather embarrassed her. Perhaps

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he was not afraid of her after all, in which

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case he was worth nothing as an example. I will

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brush you off and tread on you, she observed, tentatively,

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as if she were addressing an insect.

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Speaker 2: Oh.

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Speaker 1: Indeed, he rejoined, derisively, crossing his legs. I will, cried Mildred,

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making an impulsive dash at him. Though taken at a disadvantage,

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the Mannikin eluded her with surprising ease. His agility was

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such as to render it impossible to determine whether he

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was an old young man or a very young old man.

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Mildred eyed him doubtfully for a moment, and then gave chase.

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Away went the quaint little figure, now darting under the

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brass bedstead, now dodging around the legs of the table,

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and now slipping between the feet of his pursuer.

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Speaker 2: At the instant she was.

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Speaker 1: On the point of laying hand on him, Owing doubtless

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to some peculiarity of his articulation, each movement of his limbs,

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was accompanied by a rustling, wiry sound, like the faint

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reverberation of a banjo string somewhere in the distance. Heliogabulus

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may have been a person with no great conversational gift,

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but his gymnastic acquirements were of the first order. Mildred

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not only could not catch him, but she could not

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restrain the mannekin from meanwhile doing all kinds of desultory mischief,

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For in the midst of his course, he would pause

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to overturn her tin kitchen, or shy a plate across

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the room, or give a vicious twitch to the lovely

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golden hair of Blondella. In spite of, perhaps in consequence

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of his recent tender advances, it was plain that in

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eluding Mildred he was prompted by caprice rather than by fear.

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If things go on in this way, she reflected, I

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shan't have anything left. If I could only get the

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dreadful little creature into a corner. There goes my tureen.

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What shall I do to quit the room even for

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a moment, in order to call for assistance at the

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head of the staircase, where, moreover, her voice was not

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likely to reach any one was to leave everything at

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the mercy of that small demon. Mildred was out of

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breath with running and ready to burst into tears with exasperation.

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When a different mode of procedure suggested itself to her,

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she would make believe that she was no longer angry,

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and possibly she could accomplish by cunning what she had

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failed to compass by violence. She would consent, at least

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seemed to consent, to let him marry Blondella, though he

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had lately given no signs of very fervid attachment. Beyond this,

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Mildred had no definite scheme. When the story of the

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Fisherman and the Evil Afright flashed upon her memory from

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the pages of the Arabian Nights, her dilemma was exactly

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that of the unlucky fisherman, and her line of action

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should be the same, with such modification as the exigencies

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might demand. As in his case too, there was no

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time to be lost. An expression of ineffable benevolence and

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serenity instantly overspread the features of miss Wentworth. She leaned

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against the wardrobe and regarded jumping Jack with a look

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of gentle reproach. I thought you were going to be interesting,

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she remarked softly. Ain't I interesting, asked the goblin, with

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a touch of pardonable sensitiveness. No, said Mildred, candidly, you

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are not. Perhaps you try to be. That's some, to

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be sure, though it's not everything. Oh, I don't want

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to touch you, She went on, with an indifferent toss

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of her curls.

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Speaker 2: How old are you? Ever so old and ever so young? Truly?

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How very odd to be both at once? Can you read?

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Never tried? I'm afraid your parents didn't bring.

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Speaker 1: You up very well, reflected Mildred. I speak all languages.

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The little folk of every age and every country understand me.

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Speaker 2: You're a great traveler, then.

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Speaker 1: I should say so. You don't seem to carry much

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baggage about with you. I suppose you belong somewhere, and

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you keep your clothes there. I really should like to

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know where you came from, if it's all the same

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to you. Out of that box, my dove, replied, jumping Jack,

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having become affable in his turn, never, exclaimed Mildred with

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a delightful air of incredulity. I hope I may die,

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declared Heliogabulus, laying one hand on the left breast of

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his main spring.

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Speaker 2: Ah.

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Speaker 1: I don't believe it, said Mildred confidently. Ho, ho, you

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are too tall and too wide and too fluffy.

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Speaker 2: Ah.

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Speaker 1: I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but you are fluffy,

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and I just want you to stop that hoe hoeing. No,

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I don't believe it, you don't, don't you behold and

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placing both hands on the floor, Heliogabulus described a circle

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in the air, and neatly landed himself in the box.

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He was no sooner in than Mildred clapped down the

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lid and seated herself upon it victoriously. In the suddenness

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of her movement, she had necessarily neglected to fasten the catch,

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but that was a detail that could be attended to later. Meanwhile,

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she was mistress of the situation and could dictate terms.

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One thing was resolved. Jumping Jack was never to jump

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again tomorrow. He should be thrown into the charles at

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the foot of Mount Vernon Street, in order that the

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tide might carry him out to see. What would she

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not have given if she could have sealed him up

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with that talismanic seal of Solomon, which held the cruel

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Mariage so securely in his brazen casket. Of course, it

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was not in Mildred's blood to resist the temptation to

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tease her captive a little. Now, mister Jack, I guess

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I've got you where you belong. If you are not

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an old man this very minute, you will be when

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you get out. He wanted to carry off my blondella.

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Speaker 2: Did you the idea?

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Speaker 1: I hope you're quite comfortable let me out, growled Heliogabulus

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in his deepest bass. I couldn't think of it, Dear,

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you are one of those little boys that shouldn't be

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either seen or heard. And I don't want you to

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speak again, for I'm sitting on your head and your

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voice goes right through me. So you will please remember

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not to speak unless you are spoken to. And Mildred

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broke into the merriest laugh, imaginable, recollecting how many times

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she herself had been extinguished by the same instructions. But

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Mildred's triumph was premature, for the little man in the

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box was as strong as a giant in a dime museum,

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and now that he had fully recovered his breath, he

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began pushing in a most systematic manner with his head

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and shoulders, and Mildred, to her great consternation, found herself

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being slowly lifted up on the lid of the box

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do what she might. In a minute or two more,

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she must inevitably fall off and jumping Jack would have her.

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And what mercy could she expect at his hands after

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her treatment of him?

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Speaker 2: She was lost.

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Speaker 1: Mildred stretched out her arms in despair, gave a shriek,

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and opened her eyes, which had been all the while

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as tightly shut as a couple of morning glories. At sundown,

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she was sitting on a rug in the middle of

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the room. Though the window panes were still flushed with

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the memory of the winter sunset, the iridescent lights had

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faded out in the Japanese crystal at her feet.

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Speaker 2: She was not anywhere near.

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Speaker 1: The little imp. There he was over by the fireplace,

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staring at nothing in his usual senseless fashion. Not a

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piece of crockery had been broken, not a chair upset,

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and Blondella, the too fascinating Blondella, had not had a

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single trest disarranged. Mildred drew a long breath of relief.

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What had happened? Had she been dreaming, she was unable

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to answer the question, but as she abstractedly shook out

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the creases in the folds of her skirt, she remarked

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to herself that she did not care on the whole

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to have any of her things come to life, certainly

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not jumping jack. Just then, the splintering of an icicle

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on the window ledge outside sent a faint whiteness into

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her cheek and caused her to throw a quick, apprehensive

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glance toward the fireplace. After an instant's hesitation, Mildred, unconsciously,

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dragging Blondella by the hair, stole softly from the room,

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where the specters of the twilight were beginning to gather

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rather menacingly, and went downstairs to join the family and

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relate her strange adventure. The analysis of miss Wentworth's dream

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if it were a dream, for later on she declared

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it was not, and hurriedly gave Heliogabulus to an unpleasant

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small boy who lived next door. The analysis of her dream,

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i repeat shows strong traces of a moral Indeed, the

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residuum is purely of that stringent quality. Heliogabulus must be

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accepted as the symbol of an ill considered desire, realized

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the earnestness with which miss Wentworth invoked, the phantasm and

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the misery that came of it. Our common experience painfully

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to attain possession of what we do not want, and

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then painfully to waste our days in attempting to rid

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ourselves of it, seems to be a part of our

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discipline here below. I know a great many excellent persons

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who are spending the latter moiety of life in the

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endeavor to get their particular jumping jack snuggly back into

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its box again. End of a Christmas fantasy.