Speaker 1: Forward. The story contained herein was written by Charles Dickens
Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty seven. It is the second of four
Speaker 1: stories entitled Holiday Romance, and was published originally in a
Speaker 1: children's magazine in America. It purports to be written by
Speaker 1: a child aged seven. It was re published in England
Speaker 1: in All the Year Round in eighteen sixty eight. For
Speaker 1: this and four other Christmas pieces, Dickens received one thousand pounds.
Speaker 1: Holiday Romance was published in book form by Messrs Chapman
Speaker 1: and Hall in eighteen seventy four, with Edwin Drude and
Speaker 1: other stories. For this reprint, the text of the story
Speaker 1: as it appeared in All the Year Round has been
Speaker 1: followed the Magic Fishbone. There was once a king, and
Speaker 1: he had a queen, and he was the manliest of
Speaker 1: his sex, and she was the loveliest of hers. The
Speaker 1: king was in his private profession under government. The queen's
Speaker 1: father had been a medical man out of town. They
Speaker 1: had nineteen children and were always having more. Seventeen of
Speaker 1: these children took care of the baby, and Alicia, the eldest,
Speaker 1: took care of them. All. Their ages varied from seven
Speaker 1: years to seven months. Let us now resume our story.
Speaker 1: One day. The King was going to the office when
Speaker 1: he stopped at the fishmongers to buy a pound and
Speaker 1: a half of salmon, not too near the tail which
Speaker 1: the Queen, who was a careful housekeeper, had requested him
Speaker 1: to say send home. Mister Pickles. The fishmonger said, certainly, sir,
Speaker 1: is there any other article? Good morning? The King went
Speaker 1: on towards the office in a melancholy mood, for quarter
Speaker 1: day was such a long way off, and several of
Speaker 1: the dear children were growing out of their clothes. He
Speaker 1: had not proceeded far when mister Pickles's errand boy came
Speaker 1: running after him and said, Sir, you didn't notice the
Speaker 1: old lady in our shop? What old lady? Inquired the King.
Speaker 1: I saw none. Now, the King had not seen any
Speaker 1: old lady because this old lady had been invisible to him,
Speaker 1: though visible to mister Pickles's boy, probably because he messed
Speaker 1: and splashed the water about to that degree and flopped
Speaker 1: the pears of souls down in that violent matter that
Speaker 1: if she had had not been visible to him, he
Speaker 1: would have spoilt her clothes. Just then, the old lady
Speaker 1: came trotting up. She was dressed in shot silk of
Speaker 1: the richest quality, smelling of dried lavender. King Watkins, the first,
Speaker 1: I believe, said the old lady. Watkins replied the King.
Speaker 1: Is my name, Papa? If I am not mistaken of
Speaker 1: the beautiful Princess Alicia, said the old lady, and of
Speaker 1: eighteen other darlings, replied the King. Listen, you are going
Speaker 1: to the office, said the old lady. It instantly flashed
Speaker 1: upon the King that she must be a fairy, or
Speaker 1: how could she know that you are right? Said the
Speaker 1: old lady, answering his thoughts, I am the good fairy,
Speaker 1: Grand Marina. Attend when you return home to dinner, politely
Speaker 1: invite the Princess Alicia to have some of the salmon
Speaker 1: you bought just now. It may disagree with her, said
Speaker 1: the King. The old lady became so very angry at
Speaker 1: this absurd idea that the King was quite alarmed and
Speaker 1: humbly begged her, pardon. We hear a great deal too
Speaker 1: much about this thing disagreeing and that thing disagreeing, said
Speaker 1: the old lady, with the greatest contempt it was possible
Speaker 1: to express. Don't be greedy. I think you want it
Speaker 1: all to yourself. The King hung his head under this
Speaker 1: reproof and said he wouldn't talk about things disagreeing any more.
Speaker 1: Be good, then, said the fairy Grand Marina. And don't
Speaker 1: When the beautiful Princess Alicia consents to partake of the salmon,
Speaker 1: as I think she will, you will find she will
Speaker 1: leave a fishbone on her plate. Tell her to dry
Speaker 1: it and to rub it, and to polish it till
Speaker 1: it shines like mother of pearl, and to take care
Speaker 1: of it as a present from me. Is that all
Speaker 1: asked the king. Don't be impatient, sir, returned the fairy
Speaker 1: Grand Marina, scolding him severely. Don't catch people short before
Speaker 1: they have done speaking. Just the way with you, grown
Speaker 1: up persons, you are always doing it. The king again
Speaker 1: hung his head and said he wouldn't do so any more.
Speaker 1: Be good, then, said the fairy Grand Marina. And don't
Speaker 1: tell the Princess Eli with my love that the fishbone
Speaker 1: is a magic present which can only be used once,
Speaker 1: but that it will bring her that once whatever she
Speaker 1: wishes for, provided she wishes for it at the right time.
Speaker 1: That is the message. Take care of it. The king
Speaker 1: was beginning. Might I ask the reason when the fairy
Speaker 1: became absolutely furious. Will you be good, sir, she exclaimed,
Speaker 1: stamping her foot on the ground. The reason for this
Speaker 1: and the reason for that? Indeed, you are always wanting
Speaker 1: the reason. No reason there, hoity toity me. I am
Speaker 1: sick of your grown up reasons. The king was extremely
Speaker 1: frightened by the old ladies flying into such a passion,
Speaker 1: and said he was very sorry to have offended her,
Speaker 1: and he wouldn't ask for reasons any more. Be good, then,
Speaker 1: said the old lady, And don't with those words. Grand
Speaker 1: Marina vanished, and the king went on and on and
Speaker 1: on till he came to the office. There he wrote
Speaker 1: and wrote and wrote till it was time to go
Speaker 1: home again. Then he politely invited the Princess Alicia, as
Speaker 1: the fairy had directed him, to partake of the salmon.
Speaker 1: And when she had enjoyed it very much, he saw
Speaker 1: the fishbone on her plate, as the fairy had told
Speaker 1: him he would, and he delivered the fairy's message. And
Speaker 1: the Princess Alicia took care to dry the bone and
Speaker 1: to rub it and to polish it till it shone
Speaker 1: like mother of pearl. And so when the Queen was
Speaker 1: going to get up in the morning, she said, oh,
Speaker 1: dear me, dear me, my head, my head, and then
Speaker 1: she fainted away. The Princess Alicia, who happened to be
Speaker 1: looking in at the chamber door asking about breakfast, was
Speaker 1: very much alarmed when she saw her Royal Mamma in
Speaker 1: this state, and she rang the bell for Peggy, which
Speaker 1: was the name of the Lord Chamberlain. But remembering where
Speaker 1: the smelling bottle was, she climbed on a chair and
Speaker 1: got it. And after that she climbed on another chair
Speaker 1: by the bedside and held the smelling bottle to the
Speaker 1: Queen's nose. And after that she jumped down and got
Speaker 1: some water, and after that she jumped up again and
Speaker 1: wetted the Queen's forehead. And in short when the Lord
Speaker 1: Chamberlain came in, that dear old woman said to the
Speaker 1: little princess, what a trot you are. I couldn't have
Speaker 1: done it better myself. But that was not the worst
Speaker 1: of the good Queen's illness. Oh no, she was very ill. Indeed,
Speaker 1: for a long time the Princess Alicia kept the seventeen
Speaker 1: young princes and princesses quiet, and dressed and undressed, and
Speaker 1: danced the baby and made the kettle boil, and heated
Speaker 1: the soup, and swept the hearth, and poured out the medicine,
Speaker 1: and nursed the queen, and did all that ever she could,
Speaker 1: and was as busy, busy, busy as busy could be,
Speaker 1: for there were not many servants at that palace, for
Speaker 1: three reasons, because the king was short of money, because
Speaker 1: a rise in his office never seemed to come, and
Speaker 1: because quarter day was so far off that it looked
Speaker 1: almost as far off and as little as one of
Speaker 1: the stars. But on the morning when the queen fainted away,
Speaker 1: where was the matter jack fishbone? Why there it was
Speaker 1: in the Princess Alicia's pocket. She had almost taken it
Speaker 1: out to bring the queen to life again when she
Speaker 1: put it back and looked for the smelling bottle. After
Speaker 1: the Queen had come out of her swoon that morning
Speaker 1: and was dozing, the Princess Alicia hurried upstairs to tell
Speaker 1: a most particular secret to a most particularly confidential friend
Speaker 1: of hers, who was a duchess. People did suppose her
Speaker 1: to be a doll, but she was really a duchess,
Speaker 1: though nobody knew it except the princess. This most particular
Speaker 1: secret was a secret about the magic fishbone, the history
Speaker 1: of which was well known to the duchess, because the
Speaker 1: princess told her everything. The princess kneeled down by the
Speaker 1: bed on which the duchess was lying, full dressed and
Speaker 1: wide awake, and whispered the secret to her. The duchess
Speaker 1: smiled and nodded. People might have supposed that she never
Speaker 1: smiled and nodded, but she often did, though nobody knew
Speaker 1: it except the princess. Then the Princess Alicia, hurried downstairs
Speaker 1: again to keep watch in the Queen's room. She often
Speaker 1: kept watch by herself in the Queen's room, but every evening,
Speaker 1: while the illness lasted, she sat there watching with the king,
Speaker 1: and every evening the King sat looking at her with
Speaker 1: a cross look, wondering why she never brought out the
Speaker 1: magic fishbone. As often as she noticed this, she ran upstairs,
Speaker 1: whispered the secret to the duchess over again, and said
Speaker 1: to the duchess, besides, they think we children never have
Speaker 1: a reason or a meaning. And the duchess, though the
Speaker 1: most fashionable duchess that ever was heard of, winked her eye.
Speaker 1: Alicia said the king one evening, when she wished him
Speaker 1: good night, Yes, Papa, what is become of the magic
Speaker 1: fishbone in my pocket? Papa? I thought you had lost it? Oh, no, Papa,
Speaker 1: or forgotten it. No, indeed, Papa. And so another time,
Speaker 1: the dreadful little snapping pug dog next door made a
Speaker 1: rush at one of the young princes as he stood
Speaker 1: on the steps coming home from school, and terrified him
Speaker 1: out of his wits, And he put his hand through
Speaker 1: a pane of glass and bled bledd bled. When the
Speaker 1: seventeen other young princes and princesses saw him, bleed, bleed, bleed,
Speaker 1: they were terrified out of their wits too, and screamed
Speaker 1: themselves black in their seventeen faces all at once. But
Speaker 1: the Princess Alicia put her hands over all their seventeen mouths,
Speaker 1: one after another, and persuaded them to be quiet because
Speaker 1: of the sick queen. And then she put the wounded
Speaker 1: prince's hand in a basin of fresh cold water while
Speaker 1: they stared with their twice seventeen or thirty four put
Speaker 1: down four and carry three eyes. And then she looked
Speaker 1: in the hand for bits of glass, and there were
Speaker 1: fortunately no bits of glass there. And then she said
Speaker 1: to two chubby legged princes who were sturdy though small,
Speaker 1: bring me in the royal reag I must snip and
Speaker 1: stitch and cut and contrive. So those two young princes
Speaker 1: tugged at the royal rag bag and lugged it in,
Speaker 1: And the Princess Alicia sat down on the floor with
Speaker 1: a large pair of scissors and a needle and thread
Speaker 1: and snipped and stitched and cut and contrived and made
Speaker 1: a bandage and put it on, and it fitted beautifully.
Speaker 1: And so when it was all done, she saw the King,
Speaker 1: her papa, looking on by the door. Alicia, Yes, Papa,
Speaker 1: what have you been doing snipping, stitching, cutting and contriving? Papa?
Speaker 1: Where is the magic fishbone in my pocket? Papa? I
Speaker 1: thought you had lost it, Oh, no, Papa, or for
Speaker 1: gotten it. No, indeed, Papa. After that she ran upstairs
Speaker 1: to the Duchess and told her what had passed, and
Speaker 1: told her the secret over again, and the Duchess shook
Speaker 1: her flaxen curls and laughed with her rosy lips. Well.
Speaker 1: And so another time the baby fell under the grate.
Speaker 1: The seventeen young princes and princesses were used to it,
Speaker 1: for they were almost always falling under the grate or
Speaker 1: down the stairs, but the baby was not used to
Speaker 1: it yet, and it gave him a swelled face and
Speaker 1: a black eye. The way the poor little darling came
Speaker 1: to tumble was that he slid out of the Princess
Speaker 1: Alicia's lap, just as she was sitting in a great
Speaker 1: coarse apron that quite smothered her, in front of the
Speaker 1: kitchen fire, beginning to peel the turnips for the broth
Speaker 1: for dinner. And the way she came to be doing
Speaker 1: that was that the king's cook had run away that
Speaker 1: morning with her own true love, who was a very tall,
Speaker 1: but very tipsy soldier. Then the seventeen young princes and princesses,
Speaker 1: who cried at everything that happened, cried and roared, But
Speaker 1: the Princess Alicia, who couldn't help crying a little herself,
Speaker 1: quietly called to them to be still on account of
Speaker 1: not throwing back the queen upstairs, who was fast getting well,
Speaker 1: and said, hold your tongues, you wicked little monkeys, every
Speaker 1: one of you, while I examined baby. Then she examined
Speaker 1: baby and felt that he hadn't broken anything, and she
Speaker 1: held cold iron to his poor dear eye and smoothed
Speaker 1: his poor dear face, and he presently fell asleep in
Speaker 1: her arms. Then she said to the seventeen princes and princesses,
Speaker 1: I am afraid to lay him down yet lest he
Speaker 1: should wake and feel pain. Be good, and you shall
Speaker 1: all be cooks. They jumped for joy when they heard that,
Speaker 1: and began making themselves cooks caps out of old newspapers.
Speaker 1: So to one she gave the salt box, and to
Speaker 1: one she gave the barley, and to one she gave
Speaker 1: the herbs, and to one she gave the turnips, and
Speaker 1: to one she gave the carrots, and to one she
Speaker 1: gave the onions, and to one she gave the spice box.
Speaker 1: Till they were all cooks, and all running about at work.
Speaker 1: She sitting in the middle, smothered in the great coarse apron,
Speaker 1: nursing baby. By and by the broth was done, and
Speaker 1: the baby woke up, smiling like an angel, and was
Speaker 1: trusted to the sedateist princess to hold, while the other
Speaker 1: princes and princesses were squeezed into a far off corner
Speaker 1: to look at the Princess Alicia, turning out the saucepan
Speaker 1: full of broth for fear, as they were always getting
Speaker 1: into trouble, they should get splashed and scalded. When the
Speaker 1: broth came tumbling out, steaming beautifully and smelling like a
Speaker 1: nosegay good to eat, they clapped their hands. That made
Speaker 1: the baby clap his hands, and that and his looking
Speaker 1: as if he had a comic toothache, made all the
Speaker 1: princes and princesses laugh. So the Princess Alicia said, laugh
Speaker 1: and be good, And after dinner we will make him
Speaker 1: a nest on the floor in a corner, and he
Speaker 1: shall sit in his nest and see a dance of
Speaker 1: eighteen cooks that delighted the young princes and princesses. And
Speaker 1: they ate up all the broth, and washed up all
Speaker 1: the plates and dishes, and cleared away and pushed the
Speaker 1: table into a corner. And then they in their cook's caps,
Speaker 1: and the Princess Alicia, in the smothering coarse apron that
Speaker 1: belonged to the cook that had run away with her
Speaker 1: own true love, that was the very tall but very
Speaker 1: tipsy soldier, danced a dance of eighteen cooks before the
Speaker 1: angelic baby, who forgot his swelled face and his black eye,
Speaker 1: and crowed with joy. And so then once more the
Speaker 1: Princess Alicia saw King Watkins, the first, her father, standing
Speaker 1: in the doorway, looking on, and he said, what have
Speaker 1: you been doing, Alicia? Cooking and contriving? Papa? What else
Speaker 1: have you been doing, Alicha keeping the children light hearted? Papa?
Speaker 1: Where is the magic fishbone, Alicia? In my pocket? Papa?
Speaker 1: I thought you had lost it? Oh, no, Papa, or
Speaker 1: forgotten it? No, indeed, Papa. The King then sighed so
Speaker 1: heavily and seemed so low spirited, and sat down so miserably,
Speaker 1: leaning his head upon his hand and his elbow upon
Speaker 1: the kitchen table, pushed away in the corner that the
Speaker 1: seventeen princes and princesses crept softly out of the kitchen
Speaker 1: and left him alone with the Princess Alicia and the
Speaker 1: angelic baby. What is the matter, Papa, I am dreadfully
Speaker 1: poor my child. Have you no money at all? Papa? None?
Speaker 1: My child? Is there no way left of getting any Papa?
Speaker 1: No way, said the King. I have tried very hard,
Speaker 1: and I have tried all ways. When she heard those
Speaker 1: last words, the Princess Alicha began to put her hand
Speaker 1: into the pocket where she kept the magic fishbone, Papa
Speaker 1: said she. When we have tried very hard and tried
Speaker 1: all ways, we must have done our very very best,
Speaker 1: no doubt, Alicia. When we have done our very very best, Papa,
Speaker 1: and that is not enough, then I think the right
Speaker 1: time must have come for asking help of others. This
Speaker 1: was the very secret connected with the magic fishbone, which
Speaker 1: she had found out for herself from the good fairy
Speaker 1: Grand Marina's words, and which she had so often whispered
Speaker 1: to her beautiful and fashionable friend, the Duchess. So she
Speaker 1: took out of her pocket the magic fishbone that had
Speaker 1: been dried and rubbed and polished till it shone like
Speaker 1: mother of pearl, and she gave it one little kiss
Speaker 1: and wished it was quarter day. And immediately it was
Speaker 1: quarter day, and the king's quarter salary came rattling down
Speaker 1: the chimney and bounced into the middle of the floor.
Speaker 1: But this was not half of what happened, No, not
Speaker 1: a quarter for immediately afterwards, the good fairy Grand Marina
Speaker 1: came riding in in a carriage and four peacocks, with
Speaker 1: mister Pickles's boy up behind, dressed in silver and gold,
Speaker 1: with a cocked hat, powdered hair, pink silk stockings, a
Speaker 1: jeweled cane, and a nosegay. Down jumped mister Pickles's boy,
Speaker 1: with his cocked hat in his hand and wonderfully polite,
Speaker 1: being entirely changed by enchantment, and handed Grand Marina out.
Speaker 1: And there she stood in her rich shot silk smelling
Speaker 1: of dried lavender, fanning herself with a sparkling fan. Alicia,
Speaker 1: my dear, said this charming old fairy, how do you do?
Speaker 1: I hope I see you pretty well? Give me a
Speaker 1: kiss the princess Alicia embraced her, and then Grand Marina
Speaker 1: turned to the king and said, rather sharply, are you good?
Speaker 1: The king said, he hoped, so. I suppose you know
Speaker 1: the reason now why my god daughter here kissing the
Speaker 1: princess again? Did not apply to the fishbone sooner, said
Speaker 1: the fairy. The King made her a shy bow. Ah,
Speaker 1: But you didn't, then, said the fairy. The King made
Speaker 1: her a shyer bow any more reasons to ask for,
Speaker 1: said the fairy. The king said no, and he was
Speaker 1: very sorry. Be good, then, said the fairy, and live
Speaker 1: happily ever afterwards. Then Grand Marina waved her fan and
Speaker 1: the Queen came in most splendidly dressed, and the seventeen
Speaker 1: young princes and princesses, no longer grown out of their clothes,
Speaker 1: came in newly fitted out from top to toe, with
Speaker 1: tucks in everything to admit of its being let out.
Speaker 1: After that, the fairy tapped the Princess Alicia with her fan,
Speaker 1: and the smothering coarse apron flew away, and she appeared
Speaker 1: exquisitely dressed like a little bride, with a wreath of
Speaker 1: orange flowers and a silver veil. After that, the kitchen
Speaker 1: dresser changed of itself into a wardrobe made of beautiful
Speaker 1: woods and gold and looking glass, which was full of
Speaker 1: dresses of all sorts, all for her, and all exactly
Speaker 1: fitting her. After that, the angelic baby came in, running alone,
Speaker 1: with his face and eye, not a bit the worse,
Speaker 1: but much the better. Then Grand Marina begged to be
Speaker 1: introduced to the Duchess, and when the Duchess was brought down,
Speaker 1: many compliments passed between them. A little whispering took place
Speaker 1: between the fairy and the Duchess, and then the fairy
Speaker 1: said out loud, yes, I thought she would have told you.
Speaker 1: Grand Marina then turned to the King and Queen and said,
Speaker 1: we are going in search of Prince certain Personio. The
Speaker 1: pleasure of your company is requested at church in half
Speaker 1: an hour. Precisely so, she and the Princess Alicia got
Speaker 1: into the carriage, and mister Pickles's boy handed in the Duchess,
Speaker 1: who sat by herself on the opposite seat. And then
Speaker 1: mister Pickles's boy put up the steps and got up behind,
Speaker 1: and the peacocks flew away with their tails spread. Prince
Speaker 1: certain Personio were sitting by himself, eating barley sugar and
Speaker 1: waiting to be ninety. When he saw the peacocks, followed
Speaker 1: by the carriage coming in at the window. It immediately
Speaker 1: occurred to him that something uncommon was going to happen.
Speaker 1: Prince said, Grand Marina, I bring you your bride. The
Speaker 1: moment the fairy said those words, Prince Certain Parsonio's face
Speaker 1: left off being sticky, and his jacket and corduroys changed
Speaker 1: to peach bloom velvet, and his hair curled, and a
Speaker 1: cap and feather flew in like a bird and settled
Speaker 1: on his head. He got into the carriage by the
Speaker 1: fairy's invitation, and there he renewed his acquaintance with the duchess,
Speaker 1: whom he had seen before. In the church. Were the
Speaker 1: Prince's relations and friends, and the Princess Alicia's relations and friends,
Speaker 1: and the seventeen princes and princesses, and the baby, and
Speaker 1: a crowd of the neighbors. The marriage was beautiful beyond expression.
Speaker 1: The Duchess was bridesmaid and beheld the ceremony from the pulpit,
Speaker 1: where she was supported by the cushion of the dusk.
Speaker 1: Grand Marina gave a magnificent wedding feast afterwards, in which
Speaker 1: there was everything and more to eat, and everything and
Speaker 1: more to drink. The wedding cake was delicately ornamented with
Speaker 1: white satin ribbons, frosted silver and white lilies, and was
Speaker 1: forty two yards round. When Grand Marina had drunk her
Speaker 1: love to the young couple and Prince, Certain Personio had
Speaker 1: made a speech, and everybody had cried Hip, Hip, Hip, Hurrah.
Speaker 1: Grand Marina announced to the King and Queen that in
Speaker 1: future there would be eight quarter days in every year,
Speaker 1: except in leap year, when there would be She then
Speaker 1: turned to certain Personio and Alicia and said, my DearS,
Speaker 1: you will have thirty five children, and they will all
Speaker 1: be good and beautiful. Seventeen of your children will be boys,
Speaker 1: and eighteen will be girls. The hair of the whole
Speaker 1: of your children will curl naturally. They will never have
Speaker 1: the measles, and will have recovered from the whooping cough
Speaker 1: before being born. On hearing such good news, everybody cried out, Hip, Hip, Hip,
Speaker 1: Hurrah again. It only remains, said Grand Marina in conclusion,
Speaker 1: to make an end of the fishbone. So she took
Speaker 1: it from the hand of the Princess Alicia, and it
Speaker 1: instantly flew down the throat of the dreadful little snapping
Speaker 1: pugdog next door and choked him, and he expired in convulsions.
Speaker 1: End of the magic fishbone.