Overview
And funny the people there;
The dewdrops all sprout like peas in a pod,
While blossoms the doughnut fair.
The griddle-cake bush runs syrup for sap
The plum-trees grow puddings so fat;
Yes, the Land of Nod is the best on the map,
The finest I ever was at.
When Tinkie and Tess refuse to go to sleep on Christmas Eve, they catch the Sand Man on his evening rounds. The three of them fly away together on a moonbeam to the Land of Nod, where they encounter the Welsh Rabbit, the Educated Cow, King Snooze, and other extraordinary characters. This bedtime story classic features numerous enchanting illustrations from the original 1909 edition by Edward L. Chase.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780486494937 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Dover Publications |
| Publication date: | 08/05/2014 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 152 |
| File size: | 6 MB |
| Age Range: | 4 - 8 Years |
Read an Excerpt
The Land of Nod
By J. Walker M. Spadden
Dover Publications, Inc.
Copyright © 2014 Dover Publications, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-486-49493-7
CHAPTER 1
The Sand Man
Oh, Dear!" sighed Tinkie, rubbing his nose flat against the cold window-pane. "Oh, dear!" echoed Tess. It was Christmas Eve — the very longest one in the memory of Tinkie. To be sure he couldn't count more than nine Christmases to save him, and the first three or four hadn't really amounted to much. But the others were so well marked off by candy and nuts and oranges and toys and turkey and plum pudding — yes, and by a certain after-pain down under his waistband — that Tinkie felt on long familiar terms with Santa Claus time. It was the day before Christmas he objected to, and this one seemed unending. Yes, he felt he ought to know all about them, for he was ever so much bigger and wiser and older than his sister Tess. He actually felt sorry for her as he told her about the Christmases she had missed.
"Yes, but, Tinkie," she retorted, "you know good and well that the very first tree in this house was for both of us — so there!"
"Huh!" sniffed Tinkie, "a lot of good it did you! Mother says you were so teeny-weeny you tried to grab the candles and eat them; and they were lit, too!"
"Well, anyway, you don't 'member much about it, either. And the tree was as much mine as yours."
Now, please don't think that Tinkie and Tess always quarreled like this. They didn't. They usually got along together very well indeed — much better than some brothers and sisters a little blackbird has told me about. But to-day they were quite out of patience. The hours had been so long and lonesome. Mother had been in the library behind closed doors, where she could be heard whispering to Jane. Bridget was so busy in the kitchen that she didn't have time even to answer questions. All was bustle and hurry down-stairs, getting ready for the visit of Santa Claus; but the children had nothing to do except keep out of the way and wait for dinner and time to go to bed.
Nevertheless, the day dragged by somehow, as the longest days will. Father came home an hour early, bringing Uncle Edward with him; and Uncle Edward took pity on the two disconsolate youngsters, and instead of going into the library to help with the tree, he sat down with them by the fire and told such funny stories that almost before they knew it the bell had rung for dinner.
The most curious story that he told was about the Sand Man, and the wonderful Land of Nod where he lived. Tinkie and Tess could hardly eat their dinner for asking questions about him: how he sprinkled sand in the eyes of wide-awake people and carried them away with him on a journey to the Land of Nod which lasted the whole night long; and how nobody had ever seen him because of the sand, and did n't know where he took them or when he was coming after them — often didn't want to go one bit but had a nice time whenever they did go along.
"Just the same, I don't want him to take me anywhere to-night," said Tinkie. "I'd be afraid he wouldn't get me back in time to see what old Santa Claus brought me in the morning."
"Me neither," said Tess, ungrammatically.
"Perhaps it might be the best thing for you both," laughed their uncle. "It might make you forget how long the day has been."
Nevertheless the children shook their heads doubtingly. Uncle Edward knew 'most everything, but he couldn't know how long they had been counting on Santa's visit. Why, even a really truly journey to the wonderful Land of Nod would have to stand aside for that!
Pretty soon after dinner the children were sent to bed. They went willingly for once, as they reasoned that the sooner to bed the sooner to sleep, and the sooner would come Christmas morning. But their reasoning proved false, for the excitement of the day had been too great to allow slumber to visit their eyelids at once. It was in vain that they tossed from side to side, seeking a cosey spot; they were still wide awake in their cots on each side of the big dormer window in the mansard roof.
The snowstorm had ceased, and the drifting clouds parted, letting the silver rays of the moon fall through the window and throw fantastic shadows upon the floor.
Tinkie watched the shadows with wide-open eyes, now fancying them a flock of sheep jumping a fence, and again a swift eagle darting in circles, and still again a long sea monster with waving fins. Then the shadows took on the likeness of a crooked little man with scattered, waving locks of hair and a fantastic beard.
"O-o-e-e!" came in a long-drawn sigh from Tess's cot; and Tinkie knew that she also was awake and must be seeing the moon pictures too.
"Tinkie, Tinkie, wake up!" she called excitedly. "I think I see the Sand Man right here on the floor!"
"Humph! I'm awake," responded Tinkie. "That's just a shadow; I see it too."
"But it's a crooked little man with a long beard, just like Uncle Edward said."
"Don't believe there is any Sand Man!" replied Tinkie. "It's only a make-believe story, you know, about him." (Tinkie was very wise!) "And even if he was here we couldn't see him."
"Ho, ho, ho! Is that so!" came an unexpected voice that made both the children jump. The voice was the queerest drawl in the world, as though speaking at all were a very great effort.
"Is that so! Ho, ho, ho!" the voice repeated; and Tinkie looking around quickly was amazed to see that the shadow—as he thought— was speaking to him. But the closer he looked the more real the figure became.
Tinkie was sure he had never seen a more curious fellow. To begin with, his head was as large as his body, while his arms and legs were so long that he had to twist them up like corkscrews to get into the room at all. But the face was the funniest of anything. It looked solemn enough, except that a quizzical gleam about the eyes seemed to make it laugh all over at the same time. So good-natured did he look, despite that solemn countenance, that neither Tinkie nor Tess was in the least afraid of him. But they were so amazed that they waited for him to speak again. As he did not seem disposed to do so, Tinkie finally ventured:
"I — I — beg your pardon — did you speak?"
"Ho, ho! Did I speak? That's so—a little squeak," replied the visitor, who seemed fond of rhyming as well as drawling his words.
"Please, sir, where did you come from?" asked Tess, who had been gazing at him with open mouth.
"From my cloud-chariot high, in the far-away sky," replied the guest with a chuckle.
After each one of his sentences the little man's mouth would close with a snap as though that were his very last word upon earth. A silence of at least a minute was now broken by Tinkie.
"Please, sir, are—are you the Sand Man?" he asked desperately. "You don't look like Santa Claus, you know."
"Yes, yes, that's a good guess," replied the stranger, winking drolly.
"But I thought we couldn't see you," objected Tinkie. "And, besides, where's your sand?"
"I've used up my sand. It took more than I planned, making children sleep sound, with friend Santa around."
Here he winked repeatedly, and one of his corkscrew legs unwound itself from the other and began to wind around the other way.
"Oh, I see," said Tinkie the wise, who did most of the talking, while Tess still stared, and her mouth refused to close. "You have used up all your sand on the other people, 'cause everybody does like us and stays awake the night before Christmas."
The Sand Man nodded in a puzzling way.
"And that is why we can see you," continued Tinkie; "is it not so?"
"Yes, it is not so," replied the Sand Man in a still more puzzling way; and meanwhile his legs began to untwist again.
The children's eyes grew round as they watched this curious proceeding.
"Why do you do that?" Tess could not help saying.
"Do what?" asked the visitor, abruptly.
"Why-ee, wind yourself up that way," answered Tess, in confusion.
"But how can I go, if I don't wind up so?" said the Sand Man.
"But you don't have to be wound up to go," said Tinkie. "You're not a watch."
"Yes I am, honor bright! I run down every night."
This reply was too much even for Tinkie so he thought well to change the subject.
"Where do you come from—the Land of Nod?"
The Sand Man nodded and chuckled in a very mysterious manner and opened his mouth as if about to say something of great interest — then shut it again with the same queer little snap, like a watch lid.
"Oh, tell us about it — do!" cried both the children at once.
The Sand Man looked from one eager face to the other, and clearing his throat and giving his legs a final twist, began:
"Oh, but please, Mr. Sand Man," burst in Tinkie the critical, "that last line does n't sound just right."
"Doesn't it rhyme?" snapped the Sand Man.
"Yes, indeed!" chimed in Tess, "and I think it is horrid of you, Tinkie, to stop such a pretty story, 'specially when there's plum puddings in it. 'Sides, I want to hear about the funny people. Won't you please go on, Mr. Sand Man?"
"Yes, go on — do!" urged Tinkie, now very much ashamed of himself.
The Sand Man growled and pretended to be quite put out; but in spite of himself his eyes continued to twinkle. So presently, twisting his legs up into a double bowknot and tying his whiskers neatly under them, he began again:
"Oh, a very queer place is the Land of Nod,
And queer are the people there;
The houses grow up like trees from the sod,
With chimneys for roots, and cellars in air,
The fishes —"
"But how could that be?" asked Tinkie, a little rudely it must be confessed. "How can the people get into the houses if they are upside down?"
"If they are upside down, so are the houses in the town," retorted the Sand Man.
"That's what I mean," said Tinkie; "the houses — not the people. No, I mean the people — not the houses."
"Oh, Tinkie, what do you mean!" cried Tess, in disgust. "You are always 'terrupting folks. Go on, Mr. Sand Man, do, and tell us all about it. I could listen to that funny story all night."
But the Sand Man only shook his head, and appeared to be very busy untying the bowknot in his legs.
"I'm awful sorry I interrupted; I really am!" said Tinkie. "I'll try not to do so any more."
Still the Sand Man did not make any reply, though the frown had smoothed out of his droll face.
"Please, good Mr. Sand Man, tell us the rest," pleaded Tess. "I never 'terrupted you, so I think you might tell me all about those funny people."
And she watched anxiously the process of untangling the legs and the whiskers.
"No," said their visitor at last, and very slowly indeed, "I don't think I shall tell of the people that dwell in that curious land; you would not understand. But go there with me and you'll see what you see. Will you go?" — the last three words were jerked out abruptly.
"When —to-night?" asked Tess.
The Sand Man nodded.
"Oh, yes, please!" cried both children eagerly.
"Only —" Tinkie added hesitatingly, for he did not want to hurt the Sand Man's feelings again — "only we mustn't stay too long, you know, 'cause to-morrow is Christmas, you know, and our mother and father will be needing us."
The Sand Man chuckled and nodded so fast that his head seemed in danger of coming loose.
"Cer-tain-lee!" he drawled; "trust me for that." He paused as if hunting for his usual rhyme, but the eager Tess could not wait.
"How are we to go?" she asked.
For answer the Sand Man pointed to the moonbeam which came streaming through the window. And as the children looked they saw that it was not motionless, but instead was moving upward as though it were an endless belt running over a wheel. And all along its surface were fastened little cushions or stools for passengers to sit upon.
"Come!" said the Sand Man, suiting the action to the word, and twisting his legs around one of these stools.
At once he was gently lifted from the floor and carried through the window, while beckoning them to follow. The children sprang out of bed, seized their handiest garments, and laughed gleefully as they took their places on this broad, shining platform.
Up, up, they went, slowly at first, then with a rush that almost took their breath away, when they met the cool night air. But this soon gave way to a warm upper current, which blew softly, spice-laden, from the south.
Higher and higher they went till the whole glittering earth lay beneath them. The winding rivers stretched lazily out like tiny ribbons, the seas gleaming in the moonlight like pools of quicksilver. Then suddenly the earth seemed nothing more than a huge, shining ball which grew rapidly smaller, while the moon grew larger and brighter. Above and all about them the stars twinkled in droves and swarms and millions. Little stars and big ones — round balls of light which grew almost as large as their old friendly moon, and tiny points like red-hot pin pricks in the sky — whirled and sparkled and danced over all the sky, like some enchanted snowstorm of the universe.
Larger and still larger grew the moon, as they traveled steadily up the moving beam. Now they could see hills and valleys upon its face, and broad fertile plains and stretching seas, just as on their dear old earth.
"Oh, Tess!" cried Tinkie, "just look! I didn't know the moon was like that! I do believe that is where we'll find the Land of Nod!"
Tess clapped her hands with delight.
"We will soon find out," she said "unless something happens."
But just then something happened.
CHAPTER 2What Happened
It was all the fault of that reckless Welsh Rabbit. He was always getting mixed up in things—at least that is what people said who knew.
When the Sand Man saw him coming he stood up — though in great danger of tumbling off the moonbeam — and waved his long arms furiously.
"Keep off! keep off!" he yelled very rapidly for him, and not stopping even to make a rhyme out of it.
Tinkie and Tess did not have time to see who the Sand Man was shouting at. When they heard his warning cry they instinctively held fast to their stools, — or tried to, — but it was too late. They heard a thud, a dull, grinding crash, then felt a cold shock, and found themselves flying through space, while the moonbeam crumbled to bits beneath them.
"Never you mind! Hang on behind!" called the Sand Man, in a far-away voice.
Just then a huge chuff-chuffing object swept past them and they laid hold of it at the back, and at once felt themselves going swiftly through the air as though they were flying. In spite of the danger it was glorious!
"This beats hanging on behind grocer's carts!" gasped Tinkie.
"Yes, or even tying your sled to sleighs," panted his sister.
"Why, this is nothing but a big sleigh itself!" exclaimed Tinkie, looking up; "and there's nobody in the back seat," he continued; "let's climb in."
No sooner said than done. In spite of the sleigh's swift motion, Tinkie drew himself up, kicked wildly into space once or twice, and then tumbled in. Reaching back quickly he handed Tess over after him and they settled down quite out of breath. Then they tried to see what the careless driver on the seat ahead looked like, but could not catch a glimpse of him because of some large bulging bags in between. But whoever he was, he drove ahead in the most heedless way, not even honk-honking to let one know he was coming. That was how he had dashed so suddenly upon the three voyagers from around the corner of a comet's tail.
Of course the sliding moonbeam went smash to pieces when the auto-sleigh struck it. Loose ends of it floated off in every direction, and on one of these the children had caught a parting vision of their friend the Sand Man. He had wrapped his legs tightly around the edge to keep from falling, and as it wafted him lightly away he brandished his fists at the auto and shouted: "I shall tell the King of this reckless driving!"
The rest of his threats were drowned by distance, and the children could not see which way he went. This fact troubled them at the time, but things were happening so fast that they soon forgot it. The new ride was proving even more exciting than the old, and everything they saw aroused their curiosity.
The sleigh was a queer, great, deep, roomy affair, with one seat in front and one behind, and a large space in the middle. This space was filled by the bags which the children had already noticed, and looking again they saw that some were bursting open and letting a stream of feathery flakes stream out in a white path behind them.
"Oh, he's making snow! I do believe he's making snow!" cried Tess, in rapture. "I 've always wondered what made the snow, and now how glad I am to know!"
"So you've got the rhyme habit too, have you?" said Tinkie. "But how do you know where the snow comes from before they put it in the bags?"
"Why, that comes from picking Mother Carey's chickens. I've heard so lots of times."
"No, you are wrong. It's Mother Goose making her feather-beds."
"Anyway, I've heard the other. But let's ask the man in front about it."
"We're getting a ride, so we'd better lie low," replied the experienced Tinkie. "I don't know what sort of a looking fellow he is, and he might be a terror."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Land of Nod by J. Walker M. Spadden. Copyright © 2014 Dover Publications, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
I. The Sand Man,II. What Happened,
III. The Procession of Letters,
IV. The Capital of Nod,
V. The King's Review,
VI. Tess in Trouble,
VII. The Welsh Rabbit Asks a Question,
VIII. Santa Claus's Story,
IX. Tinkie Takes the Stand,
X. The Battle,