Читать книгу The Three Gollies - Enid blyton - Страница 4

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The three golliwogs lived for a long time in their pretty little cottage with yellow walls and a blue gate and honeysuckle growing all over it. It was called Golliwog Cottage, and whenever anyone went by he was sure to see a black head looking out of the window.

But the golliwogs were all so alike that no one ever knew if it was Wiggie they were looking at, or Waggie, or Wollie!

Now one day Wiggie got a cold. It was a very bad cold, and he wanted a big handkerchief to sneeze into.

“Where is the handkerchief?” asked Wiggie. You see, at that time the golliwogs had only one large white handkerchief between them. Nobody knew where the handkerchief was. They looked at one another. They felt in their pockets. They shook their heads.

“I haven’t got it,” said Waggie.

“Nor have I,” said Wollie.

“Well, I keep wanting to sneeze,” said Wiggie, “and it is dreadful not to when I want to so badly. Please do find me the handkerchief.”

“We washed it last week,” said Waggie. “Do you suppose it is still hanging out on the line, Wollie?”

“I’ll go and see,” said Wollie. He ran out to the washing-line. There was a pair of socks there and a tray-cloth. He stared at them both and then ran indoors again.

“No, it isn’t there,” he said. “But there is a tray-cloth there, Waggie. Do you think we took down the white handkerchief and used it for a tray-cloth? We have been using a tray-cloth, and yet ours is on the line. So we must have been using something else for a tray-cloth.”

“Ooh yes, I remember now,” said Waggie. “I did use it for a tray-cloth, because the tray-cloth was dirty. I took it down from the line, ironed it and put it on the tray when Mother Hoppit came to tea the other day.”

“Then it must be in the drawer with the table-cloth,” said Wiggie, and he went to look. But it wasn’t there.

“It isn’t there,” said Wiggie. “Whatever did we do with it?”

“Oh, don’t you remember?” said Wollie suddenly. “We couldn’t find the duster to dust the mantelpiece one morning. So you got the handkerchief out of the tray-cloth drawer and used that.”

“Then the handkerchief must be in the duster cupboard,” said Waggie, and he went to look. But it wasn’t there!

“Oh, I know!” said Wiggie. “I wanted to beat the kitchen carpet, and it was so dusty that I tied the handkerchief round my head to keep the dirt out of my black hair. Yes—I did. Don’t you remember seeing me with it tied round my head? I took it out of the duster cupboard, I remember.”

“Dear me, so you did,” said Wollie. “I wonder what you did with it when you took it off your head.”

“I hung it up with our hats in the hall, I expect,” said Wiggie.

“That’s the sort of silly thing you would do,” said Wollie crossly. “I suppose if you wore a coal-scuttle on your head for once, you’d hang it up in the hall afterwards!”

“I’ll go and see if it’s there,” said Waggie. So he went to look in the hall.

But the handkerchief wasn’t hanging up with the hats.

“It isn’t there,” he said. “Now who took it out of the hall, and what for?”

“Oooh, I did!” said Wollie, remembering. “We played blind man’s buff yesterday afternoon, didn’t we—and I was the blind man first—and I took the handkerchief out of the hall and tied it round my eyes.”

“So you did!” said Wiggie and Waggie. “But what became of it afterwards?”

“Waggie was the last blind man,” said Wollie. “What did you do with the handkerchief when you took it off, Waggie?”

“I gave it to Wiggie to wave to the bus when it passed by at tea-time,” said Waggie.

“So you did,” said Wiggie. “I remember waving with it, and the bus-driver waved back. But it blew out of the window, didn’t it?”

“Oh yes!” said Wollie. “And the dog next door got it and nibbled it. And you ran out, Waggie, to get it, and brought it in full of holes—don’t you remember?”

“Quite right,” said Waggie. “The dog almost bit it in half, and there were three big holes in it.”

“We put it in the laundry basket to be washed,” said Wiggie excitedly. “I remember quite well!”

“It must be there, then,” said Wollie, and he went to look. But it wasn’t there.

The three golliwogs stared at one another.

“I can feel another sneeze coming,” said Wiggie dolefully. “I wish I had a handkerchief to sneeze into.”

“Would you like to borrow the table-cloth?” said Waggie.

“No,” said Wiggie. “My sneeze would be lost then. A table-cloth is too big for a sneeze.”

“Let us try and think what we did with the handkerchief after we put it into the laundry basket,” said Waggie. “Someone must have taken it out!”

“I did!” said Wiggie suddenly. “Don’t you remember? I ran up the path this morning, and caught my foot on a stone. I fell down——”

“And hurt your knees——”

“And they began to bleed——”

“So I had to bind them up, and we went to get the handkerchief out of the basket!”

“And we tore it in half——”

“And Waggie bound up your left knee——”

“And Wollie bound up your right knee——”

“And as my knees are not yet better, the handkerchief ought to be there this very minute,” said Wiggie.

“Turn up your blue trousers and we will see,” said Waggie. So Wiggie turned up his blue trousers—and there, binding up his hurt knees, was the handkerchief, in two pieces!

“We’ve found it!” said Waggie.

“Hurrah!” said Wollie.

But Wiggie looked gloomy.

“What’s the matter?” said Wollie. “Aren’t you pleased that we’ve found the handkerchief?”

“Not very,” said Wiggie. “How can I sneeze into a handkerchief that is tied round my knees?”

“You can bend over,” said Waggie.

“When I bend over, my sneeze goes,” said Wiggie, with a long face. “I do want to sneeze. It is simply dreadful to have to keep on not sneezing.”

They all stared at one another. And then Wollie had a marvellous idea.

“Let’s buy another handkerchief!” he cried. “Why didn’t we think of it before?”

“Of course!” said Waggie and Wiggie, cheering up. So off they went to the shop and bought a beautiful white handkerchief for Wiggie.

So now he is happy. You can hear him sneezing all day long—“A-tish-oo, tish-oo, tish-oo!” But I expect the handkerchief will be lost soon, and what a fuss there will be again!