Читать книгу Forty Good-Night Tales - Rose Amy Fyleman - Страница 6
Оглавление(i) the quarrel
It was a very big dolls' house. There were six rooms, and a hall and staircase, and it stood in Molly's nursery.
The Smith family lived in it—Mr. and Mrs. Smith, four children, and a servant.
They lived a rather strange life. All day long they were more or less asleep. Even when Molly played with them they didn't really wake up. They only became quite awake at night. They were a peaceable family, but one night Mr. and Mrs. Smith had a quarrel.
They were standing on the little landing at the top of the stairs. I don't really know what they were quarrelling about. I believe it began with Mr. Smith's complaining that Mrs. Smith had upset the papers on his desk. Anyhow, it was a terrible quarrel, and they got so excited that their voices grew louder and louder, until you could hear them quite a long way off.
Molly was asleep in the next room, and at last they shouted so loud that they woke her up.
She couldn't make out where the noise came from, and she slipped out of bed and pushed open the nursery door.
Mrs. Smith's servant, who was in the kitchen, very much upset, heard Molly coming, and looked out of the window.
"Look out!" she cried. "Somebody's coming." And she turned all the lights out.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith got an awful shock.
Mrs. Smith was standing at the top of the stairs. She took a sudden step backwards and fell right down to the bottom.
Mr. Smith was leaning against the banisters. He lost his head completely and fell after her.
There Molly found them next morning, for she had gone back to bed when she found the nursery quiet.
"I can't think how they got there," she said to her mother, who was helping her to mend Mr. Smith's leg with seccotine and to patch up Mrs. Smith's chipped face.
"You must have pushed against the dolls' house when you walked about last night," said her mother.
Molly shook her head. "I wonder if you could tell me, Mr. Smith?" she said.
Mr. Smith stared straight in front of him with his china eyes.
He wasn't going to say anything. Not likely!
