The Little Parsnip-Man
by
(Freely adapted from the German.)
WHAT PETER FOUND IN THE PAN–AN UGLY SMILE–THE WIDOW’S RECKONINGS–REST BY RUSHLIGHT.
On a cold winter’s evening it is very cosy to sit by a warm hearth, where the fire crackles pleasantly, and the old saucepan, which Mother has set on the fire, sings monotonously to itself between-whiles.
On such a night the wind howled in the street without, beat upon the window-panes, and rustled through the trees, which stood, tall and leafless, in the big garden over the way.
Little Peter did not trouble his head on the subject. He sat indoors on a little footstool, near the fire, and close also to his mother, who was busy cutting up parsnips for next day’s dinner.
Peter paid great attention as his mother took a well-boiled parsnip out of the saucepan, scraped it, cut it, and laid the pieces on a clean white dish.
His mother’s thoughts were elsewhere. She looked sad and pensive. Only from time to time she nodded across the dish towards her little Peter, and when he got up and came and laid his head in her lap, she gently smoothed his fair hair from his brow, and then she smiled too.
Peter had no idea that his mother was sad. He had got another parsnip out of the pan, and wanted to scrape it all by himself; but he was not very skilful, and he worked so slowly that in the end his mother had to finish it for him.
The next thing he did was to upset the saucepan; the parsnips fell out, and Peter began to count them.
All at once he gave a cry that made his mother jump. He had found a parsnip-root that looked exactly like a little man. It had a regular head of its own, with a long nose, its body was short, and it had two shrivelled stringy little legs; arms it had none.
“That’s a little Parsnip-man,” said his mother, when Peter showed it to her.
“A Parsnip-man?” muttered Peter below his breath, and he gazed doubtfully at the odd-looking root in his hand.
It seemed to him that the little man was smiling at him; but with a very ugly kind of smile.
Suddenly the stove gave such a loud crack, that Peter let the parsnip fall out of his hands with a start.
“What’s the matter?” asked his mother, as Peter buried his face in her arms; for he began to feel frightened.
“The little Parsnip-man grinned so nastily at me, and such a loud noise came out of the stove–and I let him fall!” His mother laughed at him.
“You’ve been dreaming,” said she. “The little man could not smile if he tried. The Parsnip-mannikins are only roots in the day-time, you know. It is at midnight, when you have long, long been asleep, and the church clock strikes twelve, that they come to life. Then away they all go to the great cave where the queen dwells in state, and here they hold high festival. There they dance, sing, play, and eat out of golden dishes. But as soon as the clock strikes one, all is over, and the Parsnip-men are only roots once more.
“But you’ve fallen asleep,” she added. “Come, my child, and I’ll put you to bed. You are tired, are you not?”
“Yes, I’ll go to bed,” said little Peter, rubbing his drowsy eyes. So his mother took him into the bedroom and lighted the rushlight. Then she undressed him and put him to bed. And Peter had hardly touched the pillow before he was fast asleep.
But the mother went back to the kitchen-table, and seated herself once more by the light of the dimly-burning lamp. The parsnips were all cut up long ago. She put the dish aside and began to sew. Now and then she paused in her work to lean back in her chair, and tears welled up in her eyes. Perhaps she remembered that the rent was due, or she may have been reflecting that Peter’s jacket was past further patching. In either case she began to count over in her mind a certain small stock of savings which she had laid by in a money-box, and to puzzle her poor head what she should turn her hand to next to earn the wherewithal to buy the boy some decent clothes. Nothing likely suggested itself, however, and with a heavy sigh she bent once more over her work and stitched away faster than ever. For the work she was doing had to be taken home next morning; and there was a great deal yet to do if she hoped to get it finished in time, and to pay her rent with the price of it.