The Peterkins At Home
by
AT DINNER.
Another little incident occurred in the Peterkin family. This was at dinner-time.
They sat down to a dish of boiled ham. Now it was a peculiarity of the children of the family that half of them liked fat, and half liked lean. Mr. Peterkin sat down to cut the ham. But the ham turned out to be a very remarkable one. The fat and the lean came in separate slices,–first one of lean, then one of fat, then two slices of lean, and so on. Mr. Peterkin began as usual by helping the children first, according to their age. Now Agamemnon, who liked lean, got a fat slice; and Elizabeth Eliza, who preferred fat, had a lean slice. Solomon John, who could eat nothing but lean, was helped to fat, and so on. Nobody had what he could eat.
It was a rule of the Peterkin family that no one should eat any of the vegetables without some of the meat; so now, although the children saw upon their plates apple-sauce, and squash and tomato, and sweet potato and sour potato, not one of them could eat a mouthful, because not one was satisfied with the meat. Mr. and Mrs. Peterkin, however, liked both fat and lean, and were making a very good meal, when they looked up and saw the children all sitting eating nothing, and looking dissatisfied into their plates.
“What is the matter now?” said Mr. Peterkin.
But the children were taught not to speak at table. Agamemnon, however, made a sign of disgust at his fat, and Elizabeth Eliza at her lean, and so on; and they presently discovered what was the difficulty.
“What shall be done now?” said Mrs. Peterkin.
They all sat and thought for a little while.
At last said Mrs. Peterkin, rather uncertainly, “Suppose we ask the lady from Philadelphia what is best to be done.”
But Mr. Peterkin said he didn’t like to go to her for everything; let the children try and eat their dinner as it was.
And they all tried, but they couldn’t. “Very well, then,” said Mr. Peterkin, “let them go and ask the lady from Philadelphia.”
“All of us?” cried one of the little boys, in the excitement of the moment.
“Yes,” said, Mrs. Peterkin, “only put on your india-rubber boots.” And they hurried out of the house.
The lady from Philadelphia was just going in to her dinner; but she kindly stopped in the entry to hear what the trouble was. Agamemnon and Elizabeth Eliza told her all the difficulty, and the lady from Philadelphia said, “But why don’t you give the slices of fat to those who like the fat, and the slices of lean to those who like the lean?”
They looked at one another. Agamemnon looked at Elizabeth Eliza, and Solomon John looked at the little boys. “Why didn’t we think of that?” said they, and ran home to tell their mother.