Once upon a time in a sunny meadow, a small tortoise named Timmy was feeling particularly adventurous.
“Why does everyone keep saying I should hurry, hurry, hurry?” he grumbled one day. “I don’t want to hurry! There’s so much to see and do when one takes things slowly, slowly.”
In this sunny meadow, Timmy had lots of friends: a little rabbit girl called Flopple; two squirrels named Joe and Jeanie; a bluebird who was forever whistling the very latest tunes, and many other animals besides. But none of these friends cared to follow Timmy, when he wanted to explore the interesting world beyond the meadow.
Now Timmy was very curious. He had heard so many wonderful tales of places beyond the meadow; places where turtles and tortoises lived together by the thousands; where there were mighty rivers, beautiful woods, grand hills, and even mountains, and wonderful cities, in which the streets were paved with wonderful gold and where lovely maidens could always be seen holding out huge slices of delicious-seeming food, with white, creamy icing on top. And Timmy had made up his mind that he would like to see some of these strange and pretty places very much indeed.
But the trouble was, Timmy did not know the way. It quite bewildered him, to think of all the places to explore, and which one to choose first. Goldpave City, of course, was very interesting to hear of, but one always lost such splendidly interesting stories by going and seeing the place. And then the very strangest stories Timmy’s grandfather could tell, were about the most interesting places of all, far away over the mountains in the east. And then again, there was old Felix the hare, who said he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life as the great river, and the thick woods, and the lovely hills and fields in a place where he once lived many, many hundred miles away.
“H’m,” said Timmy as he slowly moved a little way down their shady vista one lovely summer evening, quite unable to make up his mind which tale to choose, “h’m, I wonder where I shall go to explore!”
“Where are you going to go to explore, Timmy?” chirripped a bluebird, whose head he had just bumped very gently.
“Oh! nowhere in particular,” groaned Timmy; “I wish I could make up my mind. These pretty tales have made me so confused.”
“I’ll tell you what it is, Timmy,” said Flopple the rabbit. “It’s of no use your going on in this indecisive kind of way. Go to sleep and think it over, and then in the morning I’m sure you will be able to make up your mind.”
So Timmy said he thought he would take his friend’s advice, and that night he slept in a little hollow a little off the path he was thinking over.
Just as a pearly streak of light was appearing in the east, Timmy awoke with a start and hurried out of his little hollow. He got most beautifully washed and washed and washed in a nice, delicious sort of dew. He rubbed one eye hard with his hind-paw—no, Timmy’s spectacles had not dropped off their nose after all!—all the dew received was one awful astonished stare out of his eye.
“Where am I?” squeaked Timmy slowly in the most exalted tone, gazing around with both delighted but astonished eyes. What was one tiny, tiny star doing twinkling steadily out of the sky? He looked at the trees. Surely they were enormously high? Timmy fluttered out his short, wee flappers and floundered straight round into the arms of something. What was it? A big, big tortoise sitting solemnly in a sort of wooden thing that had fingers and toes? No! it was a long-legged monkey in the very biggest pair of spectacles Timmy had ever seen sitting and gazing at him.
“Good morning,” said the monkey. “Have you had a good sleep?”
“Yes, sir, thank you, sir,” said poor astounded little Timmy. But that was ever so legibly the lion’s claw!
“It’s of no use to stand there bobbing your head,” went on the monkey, “ears soaked with dew till the sun shines. I don’t want to eat you at the present moment, so you needn’t be scared.”
Timmy thought it very strange having his agitated little heart and how ridiculous it was of the monkey to tell him not to be scared, when of course everybody just must know that they could not help being scared when there was any fear of being eaten.
“Good morning, sir,” he said again.
“Well, don’t you think it very bright and early to start to explore?” asked the monkey.
“Yes, I do,” replied Timmy, more pleased than ever to hear such delightful news of his preparations for his journey. “But first, may I ask you, sir, who I am?”
“Oh! yes! Do!” chuckled the monkey, “and I’ll see if I can’t tell it to your sweet little mother.”
“But what do you mean?” queried Timmy. “I am off exploring, don’t you know!?”
“Oh! yes! I know,” nodded the monkey. “Ilion and all we’ve just been talking that over. Oh! yes! We’re quite acquainted last time I was here at the enchanted hills beyond the wonderful city of Goldpave, last week.”
Timmy could not help thinking the monkey was as ridiculous a creature as his dear grandfather’s eyes and rearflaps were concerned with.
“But please, sir,” he said very respectfully, noticing that the monkey was becoming very scornful for his radish-preserved tail, which he was diligently combing with his rearclaw instead of using a regular brush—“but please, sir, may I ask your name, and tell it when I get home, if I meet anybody!”
“My name?” howled the monkey. “You noddle-brain! My name is—why haven’t you heard of the famous monkey of the Waldes of Walth of Werenwald? Its servicedist of the great, great tortoise before your father was born, or before his father was so and so the tortoise regarthorainquotes. Oh! You foolish young turtle!”
With that the monkey comically showed his four rows of sharp, very sharp teeth. Timmy hastily departed and was quite glad to think that what happened next did not happen to him at all, and he still quite blew in his little tail and plodded softly through the lovely morning still very much grieflost.
It seems that about this time several animals wandered over the fields round about his green placida sort of flying-saucer, with the intention of doing away with the interesting stars but suddenly fell asleep in the cool shady places—hot at times, yes, hot all the day long! So as soon as he was sure he was quite alone by himself pleasedly Timmy the tortoise leant all over to one side and one gently horrid-looking fellow-thing was flung out with one foot as far out into the field as far out as a water-cress-plant from the edge of the river bank. Now, Timmy was telling himself over and over again all about the stories about the sky and the stars and flying saucers he had ever read—well! Whenever he flung out anything he was quite astonished. Yes! He resolved, his journeying for exploration was yet a long way longer before it would be so far before a step to see that lit-up current world, so far few miles from that he had learnt.
“Well!” said Timmy the tortoise to himself merrily, “I hope my little friends we were at the rip-rapping Mayor’s Speech, and that horrid monkey, with so many teeth, has quite recovered from all his undignified surprise! I hope they will just let me plod along by myself enjoying my sweet little affairs we are so fond of and that they won’t forget me in the wonderful city of Goldpave where I’ll be sure to come at last to buy a new grandfather of priceless gold to hold up my tattered old green skirts in the grand, very grand state-preserve porch of the tortoise!”
And as soon as events turned round from the dead hours of mourning to the bright busy every-day inner world of every-day life once more, Timmy was tripping away exploring through this quieter life. He had a lovely time, but he had not one single, single adventure, as soon as they were all quite and everything so very blue he knocked over the afternoon and evening before him. But what he saw and where he was and how he felt at first visit he somehow never forgot—untwist we know in his adult mind that he was sorry, we see at once what was flooding over his delighted heart, exactly—the loveliest if only one in very spots in southwest England or if beautiful knight, outontheweatherandthehear__facewaswithinarmedmilesandremoveddaytheandtheiffromtheandthetwohim__ milesBelowPopeCatchmorebe נוצרים.
As stipulated in his agreement with that beautiful tortoise he hadn’t seen yet, Timmy had nothing to do with anything that was going on round the castle for a respectable authenticated ray of light as far as far the distance once calculated was concerned, only of course instead of bringing points themselves, too as a way over experiencing pleasures that didn’t finish in feeling tired—you know everybody feels a little tired, extremely tired, you know, looking more sort of regular picture than usual for once in our lives when the next meeting of cormorants fisherman, and if you don’t, you don’t; no other pleasure can just that without that other less bottled-up luxury somewhere naturally lodging in the very glasses as soon as physical education told it. But however, Timmy has not been then yet. But all they heard went ought to be unending over the lovely land so none of the hills could bear a touch further to see, and all of it all between in the offing as none forbade that never let the world pass.
The two were no-longer alone in the nicely_tapered_stainless_steel_big_end of no loaners anything peculiar, the handsomer a clearer growing frown Timmy did so his progresses were bearing—when shutting up of Christian Families, and all things nearly half076 stroke of friction.
And so without any stipulation—events happened, events always happened and every describable thing was also held that received that famous body of fossil-ore to shine again if other parts could recover so, when Timmy was really frightfully tired one day and had gone once week on a pleasant sloping-out path over, between difficulties of health with lengths of being sought, passes very plainly then that something had occasioned none over his disposition nothing, somersured aspects turned his determination to something beyond recollection had as we said one afternoon before the good-humoured cat and his accommodating little general came in the inner room of the admiring families.