Mr. Bliss
lived in a house. It was a
white house with red roofs.
It had tall rooms, and a very high front door,
because Mr. Bliss wore such tall hats.
He had rows of them on
rows of pegs in the hall.
Girabbit, which he kept in the
garden, lived in deep, deep hole,
but its head often looked in
at the bedroom windows.
"Is it going to be a fine day?"
"Of course it is!".
All days were fine to him for
his skin was of mackintosh,
and he had made a deep, deep,
hole in the ground, and he was blind,
so he never knew whether
the sun was shining or not.
As a matter of fact he usually went to bed
after breakfast and got up for supper,
so that he knew very little about the daytime.
After breakfast Mr. Bliss
put on his green top-hat,
because the Girabbit said it
was going to be a fine day.
"I will go and buy a motor-car!"
So he rode down the hill to the
village, into the Mr. Binks' shop.
"I want a motor-car!"
"What colour?"
"Bright yellow, inside and out."
"That will be five shillings,"
"And I want red wheels,"
"That will be sixpence more."
"Very well, only I have left my purse at home."
"Very well, then you will have
to leave your bicycle here:
and when you bring your
money you can have it back."
Mr. Bliss got into the
motor-car and started off.
Soon he asked himself:
"Where are you going to, Mr. Bliss?"
"I don't know, Mr. Bliss"
"Let's go and visit the Dorkinses,
and give them a surprise!"
"Very well! Very well!"
So he turned sharp to the
right at the next turning, and
ran straight into Mr. Day, coming from his
garden with a barrow-load of cabbages.
"I too bruised to walk".
So he had to pick up Mr. Day and put the
cabbages on the back of the motor-car.
Now he went on again and turned sharp
round the second turning to the left,
and ran slap into Mrs. Knight with
her donkey-cart piled with bananas.
So he had to pile the bananas on top of the
cabbages, and Mrs. Knight on top of Mr. Day,
and tied the donkey on behind the car.
The car was now very full, and would not go
very fast. Soon they came into the wood,
and of course, the bears came out:
Archie and Teddy and Bruno.
"I like bananas".
"And I like cabbages".
"And I want a donkey!".
"And we all want a motor-car".
"But you can't have this motor-car: it's mine."
"And you can't have these
cabbages - they're mine."
"And you can't have these bananas,
or this donkey - they're mine."
"Then we shall eat you all up!"
Of course they were only teasing:
but they rolled their yellow eyes,
and growled, and looked so fierce
that Mr. Bliss was frightened (and
so was Mr. Day and Mrs. Knight).
So they gave the bears the
cabbages and the bananas.
Archie and Teddy piled them on
the donkey and took them away
to their house in the wood.
"Now we want a motor-ride!"
"But I am going to see the Dorkinses,
and you don't know them."
"But we could know them!"
So Mr. Bliss had to let them all get in at
the back. Then they started off again,
and came out of the Wood
to the top of the Hill,
because the road ran straight
up it and down the other side.
When they came to the top of the Hill, and
began to go down - the donkey had problems.
They ran very fast, and the poor donkey
was dragged flying through the air.
Faster and faster they ran, until they crashed
plump into the Dorkinses' garden wall.
They all shot out head first
and flew over the wall,
all except the donkey, who
turned a somersault into the car.
Like this.
The Dorkinses were the other side of the wall,
sitting on their beautiful lawn on little stools.
They were fat people: but
one of them was specially fat:
and he was known as the
Fat Dorkins (or just Fattie).
He wore no coat, because he split
coats, when he tried to get into them.
So he went about in a white shirt
with yellow spots and no sleeves.
The second fattest Dorkins, who
was called Albert, is on the left.
Herbert is the one on the
far side of the soup-tureen.
He looks horrified