Captain Longstocking bought snuff.
A fine, newly built little hut under a cocoanut
tree was ready for Pippi. There was plenty of room
for Tommy and Annika too. But before they could go
into the hut to wash up, Captain Longstocking wanted
to show them something. He took Pippi by the arm and led
her back down to the beach.
"Here," he said, pointing with a thick forefinger. This was
the place where I floated ashore the time I was
blown into the sea."
The Kurrekurredutts had put up a monument
to commemorate the strange event. The stone bore an
inscription which read, in Kurrekurredutt words:
Over the great wide sea came our fat white
chief. This is the place where he floated ashore
at the time when the breadfruit trees were in bloom.
May he remain just as fat and magnificent as when
he came.
In a voice trembling with emotion Captain
Long-stocking read the inscription'out loud for
Pippi and Tommy and Annika. Then he blew his
nose with gusto.
When the sun had begun to go down and was
ready to disappear in the endless embrace of the South
Seas, the drums of the Kurrekurredutts summoned
everyone to the royal square, which was situated
in the middle of the village. There stood King
Efraim's fine throne of bamboo, bedecked with red
hibiscus flowers. He sat on it when he ruled.
For Pippi the Kurrekurredutts had made a
smaller throne which stood next to her father's. In a
great hurry they had also put together two little bamboo
chairs for Tommy and Annika.
The roar of the drums grew louder and louder as King
Efraim mounted his throne with great dignity. He had
taken off his corduroy suit and was dressed in
royal regalia, with a crown on his head, a straw
skirt around his waist, a necklace of shark's
teeth around his neck, and heavy bracelets around his
ankles. With great majesty, Pippi took her
place on her throne. She was still wearing the same
loincloth around her middle, but she had stuck some red
and white flowers in her hair to be a bit more
festive. Annika had done the same. But not
Tommy. Nothing could make Tommy stick flowers
in his hair.
King Efraim had been away from his ruling duties
for quite a while, and now he started to rule with all his
might. In the meantime the little Kurre-kurredutt children
came closer and closer to Pippi's throne. They were
filled with awe to think that she
was a princess. When they reached the throne they all
threw themselves down on their knees before her, touching the
ground with their foreheads.
Pippi quickly hopped down from her throne. "What's
all this?" she asked. "Do you play
hunting-for-treasure" down here too? Wait and
let me play with you." She got down on her
knees and started to nose around on the ground. "There
seem to have been other treasure hunters here before us,"
she said after a while. "There isn't as much as a pin
here, that's for sure."
She got back up on her throne. Hardly had she
sat down when all the children bowed their heads to the ground
again.
"Have you lost something?" said Pippi. "In any
case it isn't there, so you might as well get
up."
Luckily Captain Longstocking had been on the
island long enough for the Kurrekurredutts to learn some of
his language. Naturally they didn't know the meaning
of such difficult words as "postal money order" and
"brigadier general," but they had picked up a lot
just the same. Even the children knew the most common
expressions, such as "leave that alone" and similar
ones. A little boy by the name of Momo could
speak the Captain's language quite well, because he
used to spend a good deal of time at the huts of the
crew, listening to the men
talking. A pretty little girl named Moana was also
able to understand the language quite well.
Now Momo was trying to explain to Pippi why they were
on their knees in front of her.
"You be very fine princess," he said.
"I no be very fine princess," said Pippi in
broken Kurrekurredutt. "I be really only
Pippi Longstocking, and now I'm through with this throne
business."
She hopped down off her throne. And King Efraim
hopped down off his, because now he was finished with
ruling for the day.
The sun sank like a red ball of fire in the South
Seas and soon the sky was bright with stars. The
Kurrekurredutts lighted a huge fire in the
royal square, and King Efraim and Pippi and
Tommy and Annika and the crew from the
Hoptoad
sat down in the grass and watched the
Kurrekurredutts dance around the fire. The muffled
rumble of the drums, the exciting dance, the strange
perfumes from thousands of exotic flowers in the
jungle, the glimmering stars above their heads-everything
made Tommy and Annika feel very strange. The
waves of the sea were ceaselessly pounding in the
background.
"I think that this is a very fine island," said Tommy
afterward, when he and Pippi and Annika
had crawled into their beds in their cozy little hut under the
cocoanut tree.
"I think so too," said Annika. "Don't you,
Pippi?" Pippi was lying there quietly with her
feet on her pillow as was her habit.
"M-m-m," she said dreamily. "Just listen to the
roar of the waves. Remember, I said, "Maybe
I'll like it so much on Kurrekurredutt Island that
I'll feel like staying there forever"?"
would have been much nicer to have really dark skin because white
sand on a dark background looked so funny. But
when Pippi had dug herself down in the sand up to her
neck, so that only a freckled face and two red
pigtails stuck out, that looked quite funny too.
All the children settled themselves down in a circle
to talk to her.
Tell us about the children in the northern land you come from,"
said Momo to the freckled face.
They love pluttification" said Pippi.
"It's called
multiplication,"
said Annika. "And besides," she said, somewhat miffed,
"no one can say that we
love
it."
"Northern children love pluttification," Pippi
insisted stubbornly. "Northern children become
frantic if northern children don't every day get a
large dose of pluttification."
She didn't have the strength to continue in broken
Kurrekurredutt, but switched over to her own
language.
"If
you hear a northern child cry, you can be sure that the
school has burned down or that a school holiday
has been declared or that the teacher has forgotten
to give the children homework in pluttification. And
let's not even talk abou
t the summer vacation. That
brings on such tears and wailing that you wish you were dead
when you hear it. No one
is dry-eyed when the school gate slams shut for the
summer. All the children slowly head for home, singing
sad songs, and they can't keep themselves from
sobbing when they think that it will be several months before they
can get any pluttification to do again. Yes, it's a
misery, the like of which you can't imagine," said Pippi
and sighed deeply.
"Bah!" said Tommy and Annika.
Momo didn't quite understand what pluttification was and
wanted to have a more detailed explanation. Tommy was
just about to explain it, but Pippi got in ahead of
him.
"Yes, you see, it's like this-seven times seven
equals a hundred and two. Fun, eh?"
"It most certainly is
not
one hundred and two," said Annika.
"No, because seven times seven is forty-nine," said
Tommy.
"Remember that we're on Kurrekurredutt
Island now," said Pippi. "Here we have an
entirely different and much more flourishing climate, so
seven times seven gets to be much more here."
"Bah I" said Tommy and Annika again.
The arithmetic lesson was interrupted by Captain
Longstocking, who came to announce that he and the whole
crew and all the Kurrekurredutts were going off
to another island for a couple of days to
Pippi Talks Sense to a Shark
81 hunt wild boar. Captain Longstocking was in
the mood for some fresh boar steak. The
Kurrekurredutt women were also to go along, to scare
out the boar with wild cries. That meant that the children would
be staying behind alone on the island.
"I hope you won't be sad because of this?" said
Captain Longstocking.
"I'll give you three guesses," said Pippi.
"The day I hear that some children are sad because they have
to take care of themselves without grownups, that day I'll
learn the whole pluttification table backward,
I'll swear to that."
"That's my girl," said Captain Longstocking.
Then he and all his grown-up subjects armed with
shields and arrows got into their big canoes and
paddled away from Kurrekurredutt Island.
Pippi rounded her hands into a megaphone and shouted
after them, "May peace be with you! But if you aren't
back by my fiftieth birthday I'll send out an
S.o.s. over the radio!"
When they were alone Pippi and Tommy and Annika
and Momo and Moana and all the other children looked
happily at one another. They were going to have a whole
wonderful South Sea island all to themselves for
several days.
"What are we going to do?" said Tommy and
Annika.
Pippi in the South Seas
"First well get our breakfast down from the trees,"
said Pippi. Like a flash she was in a cocoanut
tree, shaking cocoanuts down. Momo and the other
Kurrekurredutt children gathered breadfruit and
bananas. Pippi made a fire on the beach and
over it she roasted the wonderful breadfruit. All
the children settled around in a circle and had a
substantial breakfast consisting of roasted
breadfruit, cocoanut milk, and bananas.
There were no horses on Kurrekurredutt Island,
so all the native children were very much interested in
Pippi's horse. Those who dared went for a ride
on him. Moana said that one day she would like to go to the
northern land where there were such strange animals.
Mr. Nilsson wasn't anywhere in evidence. He
had gone off on an excursion to the jungle, where he
had met some relatives.
"What are we going to do now?" asked Tommy and
Annika when riding on the horse was no longer any
fun.
"Northern children want to see fine
caves-yes? comno?" wondered Momo.
"Northern children most certainly want to see fine
caves-yes, yes," said Pippi.
Kurrekurredutt Island was a coral island. On
the south side the high coral cliffs plunged
straight into
the sea, and there were the most wonderful caves which had
been dug out by the waves. Some were down at the water
line and filled with water, but there were others higher up
in the cliffs and there the Kurrekurredutt children were
accustomed to play. In the largest cave they kept a
big supply of cocoanuts and other delicacies.
To get there was quite an undertaking. First they had to climb
carefully down the steep side of the cliff and hang
on to the rocks which jutted out. Otherwise they could
easily have plunged down into the sea. Any place
else on the island that wouldn't have mattered. But at this
particular spot there were plenty of sharks who liked
to eat little children. In spite of this danger, the
Kurrekurredutt children had fun diving for oysters, but
then someone always had to stand guard and shout "Shark!
Shark!" as soon as they spotted a fin in the distance.
In the big cave the Kurrekurredutt children also
kept a supply of shimmering pearls which they
had found in the oysters. They used them to play marbles
withand they had no idea that they would be worth any amount
of money in Europe or America. Captain
Longstocking used to take along a few pearls now
and then when he went off to buy snuff. He would
trade the pearls for things he thought his subjects
needed, but on the whole he felt that the
Pippi in the South Seas
Kurrekurredutts were well off as they were. And
thechildren gaily continued to play marbles with thepearls., ,
Annika was horror-stricken when Tommy said to her
that she would have to climb along the cliff to the big
cave. The first part wasn't so bad. There was quite a
broad ledge to walk on, but it gradually got
narrower and the last few feet to the cave you had
to scramble and climb and hang on as best you could.
"Never!" said Annika. "Never."
To climb along a cliff where there was hardly anything
to hold on to, and below, a sea filled with sharks
waiting for you to fall down! That wasn't Annika's
idea of fun.
Tommy was annoyed. "No one should bring sisters
along to the South Seas," he said as he scrambled
along the cliff wall. "Look at me!
You only have to go like this-was
There was a loud
plop,
as Tommy fell into the water. Annika screamed.
Even the Kurrekurredutt children were terrified.
"Shark! Shark!" they cried and pointed out toward the
sea. There a fin was clearly visible above the
surface, heading rapidly in the direction of
Tommy.
There was another
ptop.
That was Pippi jumping in. She reached Tommy about
the same time as the shark did. Terrified, Tommy
was screaming at
the top of his lungs. He felt the shark's sharp
teeth scrape against his leg. But just at that instant
Pippi grabbed the bloodthirsty beast with both hands
and lifted him out of the water.
"Don't you have any shame in you?" she asked. The
shark looked around, surprised and ill at ease.
He wasn't able to breathe above the surface.
"Promise never to do that again and I'll let you go,"
said Pippi gravely. With all her force she
flung him far out into the sea. He lost no
time in getting away from there and decided to head for the
Atlantic Ocean.
In the meantime Tommy had managed to scramble up
on a small plateau, and he sat there trembling
all over. His leg was bleeding. Then Pippi came
up. She behaved very strangely. First she lifted
Tommy up in the air, and then she hugged him so hard
that he lost his breath. Then all of a sudden she let
go of him and sat down on the cliff. She put her
head in her hands. She cried. Pippi cried!
Tommy and Annika and all the Kurrekurredutt
children looked at her, surprised and frightened.
"You cry because Tommy almost eaten up?" said
Momo.
"No," Pippi answered crossly, and wiped her
eyes. I cry because poor little hungry shark no
get breakfast today."
Talks Sense to Jim and Buck
The shark's teeth had only scratched Tommy's
leg, and when he had calmed down he still wanted
to continue the climb to the big cave. Pippi twisted
strands of hibiscus fiber into a stout rope and tied
it to a stone. Then, lightly as a mountain goat, she
hopped over to the cave and secured the other end of the
rope there. Now even Annika dared
to climb to the cave. When you had a steady rope
to hang on to, it was easy.
It was a wonderful cave, and so big that all the children
were able to get inside without any trouble.
'This cave is almost better than our hollow oak
at Villa Villekulla," said Tommy.
"No, not better, but just as good," said Annika, who
felt a lump in her throat at the thought of the oak and
didn't want to admit that anything could be better.
Momo showed the visitors how much cocoanut
and breadfruit were stored in the cave. One would be
able to live there for several weeks without starving to death.
Moana showed them a hollow bamboo cane filled
with the most beautiful pearls. She gave Pippi and
Tommy and Annika each a handful.
"Nice marbles you have to play marbles with in this country,"
said Pippi.
It was delightful to sit at the opening of the cave and
look out over the sea glittering in the sunlight. And
it was great fun to lie on one's tummy and spit
into the water. Tommy announced a contest in
longdistance spitting. Momo was terribly good at
it. But he still wasn't able to beat Pippi. She had
a way of forcing the spit through her front teeth which no
one could imitate.
"If it's drizzling over in New Zealand today,"
said Pippi, "it's my fault."
Tommy and Annika didn't do so well.
"Northern children no can spit," said Momo with a
superior air. He didn't quite consider Pippi as
being one of the northern children.
"So northern children can't spit?" said Pippi. "You
don't know what you're talking about. That is taught
to them in school from the first grade. Long-distance
spitting and altitude spitting and sprint spitting.
You ought to see Tommy's and Annika's teacher!
Man, can she spit! She won first
prize in sprint spitting. The whole town cheers
when she runs around spitting to beat the band."
"Bah!" said Tommy and Annika.
Pippi raised her hand to shield her eyes from the
glare and looked out to sea. "I see a ship out
there," she said. "A tiny steamer. I wonder what
it's doing in these parts."
And she had reason to wonder!
The steamer was heading toward Kurrekurredutt Island
at a good clip. On board there were several South
Sea islanders and two white men. Their names were
Jim and Buck. They were dirty, coarse-looking
men who looked like real bandits. And that is
exactly what they were.
Once when Captain Longstocking was in the shop where
he bought snuff, Jim and Buck had been there
too. They had seen Captain Longstocking put a
couple of unusually large and beautiful pearls on
the counter and had heard him say that on
Kurrekurredutt Island the children used pearls like these
to play marbles with. Since that day they had only one
goal and that was to go to the island and try to get pearls.
They knew that Captain Long-stocking was very strong,
and they also had a healthy respect for the crew of the
Hoptoad.
They therefore decided to take advantage of an
opportunity when all the men were away on a hunt.
Pippi Talks Sense to Jim and Buck
Now their chance had come. Hiding behind an island close
by, they had seen through their binoculars Captain
Longstocking, his crew, and all the
Kurrekurredutts paddle away from the island. They
Pippi in the South Seas Page 5
