And she was in fact captured when a six-year-old--after the Battle of Iowa City, in which her father and mother were slain.
Hi ho.
*
Yes, and the King of Michigan had become so decadent by then, that he maintained a seraglio of captured children with the same middle name as his--which, of course, was Oriole-2. Little Melody was added to that pitiful zoo.
But, as her ordeals became more disgusting, so did she gain increasing inner strength from her father's dying words to her, which were these: "You are a princess. You are the granddaughter of the King of Candlesticks, of the King of New York."
Hi ho.
*
And then, one night, she stole the Dresden candlestick from the tent of the sleeping King.
Then Melody crawled under the flaps of the tent and into the moonlit world outside.
*
Thus began her incredible journey eastward, ever eastward, in search of her legendary grandfather. His palace was one of the tallest buildings in the world.
She would encounter relatives everywhere--if not Orioles, then at least birds or living things of some kind.
They would feed her and point the way.
One would give her a raincoat. Another would give her a sweater and a magnetic compass. Another would give her a baby carriage. Another would give her an alarm clock.
Another would give her a needle and thread, and a gold thimble, too.
Another would row her across the Harlem River to the Island of Death, at the risk of his own life.
And so on.
-Das Ende-
Slapstick is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
2010 Dial Press Trade Paperback Edition
Copyright (c) 1976 and copyright renewed (c) 2004 by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Dial Press Trade Paperbacks, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
DIAL PRESS and DIAL PRESS TRADE PAPERBACKS are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in 1976.
Grateful acknowledgment is extended to Al Hirshfeld who is represented exclusively by The Margo Felden Galleries, New York City, for permission to reproduce the illustration on the dedication page.
eISBN: 978-0-44033909-0
www.dialpress.com
The Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Trust came into existence after the death of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and is committed to the continued protection of his works.
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Slapstick or Lonesome No More! Page 13
