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  UFFIN BOOKS

  PIPPI IN THE SOUTH SEAS

  "My name is Pippi Longstocking," she said. "And

  this is Tommy and Annika." She pointed to her

  friends. "Is there anything we can do for you-tear down a

  house or chop down a tree? Or is there anything

  else that needs to be changed? Just say the word!"

  In this characteristic manner Pippi introduced herself to a

  rather unpleasant gentleman who was trying

  (unsuccessfully were to buy Villa Villekulla,

  where Pippi, that red-headed and fabulously strong

  girl, lived alone with her horse and monkey. Her

  father was away in the South Seas, busy being king of

  Kurrekurredutt Island.

  When the king sent for Pippi, she decided to take

  Tommy and Annika along with her, because they

  had had the measles, and she thought the change would do them

  good. They found the island a fantastic place-and

  what with Pippi's usual feats of derring-do, one

  rollicking adventure followed another.

  Those who already know the fantastic, outrageously

  funny, but oddly logical Pippi will join with new

  readers in the general enthusiasm she always arouses.

  "We're always going to have fun," said Annika.

  "In Villa Villekulla, on

  Kurrekurredutt Island, anywhere." And you will

  too.

  other books about pippi are

  Pippi Longstocking Pippi Goes on Board

  Pippi

  in the South Seas

  ASTRID LINDGREN

  Translated by Gerry Bothmer Illustrated

  by Louis S. Glanzman

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Penguin Books Ltd, Harmondsworth,

  Middlesex, England

  Penguin Books. 40 West 23rd Street.

  New York, New York 10010, U.s.a.

  Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood.

  Victoria, Australia

  Penguin Books Canada Limited. 2801

  John Street, Markham, Ontario. Canada

  L3R1B4 Penguin BooksggNZ.)

  Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland

  10, New Zealand

  First published by The Viking Press 1959

  Viking Seafarer Edition published 1970

  Reprinted 1972,1973,1974 (twice), 1975

  Published in Puffin Books 1977

  Reprinted 1978.1979.1981 (twice).

  1982,1983.1984

  Copyright Astrid Lindgren, 1959 All rights

  reserved

  Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication

  Data

  Lindgren, Astrid Ericsson, Pippi in the

  South Seas.

  Translation of Pippi Langstrump i

  SB-DERHAVET.

  Summary: The adventures of the strongest girl in the

  world,

  who takes her two friends with her when she travels from

  Sweden

  to visit her father, king of an island in the South

  Seas.

  were 1. Humorousstories] I. Glanzman,

  Louis S., II. Title.

  (Pz7.l6585Ph8] [Ffc]

  ISBN 0-1030958

  Printed in the United States of America

  by Offset Paperback Mfriends., Inc., Dallas,

  Pennsylvania

  Set in Primer

  Except in the United States of America, this

  book is sold subject to the

  condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise,

  be lent, resold, hired

  out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's

  prior consent in any form

  of binding or cover other than that in which it is

  published and without a

  similar condition including this condition being

  imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  Contents

  1Villa Villekulla

  g

  2Pippi Cheers Aunt Laura Up22

  3Pippi Finds a Spink30

  4 Pippi Arranges a Question-and-Answer

  Bee

  5Pippi Gets a Letter53

  6Pippi Goes on Board60

  7Pippi Goes Ashore69

  8Pippi Talks Sense to a Shark78

  9Pippi Talks Sense to Jim and Buck86

  10Pippi Gets Bored with Jim and Buckzoi

  11Pippi Leaves Kurrekurredutt

  Island106

  12 Pippi Longstocking Doesn't Want to

  Grow Up

  Pippi in the South Seas

  Villa Villekulla

  The little Swedish town was very picturesque, with its

  cobblestone streets, its tiny houses and the gardens that

  surrounded them. Everyone who visited there must have

  felt that this would be a calm and restful place

  to live. But as far as tourist attractions went, there

  wasn't much to see-almost nothing, in fact. There was a

  folklore museum, and an old grave mound, and that

  was all. But wait, there was one more thing!

  The people of the little town had neatly and carefully put up

  signs to show visitors the way to the sights.

  To the folklore museum was printed in large letters

  on one sign with an arrow underneath. To the grave mound

  read another sign.

  There was still a third sign, saying, in rather crooked

  letters:

  Pippi in the South Seas

  To villa villekulla

  That sign had been put up quite recently. It had

  often happened lately that people would come and ask how

  to get to Villa Villekulla-as a matter of

  fact, more often than they would ask the way to the local

  museum or the grave mound.

  One beautiful summer day a man came driving through

  the little town. He lived in a much bigger town and

  therefore he considered himself finer and more distinguished than the

  people who lived in smaller ones. Then, too, he had

  a very fine car and he was a very grand person, with shoes

  that were polished till they gleamed, and a thick gold

  ring on his finger. So it was perhaps not so strange that he

  thought of himself as fine and distinguished.

  When he drove through the streets he honked his horn

  loudly so that everyone would notice him as he went

  by.

  When the fine gentleman saw the signposts he

  laughed heartily.

  To

  the Folklore Museum-

  how do you like that? he said to himself. I can do without that.

  To

  the Grave Mound,

  he read on the other sign. This is getting better

  and better. ... But what sort of nonsense is this?

  he thought when he saw the third sign.

  ToVilla Villekulla-

  what a name!

  He thought about this for a moment. A villa could hardly

  be a tourist attraction in the same way that a

  folklore museum or a grave mound was. He

  decided that the sign must have been put there for another

  reason. Finally the answer came to him. The villa

  was of course for sale. The sign had been put up

  to show the way to people who might want to buy the house.

  For a long time he himself had been thinking that he would

  buy a house in a small town, wh
ere there was not so much

  noise as in the big city. Naturally he would not

  live there all the time, but he would go there to rest now and

  then. In a small town people would also be much more likely

  to notice what an unusually fine and distinguished man

  he really was. He decided to go and have a look at

  Villa Villekulla right away.

  All he had to do was follow the direction of the arrow.

  But he had to drive to the edge of the town before he found

  what he was looking for. And there, printed with red

  crayon on a very broken-down garden gate, he

  read:

  villa villekulla

  Inside the gate was an overgrown garden with old

  trees covered with moss, and unmowed lawns, and

  lots of flowers which were allowed to grow exactly as they

  pleased. At the end of the garden was

  Pippi in the South Seas

  a house-and what a house! It looked as if it would

  fall to pieces any minute. The fine gentleman

  stared

  at it, and all of a sudden he groaned. A horse

  was

  standing on the veranda! The fine gentleman wasn't

  used to horses standing on verandas. That is why he

  groaned.

  On the veranda steps three small children were sitting in

  the sunshine. The girl in the middle had lots of

  freckles on her face and two red pigtails which

  stuck straight out. A pretty blond

  curly-haired little girl in a blue checkered

  dress and a little boy with neatly combed hair

  sat one on either side of her. On the shoulder of the

  redheaded girl sat a monkey.

  The fine gentleman was puzzled. He must have the

  wrong house. Surely no one would think there was a

  possibility of selling such a tumbledown shack?

  "Listen, children," he called out to them,

  "is

  this miserable hovel really Villa Villekulla?"

  The girl in the middle, the redheaded one, got up and

  came to the gate. The other two trudged slowly

  behind.

  "Lost your tongue?" said the fine gentleman before the

  redheaded girl had reached him. "Is this shack

  Villa Villekulla?"

  "Let me think," said the redheaded girl and frowned.

  "It isn't the museum and it isn't the grave

  mound. Now I have it," she cried, It is Villa

  Villekulla!"

  "Don't be so rude," said the fine gentleman and

  got out of the car. He decided to take a closer

  look at the place. "I could of course tear this

  house down and build another one," he mumbled

  to himself.

  "Yes, let's start right away!" cried the redheaded

  girl. She ran back to the house and

  briskly started to rip a few boards from the porch.

  The fine gentleman paid no attention to her. He

  wasn't interested in children, and besides he now had something

  on his mind. The garden in its wild, state really

  looked quite pleasant and attractive in the sunshine.

  If a new house were built, the lawns cut, the

  paths raked, and flowers properly planted, then

  even a very fine gentleman could live there. The fine

  gentleman decided to buy Villa Villekulla.

  He looked around, trying to think of more ways

  to improve the place. Of course the old

  moss-covered trees would have to go. He glared sourly

  at the old gnarled oak with its tremendous trunk and

  its branches which arched over the roof of Villa

  Villekulla.

  "I'll cut that one down," he said with finality.

  The pretty little girl in the blue checkered dress

  cried out in a frightened voice, "Oh, Pippi,

  did you hear?"

  Unconcerned, the redheaded girl continued to skip

  around on the garden path.

  "Yes, I'll chop down that old rotten oak," the

  fine gentleman mumbled to himself.

  The little girl in the blue checkered dress stretched

  her hands toward him pleadingly. "Oh, no,

  don't do that," she said. "It's such a wonderful

  tree to climb. And it's hollow, so we can play in

  it."

  "Nonsense," said the fine gentleman. "I don't

  climb trees; you ought to understand that."

  The boy with the neatly combed hair came forward. He

  looked anxious. "But soda grows in that tree,"

  he said imploringly. "And chocolate too. On

  Thursdays."

  "Listen, I think you kids have been sitting in the

  sun too long," said the fine gentleman. "Everything

  seems to be going round and round in your heads. But

  that's none of my business. I'm going to buy this

  place. Can you tell me where I can find the owner?"

  The little blue checkered girl began to cry, and the little

  boy with the neatly combed hair ran up to the redheaded

  girl, who was still skipping. "Pippi," he said,

  "don't you hear what he is saying? Why don't you

  do something?"

  "Why don't I

  do

  something?" echoed the redheaded girl. "Here I am,

  skipping for all I'm worth,

  and then you tell me I'm not doing anything. Skip

  yourself and see how easy it is!"

  She walked over to the fine gentleman. "My name

  is Pippi Longstocking," she said. "And this is

  Tommy and Annika." She pointed to her friends.

  "Is there anything we can do for you-tear down a house

  or chop down a tree? Or is there anything else

  that needs to be changed? Just say the word!"

  "Your names don't interest me," said the fine

  gentleman. 'The only thing I would like to know is where

  I can find the owner of this place. I intend to buy

  it."

  The redheaded girl, the one called Pippi

  Long-stocking, had gone back to her skipping. 'The

  owner is quite busy now," she said. She kept on

  skipping in a very determined way as she talked. "As

  a matter of fact, terribly busy," she said,

  skipping around the fine gentleman. "But do sit down

  and wait a while, and she will probably come along."

  "She"

  said the fine gentleman with a pleased look. "Is it

  a

  she

  who owns this miserable house? So much the better.

  Women don't understand business. In that case there's

  a hope of getting it cheap."

  "We can always hope," said Pippi

  Longstocking.

  As there didn't seem to be any other place to sit

  down, the fine gentleman sat down on the veranda

  steps. The monkey anxiously leaped back and forth

  on the railing. Tommy and Annika were standing at a

  distance, looking at him in a frightened way.

  "Do you live here?" asked the fine gentleman.

  "No," said Tommy, "we live in the villa

  next door."

  "But we come here every day to play," said Annika

  shyly.

  "There will be an end to that now," said the fine

  gentleman. "I don't want any youngsters running

  around in my garden. Children are the worst thing I know."

  "I think so too," said Pippi and stopped skipping

  for a second: "All children ought to be shot."

  "How can y
ou say that?" said Tommy, hurt.

  Tesi I mean it: all children ought to be shot," said

  Pippi "But that isn't possible because then no nice

  little uncles would ever grow up. And we can't do without

  them!"

  The fine gentleman looked at Pippi's red

  hair and decided to have a little fun while he was

  waiting. "Do you know why you're like a newly lighted

  match?" he asked.

  "No," said Pippi. "But I have always wondered."

  The fine gentleman pulled one of Pippi's

  pigtails quite hard. "Both of you are fiery on

  top-ha-ha!"

  "One

  has to listen a lot before the ears fall off," said

  Pippi. "How strange that I haven't happened

  to think of that before!"

  The fine gentleman looked at her and said, "I

  really think you're the ugliest child I've ever seen."

  "Well," said Pippi, "you're not exactly a

  beauty yourself."

  The fine gentleman looked hurt, but he didn't

  say anything. Pippi stood and looked at him in

  silence for a while with her head tilted to one side.

  "Do you know in what way you and I are alike?"

  "Just between us," said the fine gentleman, "I hope

  there is

  no

  likeness."

  There is," said Pippi. "Both of us have big

  mouths. Except me."

  A faint giggle could be heard from Tommy and

  Annika.

  . "So, you're being insolent!" the man

  shouted. "But I'll soon thrash that out of you."

  He reached out his fat arm to grab Pippi, but she

  quickly jumped to one side and a second later she was

  sitting perched in the hollow oak. The fine

  gentleman gaped in astonishment.

  "When are we going to start with the thrashing?" asked

  Pippi, as she made herself comfortable on a branch.

  "I have time to wait," said the fine gentleman.

  Villa Villekulla 19

  "Good!" said Pippi "Because I'm thinking of

  greater-than staying up here until the middle of

  November."

  Tommy and Annika laughed and clapped their hands.

  But that they shouldn't have done, because now the fine

  gentleman was terribly angry. When he couldn't

  reach Pippi he grabbed Annika by the nape of the

  neck and said, "Then I'll give you a hiding

  instead. It seems as if you need one too."

  Annika had never in her life been spanked and she

  let out a cry of pain and fright. There was a thud as

  Pippi jumped out of the tree. With one leap she was

  standing beside the fine gentleman.

  "Oh, no," she said. "Better not start a fight

  now." Then she grabbed the fine gentleman around his

  fat waist and threw him up in the air

  several times. And on her outstretched arms she

  carried him to his car and threw him down in the back

  seat.

  "I think we'll wait to tear down the house until

  another day," she said. "You see, one day a week

  I tear down houses. But never on Fridays, because

  this is housecleaning day. Therefore I usually vacuum

  the house on Friday and tear it down on

  Saturday. Everything has its own time."

  With great difficulty the fine gentleman scrambled

  up to the steering wheel and drove off in great haste.

  He was both frightened and angry and it annoyed him that

  he hadn't been able to talk to the

  owner of Villa Villekulla. He was anxious

  to buy

  the place and chase away those nasty children.

  Then he met one of the town policemen. He stopped

  his car and said, "Can you help me to find the lady who

  owns Villa Villekulla?"

  "With great pleasure," said the policeman. He

  hopped into the car and said, "Drive to Villa

  Villekulla."

  "No, she isn't there," said the fine gentleman.

  "Yes, I'm sure she's there," said the

  policeman.

  The fine gentleman felt quite safe with the policeman

  along, and he drove back to Villa

  Villekulla as the policeman had told him to.

  He was very eager to talk to the owner.

  "There is the lady that owns Villa

  Villekulla," said the policeman and pointed

  toward the house.

  The fine gentleman looked in the direction in which the

  policeman was pointing. He put his hand to his

  forehead and groaned. There on the veranda steps was the

  redheaded girl, that awful Pippi Long-stocking.

  And on her outstretched arms she was carrying the

  horse. The monkey was sitting on her left

  shoulder.

  "Hi, Tommy and Annika," shouted Pippi,

  'let's go for a ride before the next spicalator

  comes!"

  "It's called

  speculator,"

  said Annika.

  "Is that-the owner of the villa?" said the fine

  gentleman in a weak voice. "But she is only a

  little girl."

  "Yes," said the policeman, "only a little girl,

  the strongest little girl in the world. She lives

  there all alone."

  The horse with the three children on his back came

  galloping toward the gate.

  Pippi looked down at the fine gentleman and said,

  "It was fun to solve riddles with you a while ago.

  Come to think of it, I know one more. Can you tell me

  what the difference is between my horse and my

  monkey?"

  The fine gentleman was really not at all in the mood

  to solve riddles any more, but he had gained so much

  respect for Pippi that he didn't dare not

  to answer.