Pippi in the South Seas Read online

were only waiting until the canoes were out of sight.

  "Drop the anchor!" shouted Buck when the ship was

  close to the island. Pippi and all the other children

  watched them in silence from the cave above. The men

  dropped anchor, and Jim and Buck jumped

  into a skiff and rowed ashore. The crew were given

  orders to stay on board.

  "Now we'll sneak up to the village and overtake

  them," said Jim. "Probably only the women and

  children are at home."

  "Yes," said Buck, "and besides, there were so many women

  in the canoes I should think that only children are left

  on the island. I hope they're playing

  marbles-ha-ha-ha!" His voice carried clearly

  over the water.

  "Why?" shouted Pippi from the cave. "Do you

  especially like playing marbles? I think it's just as much

  fun to play leapfrog."

  Jim and Buck turned around in astonishment and saw

  Pippi and all the children sticking their heads out from the

  cave. A delighted grin spread over their faces.

  "There we have the kids," said Jim.

  "Perfect," said Buck. "This is in the bag."

  But they decided nevertheless to play it safe and be

  sly. No one could know where the children kept their pearls,

  and therefore it was best to try to win them over. The men

  pretended that they hadn't come to Kurrekurredutt

  Island to find pearls at all, but were just out for a nice

  little excursion. They felt hot and sticky, and

  Buck suggested that, to begin with, they go for a

  swim.

  "I'll row back to the boat and fetch our bathing

  trunks," he said. This he did. In the meantime

  Jim stood alone on the shore.

  "Is there a good beach around here?" he called to the children

  in a friendly voice.

  "Wonderful," said Pippi. "Absolutely

  wonderful for sharks. They come here every day."

  "Nonsense," said Jim. "I don't see any

  sharks."

  But he was a little worried just the same. When Buck

  came back with the bathing trunks, Jim told him

  what Pippi had said.

  "Nonsense," said Buck, and he shouted to Pippi,

  "Are you the one who is saying that it's dangerous

  to swim here?"

  "No said Pippi, "I never said that."

  "That's funny," said Jim. "Didn't you just tell

  me that there were sharks here?"

  Pippi Talks Sense to Jim and Buck

  "Yes, that's what I said. But dangerous-no, that

  I wouldn't say exactly. My grandfather swam here

  last year."

  "Well, then," said Buck.

  "And Grandfather got back from the hospital already last

  Friday," Pippi went on, "with the fanciest

  wooden leg you've ever seen on an old man."

  She spat thoughtfully into the water. "So I couldn't

  really say that it's dangerous. Of course a few

  arms and legs do disappear if one swims here. But as

  long as wooden legs don't cost more than a dollar

  a pair I don't think you should deprive yourself of

  an invigorating swim just because of miserliness." She

  spat once more.

  "My grandfather takes a childish delight in his

  wooden leg. He says it is absolutely

  irreplaceable when he goes out to fight."

  "You know what I think," said Buck. "I think

  you're telling whoppers. Your grandfather must be an old

  man. I'm sure he doesn't want to be in any

  fights."

  That's what you think!" cried Pippi in a shrill

  voice. "He's the most ill-tempered old man

  who ever hit his opponent on the head with a wooden

  leg. If he can't fight from morning till night

  he's miserable. Then he gets into such a rage that

  he bites himself on the nose."

  "What nonsense!" said Buck. "No one can bite

  himself on the nose."

  "Yes, they can," Pippi insisted. "He climbs

  up on a chair."

  Buck thought about this for a while, but then he swore.

  "I

  don't feel like listening to your silly chatter any

  longer. Come on, Jim, let's get undressed."

  "Besides, I'd like to have you know that my grandfather has the

  longest nose in the world. He has five parrots and

  all of them can sit next to each other on his nose."

  By now Buck was really angry. "You little redheaded

  vixen, do you know that you're the worst liar I've ever

  met? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Are you really

  trying to make me believe that five parrots can sit

  in a row on your grandfather's nose? Confess that it's

  a lie!"

  "Yes," said Pippi sadly. "It's a lie."

  "There, you see," said Buck. "Isn't that what I

  said?"

  "It's a terrible, horrible lie," said Pippi, still

  sadder.

  "That's what I thought from the beginning," said Buck.

  "Because the fifth parrot," sobbed Pippi and burst out

  into a flood of tears, "the fifth parrot has to stand

  on one leg."

  Pippi Talks Sense to Jim and Buck

  "Get lost," said Buck, and he and Jim went behind

  a bush to get undressed.

  "Pippi, you don't even have a grandfather," said

  Annika reproachfully.

  "No," said Pippi gaily,

  "must

  I have a grandfather?"

  Buck was the first one to come out in his bathing trunks.

  He made an elegant dive from a cliff into the

  sea and swam out. The children up in the cave watched with

  great interest. Then they spotted a shark fin, which

  flashed above the surface of the water for a second.

  "Shark, shark!" cried Momo.

  Buck, who was treading water and enjoying himself

  immensely, turned around and saw the terrible

  creature coming toward him.

  There has probably never been anyone who could

  swim as fast as Buck swam then. In two split

  seconds he had reached shore and rushed out of the

  water. He was both frightened and furious, and it

  seemed as if he thought it was all Pippi's fault

  that there were sharks in the water.

  "Aren't you ashamed of yourself, you nasty brat?" he

  screamed. The sea is full of sharks."

  "Have I said anything else?" Pippi asked

  sweetly, and tilted her head to one side. "I

  don't always lie, you see."

  Jim and Buck went behind the bush to get dressed

  again. They felt that now the time had come to begin thinking

  about the pearls. No one could tell how long

  Captain Longstocking and the others were going to be

  away.

  "Listen, children," said Buck. "I heard someone say

  that there were some good oyster beds in these regions. Do you

  know if it's true?"

  "I'll say," said Pippi. "Oyster shells go

  crunch-crunch under your feet wherever you walk down

  there on the bottom of the sea. Go down and see for

  yourself."

  But Buck didn't want to do that.

  "There are great big pearls in every oyster," said

  Pippi. "About like this one." She held up a

  giant, shimmering pearl.

  Jim and Buck got so excited that they could hardly


  stand still.

  "Do you have any more of those?" said Jim. "We would like

  to buy them from you."

  This was a lie. Jim and Buck had no money with which

  to buy pearls. They only wanted to get them

  dishonestly.

  "Yes, we have at least ten or twelve quarts of

  pearls here in the cave," said Pippi.

  Jim and Buck were unable to bide their delight.

  "Wonderful," said Buck. "Bring them here and

  we'll buy them all."

  Pippi Talks Sense to Jim and Buck

  "Oh no," said Pippi. "What are the poor children

  going to use to play marbles with afterward? Have you thought of

  that?"

  There was a lot of discussion back and forth before Jim and

  Buck realized that it would be impossible to get the

  pearls by clever maneuvering. But what they couldn't

  get by clever maneuvering, they decided to take

  by force. Now they at least knew where the pearls were.

  The only thing 'they had to do was climb over to the cave

  and take them.

  Climb over to the cave-yes, that was the rub. During

  the discussion Pippi had carefully removed the

  hibiscus rope, which was now safely in the cave.

  Jim and Buck didn't think that the climb over to the

  cave looked very inviting. But there didn't seem

  to be any other way to get the pearls.

  "You do it, Jim," said Buck.

  "No, you do it, Buck," said Jim;

  "You do it, Jim"

  said Buck. He was stronger than Jim. So Jim

  started climbing. He frantically grabbed hold of

  all the jutting rocks he could reach. Cold sweat

  was pouring down his back.

  "Hold on, for heaven's sake, so you won't fall

  down," said Pippi in an encouraging way.

  Then Jim fell in. Buck was shouting and cursing

  on the beach. Jim was also screaming because he saw two

  sharks heading in his direction. When they

  were no more than three feet from him, Pippi threw

  down a cocoanut right in front of their snouts. That

  scared them just long enough for Jim to swim to the shore and

  crawl up on the little plateau. The water was running

  in rivulets from his clothes and he looked miserable.

  Buck was scolding him.

  "Do it yourself, and you'll see how easy it is," said

  Jim.

  "Now

  I'll

  show you how," said Buck and started to climb.

  All the children watched him. Annika was almost a bit

  frightened as she watched him coming closer.

  "Oh-oh, don't climb there, you'll fall

  in," said Pippi.

  "Where?" said Buck.

  "There," said Pippi, pointing. Buck looked

  down.

  "A lot of cocoanuts get wasted this way," said

  Pippi a moment later when she had thrown one in the

  sea to prevent the sharks from eating up Buck, who was

  desperately floundering in the water. But up he

  came, mad as a hornet, and he certainly

  wasn't one to be afraid. He immediately started

  climbing again, because he had made up, his mind once

  and for all to make his way into the cave and get his hands

  on the pearls.

  This time he managed much better. When he was

  Pippi Talks Sense to Jim and Buck

  almost at the opening of the cave he called out

  triumphantly, "Now, you little demons, this time

  you're going to get it."

  Then Pippi stuck out her index finger and poked him

  in the stomach.

  There was a splash.

  "You could at least have taken this with you when you took

  off!" Pippi shouted after him as she landed a

  cocoanut on the snout of a shark that was coming

  too close. But more sharks came and she had to throw more

  cocoanuts. One of them hit Buck on the head.

  "Oh dear, was that you?" said Pippi when Buck

  yelled. "From up here you look like a big, nasty

  shark."

  Jim and Buck now decided to sit it out until the

  children were forced to come down.

  "When they get hungry they'll leave there," said

  Buck grimly. "And then they'll see something."

  He shouted to the children, "I feel sorry for you if

  you're going to have to sit in that cave until you starve

  to death!"

  "You have a kind heart," said Pippi, "but you won't

  have to worry about us for the next two weeks. Then we

  might have to start rationing the cocoanuts a little."

  Pippi Talks Sense to Jim and Buck

  backslash

  She cracked a big cocoanut, drank the milk,

  and ate the wonderful meat.

  Jim and Buck swore. The sun was setting and they

  began making preparations to spend the night ashore.

  They didn't dare row out to the steamer to sleep because then

  the children could get away with all the pearls. They lay

  down on the hard rocks in their wet clothes.

  They were very uncomfortable.

  Up in the cave all the children were merrily sitting and

  eating cocoanuts and mashed breadfruit. It was so

  good. The whole situation was so exciting and pleasant.

  Once in a while they would stick their heads out

  to look at Jim and Buck. By now it was so dark that

  they could see only a fuzzy outline of the men on the

  plateau below. But they could still hear them swearing down

  there.

  Suddenly there was a shower of the violent tropical

  kind. The rain came down in torrents. Pippi

  stuck the tip of her nose out of the cave. "You

  certainly are the lucky ones!" she shouted to Jim and

  Buck.

  "What do you mean by that?" said Buck hopefully.

  He thought that the children had perhaps changed their minds and

  wanted to give them the pearls. "What do you mean

  by saying we're lucky?"

  "I mean, just think how lucky it is that you were

  loo I

  Pippi in the South Seas

  already soaked before this rainstorm came. Otherwise you

  would have got soaking wet in this rain."

  More swearing could be heard from down on the plateau, but

  it was impossible to tell whether it was Jim

  or Buck.

  "Good night, and sleep well," said Pippi.

  "Because that's what we're going to do now."

  The children lay down on the floor of the cave. Tommy

  and Annika lay one on either side of Pippi,

  holding her hands. They were quite comfortable. It was so warm

  and snug in the cave. Outside the rain was pouring

  down.

  Pippi

  Gets Bored

  with Jim and Buck

  The children slept soundly all night. But Jim and

  Buck did not. They kept on grumbling about the

  rain, and when it stopped they started to argue about whose

  fault it was that they hadn't been able to get hold of the

  pearls and which one of them had really had the stupid

  idea of going to Kurrekur-redutt Island in the

  first place. And when the sun rose and dried, their

  clothes, and Pippi's cheerful face popped out of the

  cave, saying good morning, they were more determined than

  ever to get the pearls and leave the
island as rich men.

  But they couldn't figure out how to do it.

  While all this was going on, Pippi's horse had

  begun to wonder where Pippi and Tommy and Annika

  had disappeared to. Mr. Nilsson had

  returned from his family reunion in the jungle and

  he was wondering the same thing. He also wondered what

  Pippi

  Pippi in the South Seas

  would say when she found out that he had lost his

  straw hat.

  Mr. Nilsson jumped up on the horse's tail

  and the horse trotted off to find Pippi. Finally he

  found his way to the south side of the island. That is where

  he saw Pippi stick her head out of the cave, and

  he whinnied happily.

  "Look, Pippi, there's your horse!" cried

  Tommy.

  "And Mr. Nilsson is sitting on his tail,"

  said Annika.

  Jim and Buck heard this. They realized that the

  horse who was trotting along the beach belonged

  to Pippi, the redheaded girl up in the cave.

  Buck went and grabbed the horse by the mane.

  "Now listen, you little monster," he shouted to Pippi,

  "I'm going to kill your horse!"

  "You're going to kill my horse whom I love so

  dearly?" said Pippi. "My nice, good horse!

  You can't mean it."

  "Yes, I'll probably have to," said

  Buck. "That is, if you don't want to come here and

  give us all the pearls. All of them, do you hear!

  Otherwise I'll kill the horse this instant."

  Pippi looked at him gravely. "Please," she

  said. "I'm begging you-don't kill my horse, and

  do let the children keep their pearls."

  Pippi Gets Bored with Jim and Buck

  backslash

  "You heard me," Buck said. "Hand over the pearls

  this minute! Or else-was

  And then in a low voice he said to Jim, "Just wait

  until she comes with the pearls. Then I'll beat her

  black and blue to pay her back for this miserable

  rainy night. As for the horse, we'll take him

  along on board and sell him on another island."

  He shouted to Pippi, "Well, which is it going

  to be? Are you coming, or aren't you?"

  "Yes, I'll come," said Pippi. "But don't

  forget that you asked for it."

  She skipped along the projecting rocks as

  lightly as if she had been walking down a garden

  path and jumped down to the plateau. She stopped in

  front of Buck. There she stood, little and thin, with

  her two pigtails pointing straight out.

  There was a dangerous look in her eyes.

  "Where are the pearls, you little beast?" shouted Buck.

  "There aren't going to be any pearls today. You'll have

  to play leapfrog instead."

  Then Buck let out a roar which made Annika

  tremble way up in the cave. "I'm going to kill

  both you and the horse!" he yelled as he lunged

  toward Pippi.

  'Take it easy, my good man," said Pippi.

  She

  grabbed him around the waist and threw him ten feet up

  in the air. He banged himself quite hard on the rocks

  as he came down. Then Jim came to life. He

  raised his arm to give Pippi a terrible blow, but

  she jumped aside with a little chuckle. A second

  later Jim was also on his way up into the clear

  morning sky. There they sat, Jim and Buck, on

  the rock, groaning. Pippi walked up and grabbed

  them, one in each fist.

  "You

  can't

  be as anxious to play marbles as you seem to be," she

  said. "There has to be some limit to your playfulness."

  She carried them down to the skiff and tossed them in.

  "Now you go home to your mothers and ask them

  to give you five cents for marbles," she said. "You'll

  find them just as easy to play with."

  A little while later the steamer was chugging away from

  Kurrekurredutt Island. Since then it has never

  been seen in those waters.

  Pippi patted her horse. Mr. Nilsson

  jumped up on her shoulder. Beyond the outermost tip

  of the island a whole row of canoes came into sight.

  It was Captain Longstocking and his people returning

  home after a successful hunt. Pippi shouted and

  waved at them and they waved back with their paddles.

  Then Pippi quickly put up the rope again so that

  Tommy and Annika and the others could get down

  Pippi Gets Bored with Jim and Buck

  from the cave. And when the canoes came gliding in

  to the little inlet beside the

  Hoptoad

  a short time later, the whole crowd of children was there

  to greet them.

  Captain Longstocking embraced Pippi. "Has

  everything been peaceful?" he asked.

  "Oh, yes, completely peaceful," said Pippi.

  "But Pippi, how can you say that?" said Annika.

  "We've had terrible things happen."

  "Oh, yes, I forgot," said Pippi. "No, it

  hasn't been completely peaceful, Papa

  Efraim. As soon as you turn your back, things

  start to happen."

  "But my dear child, what's happened?" said Captain

  Longstocking anxiously.

  "Something really terrible," said Pippi. "Mr.

  Nilsson lost his straw hat."

  Pippi Leaves

  Kurrekurredutt

  island

  Wonderful days followed-wonderful days in a warm,

  wonderful world full of sunshine, with the blue sea