Pippi Goes on Board Read online

wouldn't start for a long time. What Pippi thought about, no one

  knows.

  "Pippi, now you have lived here in Villa Villekulla a whole year,"

  said Annika suddenly, hugging Pippi's arm.

  "Yes, time flies and one begins to grow old," said Pippi. "This

  autumn I'll be ten, and then I guess I'll have seen my best

  days."

  "Do you think you will live here always?" asked Tommy. "I mean

  until you're old enough to become a pirate?"

  "No one knows," said Pippi. "I don't suppose my father will stay

  on that island forever. As soon as he gets a boat made he'll surely

  come for me."

  Tommy and Annika sighed.

  Suddenly Pippi sat upright on the steps. "Look, there he comes

  now!" she exclaimed, pointing toward the gate. She covered the garden

  walk in three leaps. Tommy and Annika followed her hesitatingly, just

  in time to see her throw herself on the neck of a very fat gentleman

  with a short red mustache and blue sailor pants.

  "Papa Efraim!" cried Pippi, waving her legs so eagerly as she hung

  around his neck that her big shoes fell off. "Papa Efraim, how you

  have grown!"

  "Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Efraim's Daughter

  Longstocking, my beloved child! I was just going to say that you have

  grown."

  "I knew that," said Pippi. "That's why I said it first. Ha,

  ha!"

  "My child, are you just as strong as you used to be?"

  "Stronger," said Pippi. "Shall we lock arms?"

  "Go ahead!" said Papa Efraim.

  There was a table in the garden, and there Pippi and her father

  sat down to lock arms while Tommy and Annika looked on. There was

  only one person in the world who was as strong as Pippi, and that was

  her father. There they sat, bending with all their might, but neither

  succeeded in bending the other's arm.

  At last Captain Longstocking's arm began to tremble a little, and

  Pippi said, "When I'm ten I'll bend your arm, Papa Efraim."

  Papa Efraim thought so too.

  "Oh, my goodness!" said Pippi. "I forgot all about introducing

  you. This is Tommy and Annika, and this is my father, the Captain and

  His Majesty, Efraim Long- stocking, because you are a Cannibal King,

  aren't you, Papa?"

  "That's right," said Captain Longstocking. "I am king over the

  Kurredutt natives on an island known as the Kurrekurredutt Island. I

  floated ashore there after I had blown into the water, you

  remember."

  "Well, that's just what I knew all along. I never believed that

  you were drowned."

  "Drowned! I should say not! It's just as impossible for me to

  drown as for a camel to thread a needle. I float on my fat."

  Tommy and Annika looked at Captain Longstocking wonder ingly.

  "Why aren't you wearing cannibal-king clothes?' asked Tommy.

  "Oh, I have them here in my bag," said Captain Long- stocking.

  "Oh, put them on, please put them on!" cried Pippi. "I want to see

  my father in royal robes."

  They all went into the kitchen. Captain Longstocking disappeared

  into Pippi's bedroom, and the children sat on the woodbox,

  waiting.

  "It's just like at the theater," said Annika, excitedly.

  Then-pang!-the door opened and there stood the cannibal king! He

  had a grass skirt around his middle, and on his head he wore a crown

  of gold! Around his neck hung many strands of big colored beads. In

  one hand he held a spear, and in the other a shield. Under the grass

  skirt a couple of fat, hairy legs stuck out, with thick gold

  bracelets on the ankles.

  "Ussamkussor mussor filibussor," said Captain Long-stocking,

  frowning threateningly.

  "Oh, he speaks native language!" said Tommy, delighted. "What does

  that mean, Uncle Efraim?"

  "It means 'Tremble, my enemies!' "

  "Listen, Papa Efraim," said Pippi. "Weren't the natives surprised

  when you floated ashore on their island?"

  "Yes, terribly surprised," answered Captain Long-stocking. "First

  they wanted to eat me, but when I had torn down a palm tree with my

  bare hands they changed their minds and made me king. After that I

  ruled in the mornings and built my boat in the afternoons. It took a

  long time to finish it, as I had to do everything all by myself. It

  was just a little sailboat, of course. When it was finished I told

  the natives I had to leave them for a little while but that I would

  soon come back and then I would have a princess with me, whose name

  was Pip-pilotta. Then they beat on their shields and shouted,

  'Ussomplussor, ussomplussor!'"

  "What does that mean?" asked Annika.

  "It means 'Bravo, bravo!' Then I ruled hard for two weeks so that

  it would last during the whole time I was away. And then I set sail,

  and the natives cried 'Ussamkura kussomkara.' That means 'Come back

  soon, fat white chief.' Then I steered straight for South Arabia, and

  what do you think was the first thing I saw when I jumped ashore

  there? My old faithful schooner, the Hoptoad and my faithful old

  Fridolf, standing by the rail and waving with all his might.

  'Fridolf,' I said, 'now I will take command.' 'Aye, aye, Captain,' he

  said, and so I did. The whole old crew was there, and now the Hoptoad

  is down here in the harbor so you can go and see all your old

  friends, Pippi."

  Pippi was so happy that she stood on her head on the kitchen

  table, kicking her legs. But Tommy and Annika couldn't help feeling a

  little sad. It was just as if someone were trying to take Pippi away

  from them, they thought.

  "Now we'll celebrate," cried Pippi as she came down on her feet

  again. "Now we'll celebrate so that the whole house shakes!" And then

  she dished up a big supper, and everyone sat down at the kitchen

  table to eat. Pippi gobbled up three hard-boiled eggs with the shells

  on. From time to time she bit her Papa's ear, just because she was so

  happy to see him. Mr. Nilsson, who had been sleeping, suddenly came

  running out and rubbed his eyes in surprise when he saw Captain

  Longstocking.

  "Well, I see you still have Mr. Nilsson," said Captain Longstocking.

  "You bet, and I have another pet too," said Pippi and went out and

  fetched the horse, who also got a boiled egg to chew on.

  Captain Longstocking was very glad that his daughter had settled

  herself so comfortably in Villa Villek Kulah and he was glad that she

  had had her suitcase of gold coins, so that she had not been in need

  while was away.

  When everyone had eaten, Captain Longstocking took a tom-tom out

  of his bag. It was one of those the natives used to beat time on for

  their dances and sacrificial feasts. Captain Longstocking sat down on

  the floor and beat on the drum. It sounded strange weird, different

  from anything that Tommy and Anika had ever heard.

  "Native-ish!" explained Tommy to Annika.

  Pippi took off her big shoes and danced in her stocking feet, a

  dance that also was weird. Then King Ejfraun danced a wild war dance

  that he had learned on kurredutt Island. He swung his spear and waved

  his shield wildly,
and his naked feet stomped so hard Pippi cried,

  "Look out you don't break through the kitchen floor!"

  "That doesn't matter," cried Captain Longstocking and whirled

  along. "For now you are going to be a cannibal princess, my darling

  daughter."

  Pippi jumped up and danced with her Papa.

  danced back and forth facing each other, yelling and shouting, and

  from time to time leaping high into the air, so that Tommy and Annika

  were dizzy just from watching them. Mr. Nilsson must have become

  dizzy too, for he sat and held his hands over his eyes the whole

  time.

  By and by the dance turned into a wrestling match between Pippi

  and her father. Captain Longstocking threw his daughter so that she

  landed on the hat shelf, but she didn't stay there long. With a wild

  cry she leaped across the kitchen and landed right on Papa Efraim,

  and the next second had tossed him so that he flew like a meteor,

  head first into the woodbox. His ,fat legs stuck right up in the air.

  He couldn't get out by himself, for in the first place he was too

  fat, and in the second place he was laughing so hard. A rumbling like

  thunder came from the woodbox.

  Pippi took hold of his feet to pull him up, but then he laughed so

  he almost choked. He was so terribly ticklish!

  "Don't ti-ck-le me!" he cried, giggling hysterically. "Throw me

  into the sea or throw me through the window, do anything, but don't

  ti-ck-l-e the bottoms of my feet!"

  He laughed so that Tommy and Annika were afraid that the woodbox

  would burst. At last he managed to get out, and as soon as he was

  back on his feet he lunged at Pippi and threw her across the kitchen.

  She landed on her face on the stove, which was black with soot.

  But she was up in an instant and threw herself at her father. She

  punched him so that the grass in his skirt came loose and flew all

  over the kitchen. The gold crown fell off and rolled under the

  table.

  At last Pippi succeeded in getting her father down on the floor,

  and she sat on him and said, "Do you admit that I won?"

  "Yes, you won," said Captain Longstocking, and then they both

  laughed till they cried. Pippi bit her Pappa lightly on the nose, and

  he said, "I haven't had so much fun since you and I got mixed up in

  that sailors' fight in Singapore."

  He crawled under the table and picked up his crown. "The cannibals

  should see this," he said, "the royal crown lying under the kitchen

  table in Villa Villekulla.

  He put on the crown and combed out his grass skirt, which looked

  rather scanty.

  "You'll have to send that to Invisible Mending," said Pippi.

  "Yes, but it was worth it," answered Captain Long-stocking.

  He sat down on the floor and wiped the perspiration from his

  forehead. "Well, Pippi, my child," he said, "do you ever lie

  nowadays?"

  "Yes, when I have time, but it isn't very often," said Pippi

  modestly. "How about you? You weren't so backward about lying

  either."

  "Well, I usually lie a little for the natives on Saturday nights,

  if they have behaved well during the week. We usually have a little

  lie-and-song evening, with accompaniment of drums and firelight

  dances. The more I lie, the harder they beat the drums."

  "Is that so?" asked Pippi. "No one here drums for me. Here I go in

  my loneliness and puff myself so full of lies that it is a pleasure

  to hear me, but no one even plays on a comb for me. The other night,

  when I had gone to bed, I lied a long story about a calf who

  crocheted lace and climbed trees, and just think, I believed every

  word of it! That I call good lying! But nobody beat a drum for me.

  Oh, no!"

  "Well, then, I'll do it," said Captain Longstocking, and he beat a

  long riffle on the drum for his daughter, and Pippi sat on his knee

  and rubbed her sooty face against his cheek so that he became just as

  black as she was.

  Annika was thinking about something. She didn't know if it was

  quite proper to say it, but she just had to. "It's not nice to lie,"

  she said. "Mommy says that."

  "Oh, how silly you are, Annika!" said Tommy. "Pippi doesn't really

  lie. She just lies for fun. She makes up things, don't you

  understand, stupid?"

  Pippi looked thoughtfully at Tommy. "Sometimes you speak so wisely

  that I'm afraid you will become great," she said.

  It was evening. Tommy and Annika had to go home. It had been a

  full day and it had been such fun to see a real live cannibal king,

  and of course it was nice for Pippi that her father had come home,

  but still... still...

  When Tommy and Annika had crept off to bed, they didn't lie there

  talking, as they usually did. There was absolute silence in the

  nursery.

  Suddenly a sigh was heard. It was Tommy.

  After a while another sigh was heard. This time it was Annika.

  "What are you sighing about?" asked Tommy crossly.

  But he didn't get an answer, for Annika was crying with her head

  under the quilt.

  8.

  Pippi Has a Farewell Party

  WHEN Tommy and Annika came into the kitchen at Villa Villekulla

  the next morning, the, whole house was resounding with the most

  terrible snores. Captain Longstocking was not yet awake, but Pippi

  stood in the middle of the kitchen floor, doing her morning

  exercises. She was just turning her fifteenth somersault when Tommy

  and Annika interrupted her.

  "Well, now I don't have to worry about my future any more," said

  Pippi. "I'm going to be a cannibal princess. Yes, for half the year

  I'm going to be a cannibal princess and half the year I'm going to

  sail around on all the oceans of the vvorld on the Hoptoad. Papa

  thinks that if he rules hard over the natives half the year, they'll

  get along without a king during the other half; for you know an old

  sea dog like him has to feel a deck under his feet occasionally, and

  then he has to think about my education too. If I'm going to be a

  really good pirate, it wouldn't do to spend all my time at court.

  That's weakening, Papa says."

  "Aren't you going to spend any time at all in Villa Villekulla?"

  asked Tommy sadly.

  "Yes, when we've retired and got a pension," answered Pippi, "in

  about fifty or sixty years. Then we'll play and have lots of fun,

  won't we?"

  This wasn't much comfort to Tommy and Annika.

  "Just think, a cannibal princess!" said Pippi dreamily. "Not many

  children get to be that. Oh, I'll be so fine, I'll have rings in my

  ears and a little larger ring in my nose."

  "What else are you going to wear?" asked Annika.

  "Not another thing," answered Pippi. "Never anything else."

  She sighed ecstatically. "Princess Pippilotta! What a life! What

  glamour! And how I shall dance! Princess Pippilotta dances in the

  firelight to the beating of the drums! Just imagine how my nose ring

  will jingle!"

  "When-when are you going to leave?" asked Tommy. His voice sounded

  a bit rusty.

  "The Hoptoad is lifting anchor tomorrow," said
Pippi.

  All three children were silent a long while; there didn't seem to

  be anything more to say. At last, however, Pippi turned another

  somersault and said, "But tonight we'll have a farewell party in

  Villa Villekulla-a farewell party! I say no more. All who want to

  come to say good-by to me are welcome."

  The news spread like wildfire among all the children in the little

  town.

  "Pippi Longstocking is going to leave town, and she is having a

  farewell party tonight in Villa Villekulla. Everyone who wants to may

  go to the party."

  There were several who wanted to-in fact there were thirty-four

  children. Tommy and Annika had persuaded their mother to promise that

  they could stay up as long as they wanted to that night. She

  understood that this was absolutely necessary.

  Tommy and Annika would never forget the evening of Pippi's

  farewell party. It was one of those wonderful warm and beautiful

  summer evenings when you say to yourself, "Ah, this is summer!" All

  the roses in Pippi's garden glowed in the fragrant dusk. The wind

  whispered softly in the old trees. Everything would nave been

  wonderful if only-if only-Tommy and Annika couldn't bear to finish

  the thought.

  All the children from town had brought their bird whistles and

  were playing merrily as they came up the garden walk of Villa

  Villekulla. Tommy and Annika led them. Just as they reached the porch

  steps, the door was flung open and Pippi stood on the threshold. Her

  eyes gleamed in her freckled face.

  "Welcome to my humble dwelling!" she said and threw out her arms.

  Annika looked at her closely so that she would always remember

  just how Pippi looked. Never, never would she forget her as she stood

  there with her red braids and freckles and her happy smile and her

  big black shoes.

  In the distance was heard a soft beating on a drum. Captain

  Longstocking sat in the kitchen with his native drum between his

  knees. He was wearing his royal robes today too. Pippi had especially

  asked him to. She realized that all the children wanted to see a real

  live cannibal king.

  The whole kitchen was soon full of children staring at King

  Efraim, and Annika thought that it was a good thing no more had come,

  for there wouldn't have been room for them. Just as she was thinking

  this, the music of an accordion was heard from the garden, and in

  came the whole crew from the Hoptoad, led by Fridolf. It was he who

  was playing the accordion. Pippi had been down to the harbor that day

  to see her friends and had asked them to come to the farewell

  party.

  Now she rushed at Fridolf and hugged him until he was blue in the

  face. Then she let go of him and cried, "Music! Music!"

  Fridolf played on his accordion, King Efraim beat his drum, and

  all the children blew their bird whistles.

  The lid on the woodbox was closed, and on it stood long rows of

  bottles of soda pop. On the large kitchen table were fifteen layer

  cakes covered with whipped cream, and on the stove a huge kettle full

  of sausages.

  King Efraim began by grabbing eight sausages. All the others

  followed his example, and soon nothing was heard in the kitchen

  except the sound of people eating sausages. Afterward each child was

  allowed to help himself to all the soda pop and layer cake he

  wanted.

  It was a little crowded in the kitchen, so the guests spread out

  onto the porch and even into the garden. The whipped cream on the

  cake shone white in the dusk.

  When everyone had eaten as much as he could,Tommy suggested that

  they should shake down thesausages and cake by playing a game-Follow

  theLeader, for instance. Pippi didn't know that game, butTommy

  explained to her that one person would be the leader and all the rest