'MY INFANCY^ 



29 



before anyone came with ferrets and sticks, to 

 make things a httle too Uvely for my taste. 



Now, did you ever see anything hke it ? There's 

 that silly old birthday of mine gone dodging out 

 of the way again. It is just like another sort of 

 dream that I often have. I dream of a beautiful 

 herring's head, not too fresh, the sort of head that 

 you can smell from some distance without taking 

 the trouble to sniff too hard. This beautiful and 

 smelly head is hanging not quite out of reach, 

 if I stand on my hind legs, in the silly way which 

 you seem to prefer. You must know really that it 

 is not the right way to get about, because when you 

 are babies you always begin by crawling about the 

 floor, and if you were only left to yourselves, you 

 would go from crawling to running like we do, 

 instead of waving your fore-paws in the air ; and 

 you are so proud of it, too, that you go and teach 

 your horrid dogs to do the same. However, it is 

 useful to us sometimes, when we want to reach 

 anything, like the beautiful herring's head in my 

 second kind of dream. I so nearly get it time 

 after time, only I cannot quite make my teeth catch 

 hold. It just slips away when I think that I have 

 got it at last, and swings back ' bump ' against my 

 head ; and then I get cross and jump at it, and it 



