< Back to Index
| "Give them to me," said the cook, who wore a square cap, that was shaped like a box, upon his head. "What do you want with them?" asked Gilligren. "I want them for a pie for the King's dinner," answered Mister Baker; "His Majesty ordered the dish, and I have hunted all over London for the blackbirds, but could not find them. Now that you have brought them, however, you have saved me my position as cook, and perhaps my head as well." "But it would be cruel to put the beautiful birds in a pie," remonstrated Gilligren, "and I shall not give them to you for such a purpose." |
|
| "Nonsense!" replied the cook, "the King has ordered it; he is very fond of the dish." "Still, you cannot have them," declared the boy stoutly, "the birds are mine, and I will not have them killed." "But what can I do?" asked the cook, in perplexity; "the King has ordered a blackbird pie, and your birds are the only blackbirds in London." |
|
