King Fragments’ Zinnia Roofs

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22317, 3 February 1938, Page 4 (Supplement)

King Fragments’ Zinnia Roofs

The Land of Odds and Ends was an extraordinary place. The children had various peculiarities. Ail the boys were short, fat, and pigeon-toed, and all the girls were long, thin, and snub-nosed. The houses were made of bits of this and bits of that, and the folk were dressed in some of that and some of this. I stayed there* once for a month and I shall never forget it. King Fragments ruled over it when he had time. He was a very lovable, but a very peculiar king. His favourite sport was hopscotch, and he was often to be seen on moonlight nights playing in the counyard of his palace. His favourite occupation was painting the roots of his palaces. He had 59 altogether, so you can easily see that there was little time left for ruling

over Odds and Ends Land. His palaces certainly looked very gay from a distance. They really resembled huge, gaudy, zinnia roof gardens. Zinnias were King- Fragments' favourite flowers, and he chose their rich, bold colours with which to paint his palace roofs. If you had met the king in the street, and vou had not known who he was. I'm quite sure you would never have believed he was a king, unless you happened to notice Ins crown. It was very small and composed of odds and ends. The front part was made of cellophane, the back of aluminium and the top velvet. It was studded with peacocks’ eyes for luck. He always wore it when ho was painting. He was very superstitious, and he considered that the peacocks’ eyes would guard him safely and prevent him from falling off a roof. Unfortunately, they didn’t, but I’ll tell you about that later. He also wore magenta overalls when he was painting, in order to be spied easily, in case he might be wanted on urgent business. The houses in Odds and Ends Land looked very queer. They were not in rows but in circles. They were built of wood, stone, bricks,

or activity and to make the very most they can of all instruction and to find out everything possible that is connected even remotely with their special subject. In this way they will come to the age of wage-earning with an interesting general knowledge that will be a constant help to them.

(By Ivy Gibbs)

and marble. They did look a hotchpotch. There were no back or front doors, and the windows were on the roofs. It was an awful business climbing up the long ladders to reach the roof, and then climbing through the tiny windows. , , , I remember the day before I left a fat man got stuck in one. He‘looked so funny. Half of him poked up through the roof and the other half dangled below. It was an unfortunate catastrophe. I believe he’s dangling there yet They had a big banquet in Odds and Ends when I was there. It was a great affair, and it was in honour of the successful painting of the thirteenth roof palace by the king. It was referred to in “Odds and Ends Herald,” as “the most auspicious and lucky occasion.” There were speeches by the prime minister, the lamplighter, the king's chef, and the upper housemaid. The kin" was a very great democrat. That really means he was happy in any society. After the speeches the company adjourned to the banqueting hall. It was the queerest meal imaginable. The first thing on the menu was Odds and Ends soup, the favourite soup of King Fragments. I believe it was made of turnip tops, tea leaves, treacle, and tapioca, all boiled together. It was then rubbed through a sieve and flavoured with castor oil. I took one mouthful, rose hastily, rushed up a ladder, and spat it out through a window. Of course, I apologised when 1 came back, and told them I had rushed away because I wanted to wave to the train going past the palace. Luckily my soup was cold by then, and nobody takes cold soup. After the soup there was an entree called zoological entree. It was made from emus’ eggs, lamb's fry. sheep’s head, bullocks’ kidneys, pigs’ feet, and fishes’ eyes. It was certainly very savoury, but a little bit too zoological for my simple tastes. „ , _. The king’s wife was called Finicky. Her ladies-in-waiting hated her because she made them collect odds and ends from the drapers’ shops. In their spare lime she made them convert these pieces into huge patchwork quilts for their bed. They must haye been frightfully hot in the summer, don’t you think, as they all slept together and there were 17 of them altogether. The servants hated her also because she made them clean the ladders on Sundays as well as week-days. It seems strange, doesn’t it? Everyone loved King Fragments but hated Ins wife, Queen Finicky.. He was the kindest. nicest king they ever had. And to think he was killed suddenly. just by falling off the roof of one of his palaces! Oh! it was frightfully sad. It was on a Thursday afternoon the king was killed. He Was working on ' the eighteenth palace roof. He had only about three more yards to do. He was in a very lively mood and was singing as he worked. This was the song: “I don’t believe in idleness, Although I am king. I think that everyone should work At some or any thing. It makes you feel much happier. With something nice to do; That’s why I’m painting all my roofs A lovely zinnia hue. As the king was singing some birds flew over to listen. One of them happened to be a parrot and

a very clever mimic. He started to imitate the king’s singing. This set the king laughing very heartily. He laughed and laughed and simply couldn’t stop. Suddenly he rolled over to the edge of the roof. Before you could wink he slipped over and went toppling down into the courtyard below. He was buried on Saturday morning and every soul in Odds and Ends Land went to the funeral. They wore zinnias in their buttonholes as a token of love for their late King Fragments. So you see, the peacocks’ eyes in the crown were not so lucky after all. South America South America is a land of terraces, rocky and gravelly in places, where the rivers have carved their way through the mountains and tumbled over great precipices; wet and thickly wooded in the lowland jungles. There are terraces of plains and savannas, but these lie mostly in the south, and are more serviceable for cattle-rearing than cultivation. The land is not, like North America, hospitable to man. Wet jungles with their enormous trees, climbers, cactuses and orchids; barren steppes with their coarse grasses and shrubs check the advance of discovery and development. But there is no region in the world which is so rich in gorgeously coloured birds as the jungle solitudes of this partly known country. TO A WEST COAST READER Nancy Phillips, aged 12, Hororata, Canterbury, would like to write to a reader of “The Press Junior” on the West Coast or ii the North Island. She is chief! - interested in .sewing and in collect ing stamps.

Answer to Riddlemere# ( Marigold*