Re: Famous Five's & Others' Drinking Water
Posted: 17 Sep 2017, 21:00
Can anyone spot the error Eileen Soper has made here?
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Yan screamed the place down as Mrs Penruthlan
scrubbed him and soaped him and flannelled him. He hit out at her, but she gave him one sound spank on his small behind, and he stopped very suddenly. He felt very much at her mercy, and decided not to annoy her in any way while he was in that dreadful bath!
The four children found the general store and went in. ‘Any ice-cream?’ said Julian hopefully. But there was none. What a blow! There was orangeade and lemonade, however, quite cool through being kept down in the cellar of the store.
‘You be the folks that old Mrs Penruthlan be having in?’ said the village shopkeeper. ‘She do be expecting of you. Furriners, bain’t you?’
‘Well, not exactly,’ said Julian, remembering that to many Cornish folk anyone was a foreigner who did not belong to Cornwall. ‘My mother had a great-aunt who lived in Cornwall all her life. So we’re not exactly “furriners”, are we?’
‘You’re furriners all right,’ said the bent little shopkeeper, looking at Julian with bird-like eyes. ‘Your talk is furrin-like, too.
And to make matters worse (if possible) the 'shop' didn't even sell ice cream!The four children found the general store and went in. ‘Any ice-cream?’ said Julian hopefully. But there was none. What a blow!
So Timmy can drink the water straight out of the stream - what about George and Anne? Are they taking precautions?‘Let’s go,’ said George, scrambling up. ‘I’ve got a lovely camping-place, Anne. You’ll like it.It’s near a little spring too, so there’s plenty of water for Timmy to drink - and us too. Did you bring any more food? I didn’t really bring much.’
Nope,straight from The Peckham Stream,sorry Kirrin from mug to mouth!Chapter Four
THAT NIGHT
It was now tea-time, according to Anne’s watch and also according to everyone’s feelings, including Timmy’s. Timmy felt the heat very much and was always wandering off to the little spring to lap the crystal-cold water.
Anne wished that she and George had a big jug that they could fill - it was such a nuisance to have to keep running to and fro with just a mug.
They had tea - biscuits, a sandwich each, and a bar of rather soft chocolate. George examined Timmy’s ear for the hundredth time that day, and pronounced it very much better.
I know what you're thinking,Anne's mother was so adamant in their fifth story that they must boil all drinking water that surely they followed her advice even just now and again...‘Are you coming here again?’ demanded George.
‘If I want to,’ said the boy. ‘The water in this spring is better than the one over by my camp.’
‘Then we shall come and explore your camp,’ said George, firmly. ‘If you don’t keep your promise, we shan’t keep ours.’
Anne - how could you forget that?!Mrs Kirrin's Warning:
"Remember to boil every drop of water you drink," said the children's mother. "That's very important. Get as much milk from the farms as they will let you have. And remember that there is plenty of ginger-beer in the locker under the second caravan."
Hmm downright rebellion from even the normally obedient Anne..Anne didn’t quite know why she awoke. At first she had no idea where she was, and she lay gazing up at the stars in astonishment, thinking she must still be asleep.
She suddenly felt very thirsty. She groped about in the nearby tent for the mug, couldn’t find it and gave it up.
‘I’ll drink from my cupped hands,’ she thought, and set off for the little spring. Timmy wondered whether to follow her. No - he would stay with George. She wouldn’t like it if she awoke and found him gone with Anne. So he settled his head down on his paws again and slept, leaving one ear open for Anne.
Anne found the little spring. Its tinkling gurgling sound guided her as soon as she heard it. She sat down on one of the stones nearby, and held out her cupped hands. How very cold the water was - and how delicious to drink on this hot night! She sipped thirstily, slopping some of the water down her front.
Hard to believe isn't it? Their attitude to drinking water from outdoor streams and rivers influenced me until a walking magazine warned about the dangers of drinking water from these locations..Timmy came up to see if he could get any tit-bits. Julian waved him away. ‘You smell of too-strong meat, Timmy,’ he said. ‘Go and get a drink. By the way, is there anything to drink here, George?’
‘Oh yes,’ said George. ‘A lovely spring. Not far off, either. Let’s take the remains of our meal there, and the mug. We’ve only got one unfortunately, so it’s no good getting water unless we all sit by the spring and take turns at the mug. Come on!’
The boys thought that the spring was a really splendid one. They grouped themselves around it and took turns at filling the mug and drinking from it.
As Starship sang 'Nothin's Gonna Stop Me Now' and that could well also describe The Famous Five's approach to drinking untreated,unboiled outdoor water.They changed back into ordinary clothes and then had tea - fruit cake, shortbread biscuits, and tinned pineapple on bread. They kept the juice and diluted it with cold spring water - it was simply delicious.
‘Now let’s explore the cottage,’ said Dick.
Anne passed it to her. George got up and took the little rabbit-path that led to the spring.‘Anyone want a drink?’ said George. ‘I’ll go and fetch some water from the spring. Where’s the pineapple tin?’