Mugic Pebble - MrsHumesElementsofWriting

bylvester
and the
Mugic Pebble
by
WILLIAM STEIG
MOORESTOVJN LIBRARY
MioRESiowr.J. N.J. 08057-2490
\\-inchnill Books Simon and Schuster
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Sylvester Duncan lived rvith his mother and father at
Acorn Road in Oatsdale. One of his hobbies was collecting
pebbles of unusual shape and color.
?ri? 44
In all his young life
Sylvester had never
had a wish gratiffed so
quickly. It struck him
that magic must be at
work, and he guessed
that the magic must be
in the remarkableJook_
ing red pebble. (Where
indeed
it
was.) To make
a test, he put the pebble
on the ground and said,
"I wish it would rain
again." Nothing hap_
pened. But when he
said the same thing
holding the pebble in
his hoof, the sky tumed
black, there was light_
ning and a clap of thun_
der, and the rain came
shooting down.
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"What a lucky day
this is!" thought Sylvester. "From now on
I
can
have anything I want.
My father and mother
can have anything they
want. My relatives, my
friends, and anybody at
all can have everything
anybody wants!"
He wished the sunshine back in the sky,
and he wished a wart
on his left hind fetlock
would disappear, and it
did, and he started
home, eager to amaze
his father and mother
with his magic pebble.
He could hardly wait to
see their faces. Maybe
they wouldn't even believe him at ffrst-
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As hc was crossing Strarvbcrry llill, thinking o{ some o{
the many, many thilgs hc could rvish for, he was startled to
see a mcan, hungry lion looking right at hirn from behind
sone tall grass. He was frightcned. If he hadn't been so
friglrtened, he could havc made the lion disappear, or he
could have wished hirnself safe at home rvith his fathcr and
FIe could have wished the lion ivould tum into a butteror a daisy or a gnat. He could have wished n.rany things,
fly
but he panicked and couldn't think carcfully.
"I
wish
I
were a rock," he said. and he became a rock.
The lion came bounding over, snified the rock a hundred times, walked around and around it, and went away
confused, perplexed, puzzled, and bovildered. "I saw that
little donkey as clear as day. Ivlaybe Iin going crazy," hc
muttered-
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ihere u'us Sylrestlr.. rr r.or,li ou Slrlrilxr.rv llill.
urith thc nragic peirl;ir: 1,,irg riglit lx'siclc liirrr on thc grourrd.
antl ht: rvas rrnubli: [o pick it up. 'Oh. luru, I *,ish I l,cre
rrrvsclf agairr." hc tluruglrt. but rrollring happr:lecl. IIc lrad
lo be touchirg thc 1x'bble to rrrrrkc ihc ntagic lor.k. llrl thcrcr
rvns rothing ]rr: coultl clo about it.
llis
thorrellts ltcgrn to r.acre lilic rrrrcl. I:lc *,as scarcd
irrd .,rllit'cl. Bt:irrg lrtllitss. hc {clt ho':.,lcss. }1c irirgiru:cl
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lLcnr rrislr that a locl. lr:rc a clolkc_.r ? .l.lii:
chairct las r;,,r,
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trIeanl'hilc. birck at lulnc. \Ir. rrncl \Irs. l)uncar paccd
thc floor, {rarrlic with \\on\'. S_vlvester hacl nt:r'er cornc homc
latcr than dinncr tiure. 'r\'hcrc coulcl hr: ltc? 'fhev stnl,cd up
al) right rvonclcring rvhat hacl happcrrtxl, t:rpccting tliat Sylvcstel would surcl;' turn up by ritorrring. But he <lidrr't, o{
coulsc. \lrs. I)uncan criecl a lot ald \'Ir. Duncan ditl his br:st
to soothe her. Both longecl to have tht'ir.clt:ar son rvith thcnr.
"l l'ill level scold Syh'estcr agail ns long as I live," said
\,Irs. I)Lrncan. "lo lriattc. rvltat hc does."
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At darvn,
the1, went about
inquiring of all the neighbors.
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They talked to all the children the puppies, the kittens, the colts, the piglets. No one had seen Sylvester since
the day before yesterday.
They rvcnt to thc police, The police could not find their
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All the clogs in Oatsdale rverrt sciirching {or hirli. They
snifi:d behind evcr1. rock and trec and bladc oI grass, into
cvcry nook and grrllv ol thc rreighborhooci anci bcyorrcl, but
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found not a scent of hirn. They sniffed the rock on Strax',
berry Hill, but it srnellcd like a rock. It didn't sncll likc
Svh'ester.
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After a month of searching the same places over and
over again, and inquiring o{ the same animals over and over
again, Mr. and Mrs. Duncan no longer knew what to do.
They concluded that something dreadful must have happened and that they would probably never see their son
again. (Though all the time he was less than a mile away.)
They tried their best to be happy, to go about their
usual ways. But their usual ways included Sylvester and they
were always reminded of him. They were miserable. Life
had no meaning for them any more.
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Night followed day and day follorvecl night over and
over again. Sylvester on the hill woke up less and less often.
When he was arvake, hc was only hopeless and unhappy.
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IIc felt he would be a rock forever and hc triecl to get used
to it. Hc wcnt into an endlcss slecp. .l'he d;rvs grerv
colder.
Fall carne with thc lcaves changing color. Then the
lcaves
fell and the grass bent to thc ground.
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Then it was winter. The winds blew, this way and
that.
It snowed. Mostly, the animals stayed indoors, living on
the
food they had stored up.
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One day a wolf sat on the rock that was Sylvester and
howled and howled because he was hungry.
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Then the snows rnelted. The earth warmcd up in the
spring sun and things budded.
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Leaves rvere on t]re trccs again. Florvers shorved their
young faces,
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One day in May, N'Ir. Duncan insisted that his wife go
rvith him on a picnic. "Let's cheer up," he said. "Let us try to
live again and be happy even though Sylvester, our angel, is
no longer rvith us." They went to Strawberry Hill.
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Mrs. Duncan sat dorvn on the rock. The warmth of his
own mother sitting on him I'oke Sylvcster up from his deep
winter sleep. How he rvanted to shout. "Mother! Father! It's
me, Sylvester, Iir.r right herel" But hc couldn't talk. He had
no voice. He was stone-dumb.
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Mr. Duncan rvalked airnlessly about while \{rs. Duncan
sct out the picnic food on the rock alfalfa sandrviches,
picklcd oats, sassafras salad, timothy conpote. Suddcnly Mr.
Duncan sarv the red pebble. "Wllat a fantastic pcbble!" he
exclaimed. "sylvester would have loved it for his collection."
He put the pebble on the rock.
ialqqad rrSeu eql se^\
{ceq slq uo Suqser alqqad aql teql pazllear puq aq ,{1uo g1
'l,uplnoc aq tnq 'lnoqs o1 palue,n ;a1se,r1,(S
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...{eare .re; }ou pue e^{e 11ps s1 ra1sa,r1,,{g
reeP rno l"ql Sulaal lsa8uBrts aql c^eq 1,, ','(luappns pres
sqs ..:raql"d '^\ou{ notr,, luauallcxa snorrals,(ut aulos lloJ
uecunq 'srliyaq .(lqrssod pFoc {cor B su,t,r l?qt ,{a{uop €
a{€,tr? epl^\ sB ,{\ou sr?,r\ ralse^1,{S l"a ol u,rop }Bs FaqJ,
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"Oh, how I wish he were here with us on this lovely May
day," said Mrs. Duncan. Mr. Duncan looked sadly at the
ground. "Don't you wish it too, Father?" she said. He looked
at her as if to say, "How can you ask such a question?"
Mr. and Mrs. Duncan looked at each other with great
sorrow_
"I
wish
I
were myself again,
I
wish
I
were my real self
again!" thought Sylvester.
And in less than an instant, he was!
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You can imagine the scene that followed
braces, the kisses,
the questions,
the answers,
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the loving
looks, and the fond exclamationsl
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When they had eventually calmed down a bit, and had
gotten home, Mr. Duncan put the magic pebble in an iron
safe. Some day they might want to use
it, but really, for now,
what more could they wish for? They all had all that they
wanted.
The End