THE COUNTRY CHILD by ALISON UTTLEY - 1931 - ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- THE Authors thanks are due to the Editor of The Spectator for permission to reprint an episode, 6 Haymakers, in this book, and also to the Oxford University Press for the use of the Wassail Song, from The Oxford Book of Carols. The Authors and Publishersy thanks are due to the original publishers, Messrs. Faber and Faber, Ltd., for permission to reprint the book in this series. CONTENTS I . DARK WOOD . . I1 . WINDYSTONHEA LL . I11 . IDOLS . . . . IV . SCHOO . L ...
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THE COUNTRY CHILD by ALISON UTTLEY - 1931 - ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- THE Authors thanks are due to the Editor of The Spectator for permission to reprint an episode, 6 Haymakers, in this book, and also to the Oxford University Press for the use of the Wassail Song, from The Oxford Book of Carols. The Authors and Publishersy thanks are due to the original publishers, Messrs. Faber and Faber, Ltd., for permission to reprint the book in this series. CONTENTS I . DARK WOOD . . I1 . WINDYSTONHEA LL . I11 . IDOLS . . . . IV . SCHOO . L . . . V . SERVING-MEN . . V1 . THE CIRCU . S . . V11 . THE SECRE . T . . V111 . TREES . . . . IX . LANTERNLI GHT . . X . MOONLIGH . T . . XI . DECEMBER . . . XI1 . CHRISTMADSA Y . . XI11 . JANUARY . . . XIV . THE EASTERE GG . XV . SPRING . . . . XVI . THE THREE CHAMBERS XVII. THE GARDEN . . XVIII . THE OATCAKME AN . XIX . MOWING-TIME . . XX . THE HARVEST . . XXI . THE WAKE . S . . vii THE COUNTRY CHILD DARK WOOD THE DARK WOOD WAS GREEN AND gold, green where the oak trees stood crowded together with misshapen twisted trunks, red-gold where the great smooth beeches lifted their branching arms to the sky. In between jostled silver birches - olive - tinted fountains which never reached the light-black spruces with little pale candles on each tip, and nut trees smothered to the neck in dense bracken. he bracken was a forest in itself, a curving verdant flood of branches, transparent as water by the path, but thick, heavy, secret a foot or two away, where high ferny crests waved above the softly moving ferns, just as the beech tops flaunted above the rest of the wood. The rabbits which crept quietly in and out reared on their hind legs to see who was going by. They prickedtheir ears and stood erect, and then dropped silently on soft paws and disappeared into the close ranks of brown stems when they saw the child. . She walked along the rough path, casting fearful glances to right and left. She never ran, even in moments of greatest terror, when things seemed very near, for then They would know she was afraid and dose round her. Gossamer stretched across the way from nut bush to bracken frond, and clung to her cold cheeks. Spilt acorns and beech mast Iay thick on the ground, green and brown patterns in the upside-down red leaves which made a carpet. Heavy rains had swept the soil to the lower 1eveIs of the path, and laid bare the rock in many places. On a sandy patch she saw her own footprint, a little square toe and a horse-shoe where the iron heel had sunk. That was in the morning when all was fresh and fair. It cheered her to see the homely mark, and she stayed a moment to look at it, and replace her foot in it, as Robinson Crusoe might have done, A squirrel, rippling along a leafy bough, peered at her, and then, finding her so still, ran down the tree trunk and along the ground. Her step was strangely silent, and a close observer would have seen that she walked only on the soil between the stones of the footpath, stones of the earth itself, which had worn their way through the thin layer of grass. Her eyes and ears were as alert as those of a small wild animal as she slid through the shades in the depths of the wood...
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Very Good condition. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp. Bundled media such as CDs, DVDs, floppy disks or access codes may not be included.
A Country Child is one of those wonderful books that can be read at any age. Whether read to a child or by a young reader, or by those in their dotage, this book speaks to the sense of wonderment that we all have or that needs to be reawakened about the natural world. The landscape and all that it comprises stars in this narrative about living on a farm in England. It's role is written by an author with a poet's gift for description and the power to connect the reader emotionally to the very leaves of the trees. You will find yourself reading more slowly toward the end, because you will not want to leave Susan and this reconnection to the best that childhood has to offer. A Country Child is a should-be classic and not to be missed.
