SUN AND MOON (1918)
By Katherine Mansfield
IN the afternoon the chairs came, a whole big cart full of little gold ones with their legs in
the air. And then the flowers came. When you stared down from the balcony at the people
carrying them the flower pots looked like funny awfully
awfully nice hats nodding up the path.
Moon thought they were hats. She said: "Look. There's a man wearing a palm on his
head." But she never knew the difference between real things and not real ones.
There was nobody to look after Sun and Moon. Nurse was helping
helping Annie alter Mother's
dress which was much-tootoo-long-and-tight-under-the-arms
arms and Mother was running all
over the house and telephoning Father to be sure not to forget things. She only had time
to say: "Out of my way, children!"
They kept out of her way––at at any rate Sun did. He did so hate being sent stumping back to
the nursery. It didn't matter about Moon. If she got tangled in people's legs they only
threw her up and shook her till she squeaked. But Sun was too heavy for that. He was so
heavy that the fat man who came to dinner on Sundays used to say: "Now, young man,
let's try to lift you." And then he'd put his thumbs under Sun's arms and groan and try and
give it up at last saying: "He's a perfect little ton of bricks!
Nearly all the furniture was taken out of the dining-room.
room. The big piano was put in a
corner and then there came a row of flower pots and then there came the goldy chairs.
That was for the concert. When Sun looked in a white faced man sat at the piano–not
piano
playing, but banging at it and
and then looking inside. He had a bag of tools on the piano and
he had stuck his hat on a statue against the wall. Sometimes he just started to play and
then he jumped up again and looked inside. Sun hoped he wasn't the concert.
But of course the place to bbee in was the kitchen. There was a man helping in a cap like a
blancmange, and their real cook, Minnie, was all red in the face and laughing. Not cross
at all. She gave them each an almond finger and lifted them up on to the flour bin so that
they could watch ch the wonderful things she and the man were making for supper. Cook
brought in the things and he put them on dishes and trimmed them. Whole fishes, with
their heads and eyes and tails still on, he sprinkled with red and green and yellow bits; he
made squiggles
ggles all over the jellies, he stuck a collar on a ham and put a very thin sort of a
fork in it; he dotted almonds and tiny round biscuits on the creams. And more and more
things kept coming.
"Ah, but you haven't seen the ice pudding," said Cook. "Come al
along."
ong." Why was she
being so nice, thought Sun as she gave them each a hand. And they looked into the
refrigerator.
http://www.katherinemansfieldsociety.org 1
, Oh! Oh! Oh! It was a little house. It was a little pink house with white snow on the roof
and green windows and a brown door and stuck in the door there was a nut for a handle.
When Sun saw the nut he felt quite tired and had to lean against Cook.
"Let me touch it. Just let me put my finger on the roof," said Moon, dancing. She always
wanted to touch all the food. Sun didn't.
"Now, my girl, look sharp with the table," said Cook as the housemaid came in.
"It's a picture, Min," said Nellie. "Come along and have a look." So they all went into the
dining-room.
room. Sun and Moon were almost frightened. They wouldn't go up to the table at
first; they just
ust stood at the door and made eyes at it. It wasn't real night yet but the blinds
were down in the dining-roomroom and the lights turned on–and
on and all the lights were red roses.
Red ribbons and bunches of roses tied up the table at the corners. In the middle was a
lake with rose petals floating on it.
"That's where the ice pudding is to be," said Cook.
Two silver lions with wings had fruit on their backs, and the salt cellars were tiny birds
drinking out of basins.
And all the winking glasses and shining plates
plates and sparkling knives and forks
forks–and all the
food. And the little red table napkins made into roses. . . .
"Are people going to eat the food?" asked Sun.
"I should just think they were," laughed Cook, laughing with Nellie. Moon laughed, too;
she always did
id the same as other people. But Sun didn't want to laugh. Round and round
he walked with his hands behind his back. Perhaps he never would have stopped if Nurse
hadn't called suddenly: "Now then, children. It's high time you were washed and
dressed." And they were marched off to the nursery.
While they were being unbuttoned Mother looked in with a white thing over her
shoulders; she was rubbing stuff on her face.
"I'll ring for them when I want them, Nurse, and then they can just come down and be
seen andd go back again," said she.
Sun was undressed first, nearly to his skin, and dressed again in a white shirt with red and
white daisies speckled on it, breeches with strings at the sides and braces that came over,
white socks and red shoes.
"Now you're in your Russian costume," said Nurse, flattening down his fringe.
"Am I?" said Sun.
"Yes. Sit quiet in that chair and watch your little sister."
http://www.katherinemansfieldsociety.org 2
By Katherine Mansfield
IN the afternoon the chairs came, a whole big cart full of little gold ones with their legs in
the air. And then the flowers came. When you stared down from the balcony at the people
carrying them the flower pots looked like funny awfully
awfully nice hats nodding up the path.
Moon thought they were hats. She said: "Look. There's a man wearing a palm on his
head." But she never knew the difference between real things and not real ones.
There was nobody to look after Sun and Moon. Nurse was helping
helping Annie alter Mother's
dress which was much-tootoo-long-and-tight-under-the-arms
arms and Mother was running all
over the house and telephoning Father to be sure not to forget things. She only had time
to say: "Out of my way, children!"
They kept out of her way––at at any rate Sun did. He did so hate being sent stumping back to
the nursery. It didn't matter about Moon. If she got tangled in people's legs they only
threw her up and shook her till she squeaked. But Sun was too heavy for that. He was so
heavy that the fat man who came to dinner on Sundays used to say: "Now, young man,
let's try to lift you." And then he'd put his thumbs under Sun's arms and groan and try and
give it up at last saying: "He's a perfect little ton of bricks!
Nearly all the furniture was taken out of the dining-room.
room. The big piano was put in a
corner and then there came a row of flower pots and then there came the goldy chairs.
That was for the concert. When Sun looked in a white faced man sat at the piano–not
piano
playing, but banging at it and
and then looking inside. He had a bag of tools on the piano and
he had stuck his hat on a statue against the wall. Sometimes he just started to play and
then he jumped up again and looked inside. Sun hoped he wasn't the concert.
But of course the place to bbee in was the kitchen. There was a man helping in a cap like a
blancmange, and their real cook, Minnie, was all red in the face and laughing. Not cross
at all. She gave them each an almond finger and lifted them up on to the flour bin so that
they could watch ch the wonderful things she and the man were making for supper. Cook
brought in the things and he put them on dishes and trimmed them. Whole fishes, with
their heads and eyes and tails still on, he sprinkled with red and green and yellow bits; he
made squiggles
ggles all over the jellies, he stuck a collar on a ham and put a very thin sort of a
fork in it; he dotted almonds and tiny round biscuits on the creams. And more and more
things kept coming.
"Ah, but you haven't seen the ice pudding," said Cook. "Come al
along."
ong." Why was she
being so nice, thought Sun as she gave them each a hand. And they looked into the
refrigerator.
http://www.katherinemansfieldsociety.org 1
, Oh! Oh! Oh! It was a little house. It was a little pink house with white snow on the roof
and green windows and a brown door and stuck in the door there was a nut for a handle.
When Sun saw the nut he felt quite tired and had to lean against Cook.
"Let me touch it. Just let me put my finger on the roof," said Moon, dancing. She always
wanted to touch all the food. Sun didn't.
"Now, my girl, look sharp with the table," said Cook as the housemaid came in.
"It's a picture, Min," said Nellie. "Come along and have a look." So they all went into the
dining-room.
room. Sun and Moon were almost frightened. They wouldn't go up to the table at
first; they just
ust stood at the door and made eyes at it. It wasn't real night yet but the blinds
were down in the dining-roomroom and the lights turned on–and
on and all the lights were red roses.
Red ribbons and bunches of roses tied up the table at the corners. In the middle was a
lake with rose petals floating on it.
"That's where the ice pudding is to be," said Cook.
Two silver lions with wings had fruit on their backs, and the salt cellars were tiny birds
drinking out of basins.
And all the winking glasses and shining plates
plates and sparkling knives and forks
forks–and all the
food. And the little red table napkins made into roses. . . .
"Are people going to eat the food?" asked Sun.
"I should just think they were," laughed Cook, laughing with Nellie. Moon laughed, too;
she always did
id the same as other people. But Sun didn't want to laugh. Round and round
he walked with his hands behind his back. Perhaps he never would have stopped if Nurse
hadn't called suddenly: "Now then, children. It's high time you were washed and
dressed." And they were marched off to the nursery.
While they were being unbuttoned Mother looked in with a white thing over her
shoulders; she was rubbing stuff on her face.
"I'll ring for them when I want them, Nurse, and then they can just come down and be
seen andd go back again," said she.
Sun was undressed first, nearly to his skin, and dressed again in a white shirt with red and
white daisies speckled on it, breeches with strings at the sides and braces that came over,
white socks and red shoes.
"Now you're in your Russian costume," said Nurse, flattening down his fringe.
"Am I?" said Sun.
"Yes. Sit quiet in that chair and watch your little sister."
http://www.katherinemansfieldsociety.org 2
