November 3, 2023 • 33 mins
"Thanksgiving Stories: A Feast for the Ears" is a captivating collection of short stories that celebrates the spirit of Thanksgiving in all its flavors. Each story in this anthology serves as a delectable dish, offering a unique and heartwarming perspective on this cherished holiday. From tales of family reunions and culinary adventures to unexpected encounters and acts of gratitude, these stories take you on a journey through the rich tapestry of Thanksgiving traditions and emotions. Whether you're a seasoned Thanksgiving enthusiast or a newcomer to the holiday, "Thanksgiving Stories: A Feast for the Ears" is a literary feast that will leave your heart warmed and your soul nourished, reminding us all of the power of gratitude and togetherness during this special time of year.
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
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(00:00):
Section two of Good Cheer Stories EveryChild Should Know. This is a LibriVox
recording. All LibriVox recordings are inthe public domain. For more information or
to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dotorg. Recording by Taysha Lynn TASA Write's
(00:23):
studward press dot com. Good CheerStories Every Child Should Know by Asa Dawn
Dickinson. Thankful by Mary E.Wilkins Freeman. This tale is evidence that
Missus Freeman understands the children of NewEngland as well as she knows their parents.
(00:46):
There is a doll in the story, but boys will not mind this,
as there are also two turkey gobblersand a pewter dish full of revolutionary
bullets. Submit Thompson sat on thestone wall. Sarah Adams, an erect
(01:07):
prim little figure, ankle deep indry grass, stood beside it, holding
Thinkful. Thinkful was about ten incheslong, made of the finest linen,
with little rosy cheeks and a finelittle wig of flax. She wore a
(01:30):
blue wool frock and a red cloak. Sara held her close. She even
drew a fold of her own bluehomespun blanket around her to shield her from
the November wind. The sky waslow and gray. The wind blew from
(01:53):
the northeast and had the breath ofsnow in it. Submit on the wall
drew her quilted petticoats close down overher feet, and huddled herself into a
small place. But her face gleamed, keen and resolute out of the depths
of a great red hood that belongedto her mother. Her eyes were fixed
(02:16):
upon a turkey gobbler ruffling and bobbingaround the back door of the Adam's house.
The two gambrel roofed Thompson and Adamshouses were built as close together as
if the little village of Bridgewater werea city. Acres of land stretched behind
(02:40):
them and at the other sides,but they stood close to the road and
close to each other. The narrowspace between them was divided by a stone
wall, which was Submits and Sarah'strysting place. They met there every day
(03:01):
in exchanged confidences. They loved eachother like sisters. Neither of them had
an own sister. But to daya spirit of rivalry had arisen. The
tough, dry BlackBerry vines on thewall twisted around Submit. She looked with
(03:24):
her circle of red petticoat like somestrange late flower blooming out on the wall.
I know he don't, Sarah Adams. She said, father said he'd
weigh twenty pounds. Returned Sarah,in a small, weak voice, which
(03:44):
still had persistency in it. Idon't believe he will. Our Thanksgiving turkey
is twice as big. You knowhe is, Sarah Adams. No,
I don't, submit, Thompson,Yes you do. Sara lowered her chin
and shook her head with a decisionthat was beyond words. She was a
(04:09):
thin, delicate looking little girl,Her small blue clad figure bent before the
wind, but there was resolution inher high forehead and her sharp chin.
Submit nodded violently. Sarah shook herhead again. She hugged, thankful,
(04:30):
and shook her head with her eyesstill staring defiantly into submits. Hood submits.
Black eyes in the depths of itwere like two sparks. She nodded
vehemently. The gesture was not enoughfor her. She nodded and spoke again,
(04:53):
Sarah Adams. She said, whatwill you give me if our turkey
is bigger than your turkey? Itain't. What will you give me if
it is? Sarah stared at Submit. I don't know what you mean,
Submit Thompson, she said, witha stately puzzled air. Well, I'll
(05:15):
tell you. If your turkey weighsmore than iles, i'll give you.
I'll give you my little work boxwith the picture on top. And if
our turkey weighs more than yours,you give me. What will you give
me, Sarah Adams. Sarah hungher flaxen head with a troubled air.
(05:41):
I don't know, she said,I don't believe I've got anything mother would
be willing to have me give away. There's thankful your mother wouldn't care if
you gave her away. Sarah startedand hugged thankful closer. Yes, my
(06:02):
mother would care too, she said. Don't you know? My aunt Rose
from Boston made her and gave herto me. Sarah's beautiful young aunt Rose
from Boston was the special admiration ofboth the little girls. Submit was ordinarily
(06:24):
impressed by her name, but nowshe took it coolly. What if she
did, she returned, she canmake another. It's just made out of
a piece of old linen. Anyhow, my work box is real handsome.
But you can do just as youare a mind to you mean, I
(06:47):
can have the work box to keep, inquired Sarah, course I do if
your turkey's bigger, Sarah hesitated.Our turkey is bigger anyhow, she murmured.
Don't you think I ought to askmother? Submit, she inquired suddenly,
No, what for? I don'tsee anything to ask your mother for.
(07:12):
She won't care anything about that raggeddoll. Ain't you going to ask
your mother about the workbox, No, replied Submit stoutly. It's mine,
My grandmother gave it to me.Sarah reflected, I know our turkey is
the biggest, she said, lookinglovingly at Thankful, as if to justify
(07:39):
herself to her. Well, Idon't care, she added finally, will
you yes, when's yours going tobe killed this afternoon? So's ours?
(08:00):
Then we'll find out. Sara tuckedThankful closer under her shawl. I know
our turkey is biggest, she said. She looked very sober, although her
voice was defiant. Just then,the great turkey came swinging through the yard.
He held up his head proudly andgobbled. His every feather stood out
(08:24):
in the wind. He seemed enormous, a perfect giant among turkeys. Look
at him, said Sara, edginga little closer to the wall. She
was rather afraid of him. Heain't half so big as ours. Return,
(08:46):
Submit stoutly, but her heart sank. The Thompson turkey did look very
large. Submet Submit called a voicefrom the Thomson house. Submit slowly got
down from the wall. His feathersare a good deal thicker than ours,
(09:09):
she said defiantly to Sarah. Submitcalled the voice, come right home.
I want you to pare apples forthe pies. Be quick, yes,
marm Submit answered back in a shrillvoice. I'm coming. Then she went
across the yard and into the kitchendoor of the Thompson house, like a
(09:33):
red robin into a nest. Submithad been taught to obey her mother promptly.
Missus Thompson was a decided woman.Sarah looked after Submit. Then she
gathered thankful closer and also went intothe house. Her mother, as well
(09:56):
as Missus Thompson, was preparing forThanksgiving. The great kitchen was all of
a pleasant litter, with pie platesand cake pans and mixing bowls, and
full of warm, spicy odors.The oven in the chimney was all heated
(10:16):
and ready for a batch of appleand pumpkin pies. Missus Adams was busy
sliding them in, but she stoppedto look at Sara and thinkful. Sara
was her only child. Why whatmakes you look so sober? She said?
(10:41):
Nothing, replied Sara. She hadtaken off her blanket and sat in
one of the straight backed kitchen chairsholding Thankful. You look dreadful sober,
said her mother. Are you tired, no, marm I'm afraid you've got
cold standing out there in the wind. Do you feel chilly, no,
(11:05):
marm mother. How much do yousuppose our turkey ways? I believe father
said he'd weigh about twenty pounds.Are you sure you don't feel chilly?
No, marm mother? Do yousuppose our turkey weighs more than submits?
(11:26):
How do you suppose? I cantell I ain't set eyes on their turkey
lately. If you feel well,you'd better sit up to the table and
stone that bowl of raisins. Putyour doll away and get your apron.
But Sarah stoned raisins with Thankful inher lap, hidden under her apron.
(11:50):
She was so full of anxiety thatshe could not bear to put her away.
Suppose that Thompson turkey should be larger, and she should lose thankful,
thankful that her beautiful aunt Rose hadmade for her. Submit over in the
(12:11):
Thompson house, had sat down atonce to her apple pairing. She had
not gone into the best room tolook at the work box, whose possession
she had hazarded. It stood inthere on the table, made of yellow
satiney wood with a sliding lid,ornamented with a beautiful little picture. Submit
(12:35):
had a certain pride in it,but her fear of losing it was not
equal to her hope of possessing thankful. Submit had never had a doll,
except for a few plebeian ones manufacturedsecretly out of corn cobs, whom it
took more imagination than she possessed toadmire. Gradually, all emulation over the
(13:03):
turkeys was lost in the naughty covetousnessof her little friend and neighbor's doll.
Submit felt shocked and guilty, butshe sat there pearing the Baldwin apples and
thinking to herself, if our turkeyis only bigger, if it only is,
(13:26):
then I shall have thankful. Hermouth was pursed up and her eyes
snapped. She did not talk atall, but pared very fast. Her
mother looked at her. If youdon't take care, you'll cut your fingers.
(13:48):
She said, you are in toomuch of a hurry. I suppose
you want to get out and gossipwith Sara again at the wall. But
I can't let you waste any moretime to day there I told you you
would. Submet had cut her thumbquite severely. She chooked a little when
(14:13):
her mother tied it up and puton some balm of Gilead, which made
it smart worse. Don't cry,said her mother. You have to bear
more than a cut thumb if youlive, and Submit did not let the
tears fall. She came from abrave race. Her great grandfather had fought
(14:39):
in the Revolution. His sword andregimentals were packed in the fine carved chest
in the best room. Over thekitchen shelf hung an old musket with which
her grandmother, guarding her home andchildren, had shot an Indian. In
a little closet beside the chimney wasan old pewter dish full of homemade Revolutionary
(15:05):
bullets, which Submit and her brothershad for playthings. A little girl who
played with revolutionary bullets ought not tocry over a cut thumb. Submit finished
the pairing after her thumb was tiedup, although she was rather awkward about
(15:28):
it. Then she pounded spices inthe mortar and picked over cranberries. Her
mother kept her busy every minute untildinner time, when Submith's father and her
two brothers, Thomas and Jonas,had come in. She began on the
subject nearest her heart father, shesaid, how much do you think our
(15:54):
Thanksgiving turkey will weigh? Mister Thompsonwas a deliberate man. He looked at
her a minute before replying seventeen oreighteen pounds? He replied, Oh,
father, don't you think he willweigh twenty? Mister Thompson shook his head.
(16:21):
He don't begin to weigh so muchas the Atom's turkey, said Jonas.
Their turkey weighs twenty pounds. Oh, Thomas, do you think their
turkey weighs more than ours? Criedsubmit. Thomas was her elder brother.
He had a sober, judicial airlike his father. Their turkey weighs considerable
(16:45):
more than ours, said he submits, Face fell, you are not showing
a right spirit, said her motherseverely. Why should you care if the
adam this turkey does weigh more?I am ashamed of you, Submit said
(17:07):
no more. She ate her dinnersoberly. Afterward, she wiped dishes while
her mother washed. All the timeshe was listening, her father and brothers
had gone out. Presently, shestarted, Oh, mother, they're killing
(17:30):
the turkey. She said, well, don't stop while the dishes are hot.
If they are returned, her motherSubmit wiped obediently, but as soon
as the dishes were set away,she stole out in the barn where her
father and brothers were picking the turkey. Father, when are you going to
(17:53):
weigh him? She asked, timidly. Not till tonight, said her father.
Submit called her mother. Submit wentin and swept the kitchen floor.
It was an hour after that whenher mother was in the south room getting
(18:14):
it ready for her grandparents, whowere coming home to Thanksgiving. They had
been on a visit to their youngestson. That Submit crept slyly into the
pantry. The turkey lay there onthe broad shelf before the window. Submit
looked at him. She thought hewas small. He was most all feathers,
(18:42):
she whispered ruefully. She stood lookingdisconsolately at the turkey. Suddenly her
eyes flashed, and a red flushcame over her face. It uh as
if Satan coming into that godly newEngland home three days before Thanksgiving, had
(19:07):
whispered in her heart. Presently,Submit stole softly back into the kitchen,
set a chair before the chimney cupboard, climbed up and got the pewter dish
full of revolutionary bullets. Then shestole back to the pantry and emptied the
(19:30):
bullets into the turkey's crop. Thenshe got a needle and thread from her
mother's basket, sewed up the cropcarefully, and set the empty dish back
in the cupboard. She had juststepped down out of the chair when her
(19:52):
brother Jonas came in. Submit saidhe let's have one game of otter,
even with the bullets. I amtoo busy, said Submit. I've got
to spend my stent just one game. Mother won't care. No, I
(20:15):
can't, Submit flew to her spinningwheel in the corner. Jonas, still
remonstrating, strolled into the pantry.I don't believe mother wants you in here,
Submit said anxiously. See here,Submit, Jonas called out in an
(20:37):
eager voice. I'll get the steellyards and we'll weigh the turkey we can
do it as well as anybody.Submit left her spinning wheel. She was
quite pale with trepidation when Jonas andshe adjusted the turkey in the steel yards.
(20:57):
What if those bullets should rattle out? But they did not. He
weighs twenty pounds and a quarter,announced Jonas with a gasp, after peering
anxiously at the figures. He's thebiggest turkey that was ever raised in these
(21:22):
parts. Jonas exulted a great deal, but Submit did not say much.
As soon as Jonas had laid theturkey back on the shelf and gone out,
she watched her chance and removed thebullets, replacing them in the pewward
dish. When mister Thompson and Thomascame home at twilight, there was a
(21:47):
deal of talk over the turkey.The Adams turkey doesn't weigh but nineteen pounds,
Jonas announced. Sarah was out therewhen they weighed him, and she
most cried. I think, Sarahand Submit and all of you are very
foolish about it, said missus Thompsonseverely. What difference does it make if
(22:14):
one weighs a pound or two morethan the other, If there is enough
to go around Submit looks as ifshe was sorry. Ours weighed the most
now, said Jonas. My thumbaches said Submit, go and get the
balm of gillead bottle and put somemore on, ordered her mother. That
(22:38):
night, when she went to bed, she could not say her prayers.
When she woke in the morning,it was with a strange, terrified feeling,
as if she had climbed a wallinto some unknown, dreadful land.
(22:59):
She if Sara would bring thankful overshe dreaded to see her coming, but
she did not come. Submit herselfdid not stir out of the house all
that day or the next, andSara did not bring thankful Until next morning.
(23:25):
They were all out in the kitchenabout an hour before dinner. Grandfather
Thompson sat in his old arm chairat one end of the fireplace. Grandmother
Thompson was knitting, and Jonas andSubmit were cracking butter nuts. Submit was
(23:48):
a little happier this morning. Shethought Sarah would never bring thankful and so
she had not done so much harmby cheating in the weight of the turkey.
There was a tug at the latchof the kitchen door. It was
pushed open slowly and painfully, andSara entered with thankful in her arms.
(24:14):
She said not a word to anybody, but her little face was full of
woe. She went straight to Submitand lay thinkful in her lap. Then
she turned and fled with a greatsob. The door slammed after her.
(24:38):
All the Thompsons stopped and looked atSubmit. Submit. What does this mean?
Her father asked, Submit looked athim trembling speak said he submit.
Mind, your father, said missusThompson. What did she bring you the
(25:00):
doll baby for? Asked grandmother.Sarah was going to give me thankful if
our turkey weighed most, and Iwas going to give her my work box
if hers weighed most, said Submit, jerkily. Her lips felt stiff.
(25:26):
Her father looked very sober and stern. He turned to his father. When
grandfather Thompson was home, every onedeferred to him, even at eighty,
He was the recognized head of thehouse. He was a wonderful old man,
(25:51):
tall and soldierly and full of agrave dignity. He looked at Submit,
and she shrank. Do you know, said he, that you have
been conducting yourself like unto the brawlersin the taverns and ale houses. Yes,
(26:15):
Sir murmured submit, although she didnot know what he meant. No
godly maid who heeds her elders willtake part in any such foolish and sinful
wager. Her grandfather continued. Submitarose, hugging Thankful convulsively. She glanced
(26:38):
wildly at her grandmother's musket over theshelf. The same spirit that had aimed
it at the Indian possessed her,and she spoke out, quite clearly,
our turkey didn't weigh the most,she said, I put the revolutionary bullets
(27:00):
in his crop. There was silence. Submit's heart beat so hard that Thankful
quivered. Go upstairs to your chamber, Submit, said her mother, and
you need not come down to dinner. Jonas, take that doll and carry
(27:26):
it over to the Adam's house.Submit crept miserably out of the room,
and Jonas carried Thankful across the yardto Sarah. Submit crouched beside her little
square window, set with tiny panesof glass, and watched him. She
(27:49):
did not cry. She was verymiserable, but confession had awakened a salutary
smart in her soul, like thebalm of Gillead on her cut thumb.
(28:10):
She was not so unhappy as shehad been. She wondered if her father
would whip her, and she madeup her mind not to cry if he
did. After Jonas came back,she still crouched at the window. Exactly
opposite in the Adam's house was anotherlittle square window, and that lighted by
(28:37):
Sarah's chamber. All of a sudden, Sara's face appeared there. The two
little girls stared pitifully at each other. Presently, Sarah raised her window and
put a stick under it. ThenSubmit did the same. They put their
(29:02):
faces out and looked at each other. A minute before speaking. Sara's face
was streaming with tears. What youcrying for? Called Submit? Softly.
Father sent me up here cause itis sinful to make bets, and Aunt
(29:27):
Rose has come, and I can'thave any Thanksgiving dinner, wailed Sara.
I'm wickeder than you said, Submit. I put the revolutionary bullets in the
turkey to make it way more thanyours. Yours weighed the most. If
(29:49):
mother thinks it's right, i'll giveyou the work box. I don't want
it, sobbed Sarah. I'm dreadful. Sorry, You've got to stay up
there and can't have any dinner,Submit, answering. Tears spring to Submit's
(30:11):
eyes. I'm dreadful sorry, you'vegot to stay up there and can't have
any dinner. She sobbed back.There was a touch on her shoulder.
She looked around and there stood thegrandmother. She was trying to look severe,
but she was beaming kindly on her. Her fat, fair old face
(30:37):
was as gentle as the mercy thattempers justice. Her horn spectacles and her
knitting needles and the gold beads onher neck all shone in the sunlight.
You had better come downstairs, child, she said, dinner's most ready,
(30:59):
and maybe you can help your mother. Your father isn't going to appew this
time because you told the truth aboutit. But you mustn't ever do such
a dreadful, wicked thing again.No, I won't, sobbed Submit.
She looked across, and there besideSara's face in the window was another beautiful,
(31:26):
smiling one. It had pink cheeksand sweet black eyes and black curls,
among which stood a high tortoise shellcomb. Oh, Submit, Sara
called out joyfully. Aunt Rose says, I can go down to dinner.
(31:47):
Grandmother says, I can, calledSubmit the beautiful smiling face opposite leaned close
to Sarah's for a moment. Oh, Submit cried Sarah. Aunt says,
she will make you a doll babylike thankful if your mother's willing. I
guess she'll be willing if she's agood girl, called grandmother Thompson. Submit
(32:14):
looked across a second in speechless radiance. Then the faces vanished from the two
little windows, and Submit and Sarahwent down to their Thanksgiving dinners. End
(32:37):
of Thankful recording by Taysha Lynn TashaWrites dot WordPress dot com
Section two of Good Cheer Stories EveryChild Should Know. This is a LibriVox
recording. All LibriVox recordings are inthe public domain. For more information or
to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dotorg. Recording by Taysha Lynn TASA Write's
(00:23):
studward press dot com. Good CheerStories Every Child Should Know by Asa Dawn
Dickinson. Thankful by Mary E.Wilkins Freeman. This tale is evidence that
Missus Freeman understands the children of NewEngland as well as she knows their parents.
(00:46):
There is a doll in the story, but boys will not mind this,
as there are also two turkey gobblersand a pewter dish full of revolutionary
bullets. Submit Thompson sat on thestone wall. Sarah Adams, an erect
(01:07):
prim little figure, ankle deep indry grass, stood beside it, holding
Thinkful. Thinkful was about ten incheslong, made of the finest linen,
with little rosy cheeks and a finelittle wig of flax. She wore a
(01:30):
blue wool frock and a red cloak. Sara held her close. She even
drew a fold of her own bluehomespun blanket around her to shield her from
the November wind. The sky waslow and gray. The wind blew from
(01:53):
the northeast and had the breath ofsnow in it. Submit on the wall
drew her quilted petticoats close down overher feet, and huddled herself into a
small place. But her face gleamed, keen and resolute out of the depths
of a great red hood that belongedto her mother. Her eyes were fixed
(02:16):
upon a turkey gobbler ruffling and bobbingaround the back door of the Adam's house.
The two gambrel roofed Thompson and Adamshouses were built as close together as
if the little village of Bridgewater werea city. Acres of land stretched behind
(02:40):
them and at the other sides,but they stood close to the road and
close to each other. The narrowspace between them was divided by a stone
wall, which was Submits and Sarah'strysting place. They met there every day
(03:01):
in exchanged confidences. They loved eachother like sisters. Neither of them had
an own sister. But to daya spirit of rivalry had arisen. The
tough, dry BlackBerry vines on thewall twisted around Submit. She looked with
(03:24):
her circle of red petticoat like somestrange late flower blooming out on the wall.
I know he don't, Sarah Adams. She said, father said he'd
weigh twenty pounds. Returned Sarah,in a small, weak voice, which
(03:44):
still had persistency in it. Idon't believe he will. Our Thanksgiving turkey
is twice as big. You knowhe is, Sarah Adams. No,
I don't, submit, Thompson,Yes you do. Sara lowered her chin
and shook her head with a decisionthat was beyond words. She was a
(04:09):
thin, delicate looking little girl,Her small blue clad figure bent before the
wind, but there was resolution inher high forehead and her sharp chin.
Submit nodded violently. Sarah shook herhead again. She hugged, thankful,
(04:30):
and shook her head with her eyesstill staring defiantly into submits. Hood submits.
Black eyes in the depths of itwere like two sparks. She nodded
vehemently. The gesture was not enoughfor her. She nodded and spoke again,
(04:53):
Sarah Adams. She said, whatwill you give me if our turkey
is bigger than your turkey? Itain't. What will you give me if
it is? Sarah stared at Submit. I don't know what you mean,
Submit Thompson, she said, witha stately puzzled air. Well, I'll
(05:15):
tell you. If your turkey weighsmore than iles, i'll give you.
I'll give you my little work boxwith the picture on top. And if
our turkey weighs more than yours,you give me. What will you give
me, Sarah Adams. Sarah hungher flaxen head with a troubled air.
(05:41):
I don't know, she said,I don't believe I've got anything mother would
be willing to have me give away. There's thankful your mother wouldn't care if
you gave her away. Sarah startedand hugged thankful closer. Yes, my
(06:02):
mother would care too, she said. Don't you know? My aunt Rose
from Boston made her and gave herto me. Sarah's beautiful young aunt Rose
from Boston was the special admiration ofboth the little girls. Submit was ordinarily
(06:24):
impressed by her name, but nowshe took it coolly. What if she
did, she returned, she canmake another. It's just made out of
a piece of old linen. Anyhow, my work box is real handsome.
But you can do just as youare a mind to you mean, I
(06:47):
can have the work box to keep, inquired Sarah, course I do if
your turkey's bigger, Sarah hesitated.Our turkey is bigger anyhow, she murmured.
Don't you think I ought to askmother? Submit, she inquired suddenly,
No, what for? I don'tsee anything to ask your mother for.
(07:12):
She won't care anything about that raggeddoll. Ain't you going to ask
your mother about the workbox, No, replied Submit stoutly. It's mine,
My grandmother gave it to me.Sarah reflected, I know our turkey is
the biggest, she said, lookinglovingly at Thankful, as if to justify
(07:39):
herself to her. Well, Idon't care, she added finally, will
you yes, when's yours going tobe killed this afternoon? So's ours?
(08:00):
Then we'll find out. Sara tuckedThankful closer under her shawl. I know
our turkey is biggest, she said. She looked very sober, although her
voice was defiant. Just then,the great turkey came swinging through the yard.
He held up his head proudly andgobbled. His every feather stood out
(08:24):
in the wind. He seemed enormous, a perfect giant among turkeys. Look
at him, said Sara, edginga little closer to the wall. She
was rather afraid of him. Heain't half so big as ours. Return,
(08:46):
Submit stoutly, but her heart sank. The Thompson turkey did look very
large. Submet Submit called a voicefrom the Thomson house. Submit slowly got
down from the wall. His feathersare a good deal thicker than ours,
(09:09):
she said defiantly to Sarah. Submitcalled the voice, come right home.
I want you to pare apples forthe pies. Be quick, yes,
marm Submit answered back in a shrillvoice. I'm coming. Then she went
across the yard and into the kitchendoor of the Thompson house, like a
(09:33):
red robin into a nest. Submithad been taught to obey her mother promptly.
Missus Thompson was a decided woman.Sarah looked after Submit. Then she
gathered thankful closer and also went intothe house. Her mother, as well
(09:56):
as Missus Thompson, was preparing forThanksgiving. The great kitchen was all of
a pleasant litter, with pie platesand cake pans and mixing bowls, and
full of warm, spicy odors.The oven in the chimney was all heated
(10:16):
and ready for a batch of appleand pumpkin pies. Missus Adams was busy
sliding them in, but she stoppedto look at Sara and thinkful. Sara
was her only child. Why whatmakes you look so sober? She said?
(10:41):
Nothing, replied Sara. She hadtaken off her blanket and sat in
one of the straight backed kitchen chairsholding Thankful. You look dreadful sober,
said her mother. Are you tired, no, marm I'm afraid you've got
cold standing out there in the wind. Do you feel chilly, no,
(11:05):
marm mother. How much do yousuppose our turkey ways? I believe father
said he'd weigh about twenty pounds.Are you sure you don't feel chilly?
No, marm mother? Do yousuppose our turkey weighs more than submits?
(11:26):
How do you suppose? I cantell I ain't set eyes on their turkey
lately. If you feel well,you'd better sit up to the table and
stone that bowl of raisins. Putyour doll away and get your apron.
But Sarah stoned raisins with Thankful inher lap, hidden under her apron.
(11:50):
She was so full of anxiety thatshe could not bear to put her away.
Suppose that Thompson turkey should be larger, and she should lose thankful,
thankful that her beautiful aunt Rose hadmade for her. Submit over in the
(12:11):
Thompson house, had sat down atonce to her apple pairing. She had
not gone into the best room tolook at the work box, whose possession
she had hazarded. It stood inthere on the table, made of yellow
satiney wood with a sliding lid,ornamented with a beautiful little picture. Submit
(12:35):
had a certain pride in it,but her fear of losing it was not
equal to her hope of possessing thankful. Submit had never had a doll,
except for a few plebeian ones manufacturedsecretly out of corn cobs, whom it
took more imagination than she possessed toadmire. Gradually, all emulation over the
(13:03):
turkeys was lost in the naughty covetousnessof her little friend and neighbor's doll.
Submit felt shocked and guilty, butshe sat there pearing the Baldwin apples and
thinking to herself, if our turkeyis only bigger, if it only is,
(13:26):
then I shall have thankful. Hermouth was pursed up and her eyes
snapped. She did not talk atall, but pared very fast. Her
mother looked at her. If youdon't take care, you'll cut your fingers.
(13:48):
She said, you are in toomuch of a hurry. I suppose
you want to get out and gossipwith Sara again at the wall. But
I can't let you waste any moretime to day there I told you you
would. Submet had cut her thumbquite severely. She chooked a little when
(14:13):
her mother tied it up and puton some balm of Gilead, which made
it smart worse. Don't cry,said her mother. You have to bear
more than a cut thumb if youlive, and Submit did not let the
tears fall. She came from abrave race. Her great grandfather had fought
(14:39):
in the Revolution. His sword andregimentals were packed in the fine carved chest
in the best room. Over thekitchen shelf hung an old musket with which
her grandmother, guarding her home andchildren, had shot an Indian. In
a little closet beside the chimney wasan old pewter dish full of homemade Revolutionary
(15:05):
bullets, which Submit and her brothershad for playthings. A little girl who
played with revolutionary bullets ought not tocry over a cut thumb. Submit finished
the pairing after her thumb was tiedup, although she was rather awkward about
(15:28):
it. Then she pounded spices inthe mortar and picked over cranberries. Her
mother kept her busy every minute untildinner time, when Submith's father and her
two brothers, Thomas and Jonas,had come in. She began on the
subject nearest her heart father, shesaid, how much do you think our
(15:54):
Thanksgiving turkey will weigh? Mister Thompsonwas a deliberate man. He looked at
her a minute before replying seventeen oreighteen pounds? He replied, Oh,
father, don't you think he willweigh twenty? Mister Thompson shook his head.
(16:21):
He don't begin to weigh so muchas the Atom's turkey, said Jonas.
Their turkey weighs twenty pounds. Oh, Thomas, do you think their
turkey weighs more than ours? Criedsubmit. Thomas was her elder brother.
He had a sober, judicial airlike his father. Their turkey weighs considerable
(16:45):
more than ours, said he submits, Face fell, you are not showing
a right spirit, said her motherseverely. Why should you care if the
adam this turkey does weigh more?I am ashamed of you, Submit said
(17:07):
no more. She ate her dinnersoberly. Afterward, she wiped dishes while
her mother washed. All the timeshe was listening, her father and brothers
had gone out. Presently, shestarted, Oh, mother, they're killing
(17:30):
the turkey. She said, well, don't stop while the dishes are hot.
If they are returned, her motherSubmit wiped obediently, but as soon
as the dishes were set away,she stole out in the barn where her
father and brothers were picking the turkey. Father, when are you going to
(17:53):
weigh him? She asked, timidly. Not till tonight, said her father.
Submit called her mother. Submit wentin and swept the kitchen floor.
It was an hour after that whenher mother was in the south room getting
(18:14):
it ready for her grandparents, whowere coming home to Thanksgiving. They had
been on a visit to their youngestson. That Submit crept slyly into the
pantry. The turkey lay there onthe broad shelf before the window. Submit
looked at him. She thought hewas small. He was most all feathers,
(18:42):
she whispered ruefully. She stood lookingdisconsolately at the turkey. Suddenly her
eyes flashed, and a red flushcame over her face. It uh as
if Satan coming into that godly newEngland home three days before Thanksgiving, had
(19:07):
whispered in her heart. Presently,Submit stole softly back into the kitchen,
set a chair before the chimney cupboard, climbed up and got the pewter dish
full of revolutionary bullets. Then shestole back to the pantry and emptied the
(19:30):
bullets into the turkey's crop. Thenshe got a needle and thread from her
mother's basket, sewed up the cropcarefully, and set the empty dish back
in the cupboard. She had juststepped down out of the chair when her
(19:52):
brother Jonas came in. Submit saidhe let's have one game of otter,
even with the bullets. I amtoo busy, said Submit. I've got
to spend my stent just one game. Mother won't care. No, I
(20:15):
can't, Submit flew to her spinningwheel in the corner. Jonas, still
remonstrating, strolled into the pantry.I don't believe mother wants you in here,
Submit said anxiously. See here,Submit, Jonas called out in an
(20:37):
eager voice. I'll get the steellyards and we'll weigh the turkey we can
do it as well as anybody.Submit left her spinning wheel. She was
quite pale with trepidation when Jonas andshe adjusted the turkey in the steel yards.
(20:57):
What if those bullets should rattle out? But they did not. He
weighs twenty pounds and a quarter,announced Jonas with a gasp, after peering
anxiously at the figures. He's thebiggest turkey that was ever raised in these
(21:22):
parts. Jonas exulted a great deal, but Submit did not say much.
As soon as Jonas had laid theturkey back on the shelf and gone out,
she watched her chance and removed thebullets, replacing them in the pewward
dish. When mister Thompson and Thomascame home at twilight, there was a
(21:47):
deal of talk over the turkey.The Adams turkey doesn't weigh but nineteen pounds,
Jonas announced. Sarah was out therewhen they weighed him, and she
most cried. I think, Sarahand Submit and all of you are very
foolish about it, said missus Thompsonseverely. What difference does it make if
(22:14):
one weighs a pound or two morethan the other, If there is enough
to go around Submit looks as ifshe was sorry. Ours weighed the most
now, said Jonas. My thumbaches said Submit, go and get the
balm of gillead bottle and put somemore on, ordered her mother. That
(22:38):
night, when she went to bed, she could not say her prayers.
When she woke in the morning,it was with a strange, terrified feeling,
as if she had climbed a wallinto some unknown, dreadful land.
(22:59):
She if Sara would bring thankful overshe dreaded to see her coming, but
she did not come. Submit herselfdid not stir out of the house all
that day or the next, andSara did not bring thankful Until next morning.
(23:25):
They were all out in the kitchenabout an hour before dinner. Grandfather
Thompson sat in his old arm chairat one end of the fireplace. Grandmother
Thompson was knitting, and Jonas andSubmit were cracking butter nuts. Submit was
(23:48):
a little happier this morning. Shethought Sarah would never bring thankful and so
she had not done so much harmby cheating in the weight of the turkey.
There was a tug at the latchof the kitchen door. It was
pushed open slowly and painfully, andSara entered with thankful in her arms.
(24:14):
She said not a word to anybody, but her little face was full of
woe. She went straight to Submitand lay thinkful in her lap. Then
she turned and fled with a greatsob. The door slammed after her.
(24:38):
All the Thompsons stopped and looked atSubmit. Submit. What does this mean?
Her father asked, Submit looked athim trembling speak said he submit.
Mind, your father, said missusThompson. What did she bring you the
(25:00):
doll baby for? Asked grandmother.Sarah was going to give me thankful if
our turkey weighed most, and Iwas going to give her my work box
if hers weighed most, said Submit, jerkily. Her lips felt stiff.
(25:26):
Her father looked very sober and stern. He turned to his father. When
grandfather Thompson was home, every onedeferred to him, even at eighty,
He was the recognized head of thehouse. He was a wonderful old man,
(25:51):
tall and soldierly and full of agrave dignity. He looked at Submit,
and she shrank. Do you know, said he, that you have
been conducting yourself like unto the brawlersin the taverns and ale houses. Yes,
(26:15):
Sir murmured submit, although she didnot know what he meant. No
godly maid who heeds her elders willtake part in any such foolish and sinful
wager. Her grandfather continued. Submitarose, hugging Thankful convulsively. She glanced
(26:38):
wildly at her grandmother's musket over theshelf. The same spirit that had aimed
it at the Indian possessed her,and she spoke out, quite clearly,
our turkey didn't weigh the most,she said, I put the revolutionary bullets
(27:00):
in his crop. There was silence. Submit's heart beat so hard that Thankful
quivered. Go upstairs to your chamber, Submit, said her mother, and
you need not come down to dinner. Jonas, take that doll and carry
(27:26):
it over to the Adam's house.Submit crept miserably out of the room,
and Jonas carried Thankful across the yardto Sarah. Submit crouched beside her little
square window, set with tiny panesof glass, and watched him. She
(27:49):
did not cry. She was verymiserable, but confession had awakened a salutary
smart in her soul, like thebalm of Gillead on her cut thumb.
(28:10):
She was not so unhappy as shehad been. She wondered if her father
would whip her, and she madeup her mind not to cry if he
did. After Jonas came back,she still crouched at the window. Exactly
opposite in the Adam's house was anotherlittle square window, and that lighted by
(28:37):
Sarah's chamber. All of a sudden, Sara's face appeared there. The two
little girls stared pitifully at each other. Presently, Sarah raised her window and
put a stick under it. ThenSubmit did the same. They put their
(29:02):
faces out and looked at each other. A minute before speaking. Sara's face
was streaming with tears. What youcrying for? Called Submit? Softly.
Father sent me up here cause itis sinful to make bets, and Aunt
(29:27):
Rose has come, and I can'thave any Thanksgiving dinner, wailed Sara.
I'm wickeder than you said, Submit. I put the revolutionary bullets in the
turkey to make it way more thanyours. Yours weighed the most. If
(29:49):
mother thinks it's right, i'll giveyou the work box. I don't want
it, sobbed Sarah. I'm dreadful. Sorry, You've got to stay up
there and can't have any dinner,Submit, answering. Tears spring to Submit's
(30:11):
eyes. I'm dreadful sorry, you'vegot to stay up there and can't have
any dinner. She sobbed back.There was a touch on her shoulder.
She looked around and there stood thegrandmother. She was trying to look severe,
but she was beaming kindly on her. Her fat, fair old face
(30:37):
was as gentle as the mercy thattempers justice. Her horn spectacles and her
knitting needles and the gold beads onher neck all shone in the sunlight.
You had better come downstairs, child, she said, dinner's most ready,
(30:59):
and maybe you can help your mother. Your father isn't going to appew this
time because you told the truth aboutit. But you mustn't ever do such
a dreadful, wicked thing again.No, I won't, sobbed Submit.
She looked across, and there besideSara's face in the window was another beautiful,
(31:26):
smiling one. It had pink cheeksand sweet black eyes and black curls,
among which stood a high tortoise shellcomb. Oh, Submit, Sara
called out joyfully. Aunt Rose says, I can go down to dinner.
(31:47):
Grandmother says, I can, calledSubmit the beautiful smiling face opposite leaned close
to Sarah's for a moment. Oh, Submit cried Sarah. Aunt says,
she will make you a doll babylike thankful if your mother's willing. I
guess she'll be willing if she's agood girl, called grandmother Thompson. Submit
(32:14):
looked across a second in speechless radiance. Then the faces vanished from the two
little windows, and Submit and Sarahwent down to their Thanksgiving dinners. End
(32:37):
of Thankful recording by Taysha Lynn TashaWrites dot WordPress dot com
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